Cobra Kai is finished, and while The Karate Kid spinoff managed to pull a bunch of legacy stars into the series, there was one that evaded them the entire run. Despite requests to see Hilary Swank reprise her role as Julie Pierce, you can't see her in any episode of the series now available with a Netflix subscription. Now, a showrunner on the project has explained why they weren't able to get her, and also got my hopes up that we may see her character again someday.

Josh Heald spoke to EW about Cobra Kai being unable to secure The Next Karate Kid star for an appearance. He and the other showrunners ( Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg) told CinemaBlend in 2020 they had spoken about having Hilary Swank join the show. Now, we have a little more context as to what their plan was, and how they tried to bring her in for the final season:

Of course, Hilary Swank confirmed ahead of the final season that she wouldn't be appearing, and while we saw a satisfying end to Johnny and Kreese's story, there was no Julie Pierce storyline to tie in. It's a bummer we never got that, but it's good to hear the showrunners made an honest attempt to make it happen.

Josh Heald was also quick to say that while the actress turned their pitch down, it wasn't a snub of any kind. In the end, it really just came down to timing, and with so much on her plate, she wasn't even able to take a meeting with the team:

What is interesting about this story is that following the conclusion of Cobra Kai Season 5, Hilary Swank claimed that the show never contacted her. Perhaps there was some miscommunication, and the news of this attempt to get her never reached the actress, or the interview happened before the phone call.

The big takeaway here, especially if you were a fan of Karate Kid: Legends and other attempts to keep the franchise going post-Cobra Kai, is that Josh Heald hasn't given up on the idea of working with Hilary Swank. If there is a story to what's going on with Julie Pierce these days, he and the rest of the co-showrunners would like to tell it:

Nothing would thrill me more than a chance to see The Next Karate Kid star back in action as Julie Pierce in an upcoming Netflix series. I also think there's still an appetite for these stories, even though there might not have been before Cobra Kai.

Right now, it doesn't seem there are any immediate plans for a follow-up series or spinoff to Cobra Kai. That said, it was well-loved by many, and one might wonder if fans would be upset about seeing a new series centered around Hilary Swank's character if other actors from the previous series aren't involved. Perhaps there is a pitch out there that brings her into the story, while still bringing back characters we love?

For now, we'll just have to cross our fingers that someone has a pitch for another series in The Karate Kid universe, and that Hilary Swank is in the mix. In the meantime, maybe I'll give Cobra Kai another watch, especially with some spare time during the down months of Summer television.

SPOILERS are ahead for Yellowjackets’ Season 3 up to the latest episode, “A Normal, Boring Life.” Catch up with the Showtime series before reading on.

Yes, it’s been another intriguing season of Yellowjackets to follow on the 2025 TV schedule these last couple of months, but wow, did episode 8 really… bite. After witnessing the heartbreaking trial of Coach and his subsequent death, I’ll be honest, I’ve been feeling a bit bummed out along with other fans. However, these last few episodes have really seen the season picking up. Now, I need to talk about how Shauna’s actions in Episode 8’s cliffhanger felt like the next right step for the season – even though I still want to throw up over what took place.

Present-Day Shauna Finally Truly Went Off The Rails In Yellowjackets

In “A Normal, Boring Life,” Shauna confronted the person who sent her the Yellowjackets’ incriminating tape from their time in the wilderness. And it turns out, Hilary Swank’s Melissa was the one behind it (but I definitely have questions about her story).

The former lovers reunited in a tense kitchen showdown that had me very confused about what to believe. But, of course, the big moment there was when Shauna tackled Melissa to the ground, bit a piece of her arm off, and told her to eat her own flesh or she’d be telling her family about the Yellowjackets’ troubling history.

There’s been a lot of disturbing moments on Yellowjackets over the years, but this might take the cake, right? I literally yelled an expletive upon witnessing the twisted moment because that’s live cannibalism, people! With that scene, I’m officially convinced that Shauna is off her rocker.

And, I Was Absolutely Living For Jeff And Melissa Calling It

Along with that scene itself, it felt like Season 3, Episode 8 really served as a turning point where Shauna stopped being a character the show wants us to root for. For example, when Shauna’s husband Jeff threw her under the bus while talking to the Joels for being “a fucking crazy person” and an “unhinged woman” I was absolutely living for it, because he is totally right.

She has been dragging her family into murder plots and reckless behavior for too long, and she even ditched her friends after Van was hospitalized for serious health issues. It’s to the point that Jeff and Callie would have to be out of their mind themselves to go along with it.

Additionally, when Melissa called Shauna out for wanting her “life to explode,” I wanted to cheer.

I Think It's About Time Shauna Became The Yellowjackets Villain

Between Shauna’s beyond-icky cannibalism moment with Melissa and her refusing rescue in the flashback sequences, it feels like Yellowjackets Season 3 in particular has really started to have Shauna entering her villain era (even though we’ve been pointing some fingers elsewhere). Upon reflection, though, the whole thing has been a long time coming.

While Misty and Lottie were the ones in prior seasons who were stirring up the most troubling behavior, Shauna really seems to be the character who has the most traumatic story to tell.

I mean, she cheated on her friend’s BF before she died, and they ate her, and she lost a baby in the midst of this. Plus, she seems to be taking the reins as Antler Queen from Natalie. And since she also instigated the cannibal party after Coach’s death, I think Shauna has some major demons from her wilderness days that are catching up to her in the present.

If anyone’s going to be the Yellowjackets big bad, Shauna is officially my prime target, and I’m horrified at what characters will be killed off next because of it.

The Academy Award for Best Actress has been handed out every year since 1929 — it was initially awarded to star Janet Gaynor for her roles in 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans — and in the near-century since, it's been presented 97 times to 79 actresses. Winning that coveted statuette is unsurprisingly a dream come true for many a big-screen performer, but the award does come with added attention on the actress's next projects. Will whatever they work on next be as critically acclaimed or commercially successful? Here are 32 films that Oscar-winning actresses did after taking home the Academy Award, and how they were received.

Emma Stone

The whole La La Land Oscars brouhaha at the 2018 ceremony was quite memorable, but clearly so was star Emma Stone's performance as aspiring actress Mia Dolen opposite Ryan Gosling's jazz pianist Seb Wilder. One of Stone's best movies, the role earned the star her first Best Actress win (she would strike gold yet again with her 2024 victory for Poor Things). Her next performance also stirred up awards buzz: she was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award for portraying tennis legend Billie Jean King in the sports drama Battle of the Sexes.

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep's history with the Academy Awards is long and legendary: over her decades-spanning career, she's been nominated for a record 21 Oscar nominations, winning thrice. After taking home the Supporting Actress statuette for Kramer vs. Kramer, Streep got her first big Best Actress win for one of her most iconic performances: as the titular character of the devastating 1982 drama Sophie's Choice. Her next role was just as haunting: as Karen Silkwood in the 1983 thriller Silkwood, for which she earned yet another Best Actress nod.

Michelle Yeoh

Along with kicking major butt, Michelle Yeoh made history with her starring role as Evelyn Quan Wang in the 2022 action-dramedy Everything Everywhere All at Once, for she became the first Asian performer to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. Following that notable win in 2023, the Wicked star lent her voice to the sci-fi flick Transformers: Rise of the Beasts as Airazor, a Maximal warrior who transforms into a peregrine falcon. That title earned largely mixed reviews, and it currently sports a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Jessica Chastain

After losing out on the Oscar for Zero Dark Thirty, Jessica Chastain took the Best Actress trophy home for her transformative role as televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in the 2022 bio-drama The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Her next project was far less successful with awards bodies — the action-spy thriller The 355 was both a critical and commercial bomb, reportedly losing Universal an estimated $93 million. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph wrote: "Despite the strong cast, this is the film equivalent of a corn-syrup-based fizzy drink being passed off as chic in taller, slimmer cans."

Frances McDormand

Three-time Best Actress winner Frances McDormand took home her first Oscar in 1997 for her instantly iconic performance as Minnesota police chief Marge Gunderson in the classic Coen Brothers dark comedy Fargo. Later that year, the acclaimed performer joined a heavyweight lineup of actresses — including Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Ehle — in the World War II drama Paradise Road. However, despite that acting clout, the film received mixed reviews, with its approval rating at a lowly 43% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Brie Larson

Child actor turned Marvel superhero Brie Larson took her career to a whole new level with her performance as kidnapping victim Joy "Ma" Newsome in the 2015 survival drama Room, for which she swept the subsequent awards season and took home the Best Actress Oscar. In 2016, the Lessons in Chemistry lead starred in another survival drama, this time the Ben Wheatley-directed action-comedy Free Fire. CinemaBlend's own Gregory Wakeman wrote of the film: "Free Fire has enough gun blasts and violence to entertain, but ultimately lacks the requisite surprises or savvy to be anything more than a frivolous diversion."

Olivia Colman

Olivia Colman's Best Actress win for her portrayal of Queen Anne in the black-comedy period piece The Favourite was a deserved yet delightfully shocking moment at the 2019 Oscars. Her next role was equally strange, but less acclaimed: she appeared alongside Kaitlyn Dever, Jim Gaffigan and Walton Goggins as snake-handling fundamentalists in the horror mystery Them That Follow. Though it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, it earned mixed reviews from critics.

Cate Blanchett

One of the most versatile actors in the industry — she's played Queen Elizabeth I and Bob Dylan, for crying out loud! — eight-time Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett secured her first Best Actress win in 2014 playing a neurotic former socialite in the Woody Allen-directed dramedy Blue Jasmine. And speaking of versatility, the Aussie star followed that awards win with a voice role in the animated fantasy sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2, which got its own Oscar nod for Best Animated Feature.

Sandra Bullock

Rom-com queen Sandra Bullock received her first Best Actress nomination and win in 2010 for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy in the biographical football drama The Blind Side. Her next film credit was the Stephen Daldry-directed 2011 drama Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, which did manage to score a Best Picture nod but not without controversy. Chris Krapek of The Huffington Post called the film "not only the worst reviewed Best Picture nominee of the last 10 years, [but] easily the worst film of 2011."

Katharine Hepburn

Hollywood icon Katherine Hepburn earned four Academy Awards for Best Actress out of 12 nominations across her illustrious film career—a record for any performer. The leading lady's first Oscar win was in 1934 for the Pre-Code drama Morning Glory (the rest would come later in the star's life), which she followed up with John Cromwell's Spitfire. Some viewers found Hepburn miscast as "hillbilly" faith healer Trigger Hicks — the film has a 35% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman didn't win the Best Actress Oscar for one of her most beloved performances, as cabaret star Satine in Moulin Rouge! but she instead secured the big win only a year later for playing English writer Virginia Woolf in The Hours. The Babygirl star's first post-award project was the 2003 avant-garde thriller Dogville, written and directed by Lars von Trier. Though the film prompted quite a polarizing response from critics at the time of release, it did end up on several best-of-the-decade roundups, including The Guardian and Paste.

Jennifer Lawrence

If they didn't already love her from her work in the David O. Russell dramedy Silver Linings Playbook, the world certainly fell for Jennifer Lawrence when she charmingly tripped up the stairs to accept her Best Actress statuette in 2013. That fall, she would reprise her role as Katniss Everdeen in the second Mockingjay movie, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which is widely considered the best installment of The Hunger Games film series (it's got a solid 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating) and earned Lawrence a Critics' Choice nod.

Helen Mirren

Dame Helen Mirren is a regal onscreen presence no matter what the role, but her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 docudrama The Queen welcomed her among the Hollywood royalty known as Oscar winners. However, despite the film title, she didn't strike gold with her next project: the Nicolas Cage-led adventure flick National Treasure: Book of Secrets, alongside Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, Ed Harris and Diane Kruger. Per Rotten Tomatoes, critic consensus said of the 35% "Rotten" movie: "A talented cast goes to waste in the improbable National Treasure: Book of Secrets."

Jodie Foster

One of Hollywood's most acclaimed child stars — she was only 12 years old when she starred opposite Robert De Niro in the Martin Scorsese masterpiece Taxi Driver, earning her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress — Jodie Foster successfully segued into more adult fare with the 1988 legal drama The Accused. As an assault survivor Sarah Tobias, Foster received a Best Actress win—it wouldn't be her last, with the star winning the same award for her next film release, one of the greatest horror movies of all time, The Silence of the Lambs.

Halle Berry

Halle Berry made Oscar history when she became the first African-American woman ever to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performance as a struggling widow in 2001's Monster's Ball. After becoming an Oscar winner, Berry became a Bond Girl — bikini-sporting NSA agent Jinx, to be exact — in the 2002 spy flick Die Another Day, opposite Pierce Brosnan as 007. However, the latter is widely considered to be the worst entry in James Bond's canon.

Julie Andrews

A legendary performer across both screen and stage, Julie Andrews won her Best Actress Oscar in 1964 for a truly iconic role: as the titular nanny extraordinaire in Mary Poppins. And she didn't stop there — the very next year, she would get yet another Academy Award nomination for an equally beloved character, as The Sound of Music's Maria, the sweet, singing governess to the Von Trapp family. Talk about an epic filmography!

Kathy Bates

One of the best Kathy Bates performances, as obsessive superfan Annie Wilkes in the 1990 Stephen King thriller Misery, earned the talented actress her first Academy Award nomination and win. (She would have three more Oscar nods across her decades-spanning career.) Bates' next film role was in the South African drama The Road to Mecca, based on the Athol Fugard play of the same name — the performer was praised for both her acting and her accent work.

Hilary Swank

Before there were transgender characters like Emilia Pérez (Emilia Pérez), Sin-Dee Rella (Tangerine), or Raymond Rayon (Dallas Buyers Club), there was Brandon Teena, the real-life trans man at the center of the 1999 drama Boys Don't Cry. Hilary Swank's harrowing, career-making performance as Teena earned the star her first Best Actress award, with critics like Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman calling the actress a "revelation" in the film. Reactions to her next movie, the 2000 supernatural thriller The Gift, were far more mixed. A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "The picture is saved from mediocrity by [director Sam] Raimi's smooth competence, and by the unusually high quality of the acting."

Renée Zellweger

After prior Best Actress nominations for two of her best movies, Bridget Jones' Diary and Chicago — plus a Best Supporting Actress win for Cold Mountain — Renée Zellweger finally got her big Best Actress win for her portrayal of Judy Garland in Rupert Goold's Judy. After taking a multi-year break from acting, Zellweger's much-anticipated next film credit will be a return to a beloved role, in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman was so convincing as a troubled ballerina in the 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan that she thought the film was a docudrama while making it. So, it's no surprise, then, that her tour-de-force performance garnered the star an Academy Award for Best Actress. Ever one to keep you guessing genre-wise, Portman's next role was in the 2011 stoner fantasy-comedy Your Highness, which sadly was a box office bomb and received largely negative reviews from critics.

Cher

The "Goddess of Pop" Cher officially added the title of "Oscar winner" to her already legendary showbiz career with her 1988 Best Actress triumph for one of her best movies, the acclaimed rom-com Moonstruck. Her next movie role came two years later as Rachel Flax, the saucy single mom to young Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci in the 1990 dramedy Mermaids. The heartfelt title has been dubbed an "underappreciated 1990s coming-of-age gem" by The Guardian, which singled out Cher's performance as "nothing short of magical."

Kate Winslet

One of the greatest performers of her generation, it took Kate Winslet a whopping six Oscar nominations before she finally took home the Academy Award for Best Actress, for playing a former Nazi camp guard in 2008's The Reader. Her next onscreen role was in the 2011 black comedy Carnage, by disgraced director Roman Polanski. The film received positive reviews, with critics praising the performances of the cast, including Winslet's — she earned a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress in a Motional Picture Musical or Comedy.

Julia Roberts

After a decade that solidified her as rom-com royalty, Julia Roberts proved her dramatic bonafides by winning the Best Actress Oscar for playing the title role in the 2000 legal drama Erin Brockovich, one of her best movies. America's Sweetheart returned to her romantic comedy roots with her next film, fittingly entitled America's Sweethearts, though critics weren't too sweet on the movie. It only holds a 33% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's consensus reading: "Despite its famous cast, the movie lacks sympathetic characters and is only funny in spurts."

Susan Sarandon

After Oscar nominations for Atlantic City, Thelma & Louise, Lorenzo's Oil and The Client, Susan Sarandon was finally named Best Actress by the Academy for playing Sister Helen Prejean in 1995's Dead Man Walking. Her next film was the decidedly lighter kids' flick James and the Giant Peach, in which Sarandon voiced the character of Miss Spider. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with Randy Newman's score earning an Oscar nod; however, the film was a box office failure, grossing $300,000 less than its budget.

Marion Cotillard

French movie star Marion Cotillard became the first actor to win an Academy Award for a French-language performance for her transformative turn as legendary singer Édith Piaf in the 2007 music biopic La Vie en Rose. Her next film credit was another biographical drama — this time, the Michael Mann-directed gangster film Public Enemies, alongside Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Though many critics praised the leading performances, reviews were mixed, with the title holding a 68% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Marlee Matlin

Marlee Matlin's acting debut in 1986's Children of a Lesser God saw the actress making Oscar history not once but twice: she became the first deaf performer to ever win an Academy Award, as well as the youngest winner in the Best Actress category. The CODA star followed up that momentous victory with the 1987 Western Walker, starring Ed Harris, Richard Masur and Peter Boyle. The historical drama was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival but received very polarized reviews and was a failure at the box office.

Gwyneth Paltrow

Fun fact: Gwyneth Paltrow wasn't initially supposed to star as Viola de Lesseps in the 1998 Bard-inspired romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love — Julia Roberts was. But Gwyn is no doubt grateful the latter ultimately left the production, as the role won her a Best Actress Oscar. Her next project was equally acclaimed: 1999's Anthony Minghella-helmed thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley scored five Academy Award nominations.

Audrey Hepburn

Screen legend Audrey Hepburn won her first Oscar in 1953 for her debut starring role, as Princess Ann in the classic black-and-white comedy Roman Holiday. The British beauty would later be nominated four more times for films like her first post-award project, the 1954 Billy Wilder-directed dramedy Sabrina, as well as The Nun's Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Wait Until Dark.

Sally Field

The Academy likes her, they really like her — yes, Sally Field has won not one but two Best Actress statuettes, the first being for her inspiring performance in 1979's Norma Rae and the second five years later for another one of her best films, Places in the Heart. Following her first win, Field reprised her role as Carrie, or "Frog," in 1980's Smoky and the Bandit II opposite her real-life love Burt Reynolds. Though the sequel was a box office success, prompting a third film, it received almost entirely negative reviews from critics.

Charlize Theron

One of the best Charlize Theron roles was also the star's most remarkably unrecognizable: the South African-born actress earned a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of real-life prostitute and serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the 2003 crime drama Monster. Her next big-screen performance was the 2004 war drama Head in the Clouds, which saw Theron acting opposite her then-romantic partner Stuart Townsend. The film was a critical and box office failure; in the San Francisco Chronicle, Walter Addiego wrote: "If not for the presence of Charlize Theron, it's hard to imagine this film would have attracted anywhere near the kind of attention it's gotten."

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon proved she was more than just a musical sidekick with her Oscar-winning performance as June Carter Cash in the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. The Legally Blonde star was next seen in the harrowing 2007 political thriller Rendition opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep and Peter Sarsgaard. However, "the impressive cast cannot rescue Rendition, which explores complex issues in woefully simplified terms," reads the critics' consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, with the film at a paltry 47% approval rating.

Elizabeth Taylor

Through much of the mid-20th century, celluloid icon Elizabeth Taylor was one of MGM's most bankable stars. In fact, her final film for the studio — 1960's Butterfield 8, playing glamorous call girl Gloria Wandrous — earned the movie star her first Academy Award for Best Actress. Her next performance was just as iconic: as the titular Egyptian queen in the 1963 historical epic Cleopatra, which received nine Oscar nominations and four wins, though, alas, none for Taylor specifically.

Of all the upcoming horror TV shows set to send shivers up audiences’ spines, I’m personally most enthused and hungry for Yellowjackets Season 3, which will add a blood-red shade to Valentine’s Day when it arrives on the 2025 winter TV schedule. Now that the new episodes are readied enough for promotion, Showtime has been giving fans plenty to look at and think about, with a footage-filled First Look trailer now our most recent hint for which characters may be killed off next.

The trailer certainly makes it look like one of our main survivors is doomed, while also setting up a bloody introduction for the new character portrayed by Oscar winner Hilary Swank. Let’s do some dissecting!

Looks Like Coach Is On His Last Legs...Er...Leg

The Season 2 finale ended with things looking all but hopeless for the survivors, with the cabin burning down. Coach Ben was seemingly the arsonist who set it ablaze, possibly due to his judgment of everyone else for eating the recently drowned Javi. Which means he could be suspected and treated harshly by the soccer team in Season 3, while also suffering from extreme hunger.

After watching the Season 3 trailer, I can’t think of anyone who looks worse off than Coach in the few moments where he’s shown. His beard is longer and scragglier. He looks to be screaming desperately in one moment, possibly while being attacked. And then there’s that extremely foreboding shot of him standing in the background and looking at the knotted rope hanging. But is that implying he’ll one day succumb to suicidal urges, or that his fellow crash-mates will be stringing him up and feasting on his still-present limbs?

Melissa Might Be Doomed As Well

Jenna Burgess' Melissa was first introduced in Season 2 as an outlier player for the Yellowjackets team, and hasn't had too much of a major impact on the drama so far. But she's front and center for several moments in the trailer, and one of them makes it look like her time in the spotlight won't be threat-free.

It's unclear who the aggressor is, but one quick blip in the trailer features one of the teens pushing Melissa back against a tree and holding a knife up to her throat. Given how trailer logic works, this tease 100% isn't going to end in Melissa dying of a throat slashing. But I think it does imply she'll be enough of a prominent character in the season to earn such a trailer moment, thus setting her up as body count fodder later in the season. Sorry to be such a pessimist, Melissa.

Hilary Swank's Character Is Seemingly In Trouble As Well

Likely Yellowjackets' biggest Season 3 casting addition, Hilary Swank is set to play a character who...well, we don't know yet. The few seconds we see her in the trailer are essentially all we've had to go on since she was first cast, but they thankfully provided multiple takeaways.

For one, it's not entirely clear which timeline Swank is in. One would presume she's in the adult characters' timeline, since she's obviously also an adult. But nothing seems to confirm this, though I'm not educated enough in vehicles to know whether or not the ride in the shot would indeed have confirmed it. Whatever the precise setting, the character is clearly injured in various places, and looks to be facing some kind of a frightening threat.

The way she reacts makes me think it's something large-scale and inhuman, like a tidal wave or a giant swarm of bees. But what if this isn't in the current timeline, and what Swank's character sees is a large group of maniacal teens in makeshift masks howling running at her from the woods? That would certainly warrant an uncensored "Oh, shit!"

Check out the trailer below if you haven't yet already!

The new trailer also features a moment where it appears as if Ella Purnell’s long-dead Jackie shows up for Melanie Lynskey’s Shauna, presumably as a hallucination. And there’s also a shot of Elijah Wood’s Walter, just in case anybody thought he wasn’t coming back. I cannot wait.

Yellowjackets Season 3 will debut on February 14, 2025, with the first two seasons available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription or a Netflix subscription.

There has been a lot of talk about "nepo babies" over the last few years, and while it may seem like every actor has famous parents. That is hardly the case though, of course. Many of our favorite actors come from much more humble roots. So let's celebrate those stars with this list of actors who came from blue-collar backgrounds. 

Sarah Jessica Parker

Growing up in Ohio Sarah Jessica Parker had a huge family, with seven siblings and step-siblings. She's talked about how there were times her parents struggled to pay the bills and were even on welfare for a time. Though her mom ran a nursery and her stepdad was a truck driver, they still found a way to support Parker's show business dreams and eventually moved to New York so she could star on Broadway. 

James Dean

James Dean is one of the most tragic stories in Hollywood history, and his upbringing was pretty rough too. His father left when he was a toddler and his mother supported the two of them as a single mother during The Depression. That is until she passed away when Dean was only nine. He moved to Ohio and lived with his aunt and uncle where things stabilized for him. After graduating high school, he moved to LA and embarked on his all-too-brief career. 

Maisie Williams

Though she found fame at early age with Game of Thrones Maisie Williams' family struggled when she was younger. She was raised in a council house (public housing in the UK) until she was cast in the hit HBO show at age 12. 

Jeremy Strong

Jeremy Strong may play a scion to one of the wealthiest families on TV in Succession, but in real life, he had a much more humble upbringing. Strong grew up in the blue-collar area of Jamaica Plain in Boston and his father was a guard in juvenile jails in town. Eventually the family moved to the more upscale town of Sudbury, where he went to high school and discovered acting. 

Samuel L. Jackson

For most of his career, Samuel L. Jackson was a blue-collar actor working as much as he could. That makes with his upbringing as the son of a single mother who worked in a factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Shania Twain

Shaina Twain is best known as a country singer, of course, but she's done a little acting over her impressive career as well. It's a career that has taken far away from her humble roots outside Toronto, Ontario, where the family struggled. Those struggles led to her finding gigs as a singer at a young age and the rest is history.

Samantha Morton

Samantha Morton had a rough upbringing in the UK. Nine of her formative years were spent in foster care when her parents, who were addicts, weren't able to care for her. She had a couple of scraps with the law herself but started getting acting work in her teens and it all came together. 

Dolly Parton

There is no more revered person in Hollywood (or Nashville) than the great Dolly Parton. She's often talked about her humble beginnings in rural Tennessee as one of 12 children. She has always praised how her mother kept the family together through hard times and when Parton was 18 she moved to Nashville and hit the big time pretty quickly as a songwriter and a singer. 

Adam Driver

Megalopolis star Adam Driver moved around a lot as a kid, living all over from San Diego to Indiana. His stepfather was a Baptist preacher, but he was mostly raised by his mother in Indiana. After the September 11th attacks, he joined the Marines and served, like many other actors have over the years, for a few years before being discharged for a medical reason and starting his acting career. 

Al Pacino

Al Pacino grew up mostly in the South Bronx, and anyone from New York can tell you that the South Bronx in the '40s and '50s was a tough place to live. By his own admission he got in trouble a lot, as often happens with kids with hard working parents. Even as a actor early in his career he couch-surfed with friends until he started landing gigs regularly. 

Dax Shepard

Dax Shepard's family experienced the American Dream, according to the actor and podcast host. His mom worked at GM while he was growing up near Detroit and the family struggled, but as he got older, his mom's career grew and she moved up the ranks from janitor to executive, so by the time Shepard was in high school, she was quite successful. 

Ice Cube

Any fan of N.W.A. knows about Ice Cube's roots in South Central LA as the son of a janitor and a groundskeeper. As a result of desegregation, Ice Cube had the opportunity to get bussed out of Compton and out to the suburbs, where he thrived in English class, something he would make good use of later in life as the principal lyricist for one of the most successful rap acts of all time. 

Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson, who has won the famed EGOT, was raised with her two siblings by a single mother on the South Side of Chicago. She started working in local theater at a young age and famously worked on the Disney Cruise line before auditioning for American Idol in the show's third season, which was, of course, her big break. 

Mel Brooks

The legendary Mel Brooks, like so many of his generation, was the child of immigrants. He was raised very poor in Brooklyn surrounded by people who worked in the garment industry. Instead of following in their footsteps, he went into show business and the world is luckier for it. 

Joan Crawford

Screen legend Joan Crawford would die a very rich woman, but she started life as the daughter of a construction worker in Texas. After her parents split up and her mother remarried, her stepfather got in trouble in Texas and the family moved to Kansas City where Crawford attended Catholic school as a work student. 

Jim Carrey

At one point Jim Carrey was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, which is far cry from his humble beginnings in and around Toronto. For a time, Carrey has admitted, they were even homeless. Eventually his father found more stable employment and after dropping out of high school Carrey worked on his stand up routine and took shifts at a nearby factory. 

Misha Collins

Supernatural star Misha Collins grew up working class in Boston and he has said in the past that his family spent some time unhoused. He was lucky enough to gain admission to a prep school, which led him to the University of Chicago and eventually an internship at The White House during the Clinton administration before he concentrated on his acting career. 

Rosario Dawson

Rosario Dawson has been a part of two of the biggest franchises in Hollywood, Star Wars and the MCU. It wasn't always the big time for her though. Her mother was a teenager when she was born and never married Dawson's father, but did marry another man, from whom Dawson takes her last name. He was a construction worker first in New York and later in Texas. 

Jessica Chastain

Though she doesn't talk much about her upbringing, we do know that Jessica Chastain's stepfather was a firefighter and that her family life was a struggle growing up. She grew up in Sacramento with four siblings, though she lost one to suicide when she was in her early 20s. Chastain started acting as a kid and her career would eventually take off and she would become one of the most beloved and acclaimed actors of her generation. 

Daniel Kaluuya

Born of Uganda immigrants in London, Daniel Kaluuya was raised on a council estate in one of the city's most famous blue-collar areas, Camden. He didn't know his father growing up, but he excelled in school and started acting in plays while there. he started landing paying gigs in his teens and the rest is history.

Hilary Swank

Though she has humble roots as the daughter of an army soldier, Hilary Swank grew up in a stable household and even after her parents split up when she was 15, her mother moved with Swank to the LA area so she could try her hand at Hollywood. That bet paid off as Swank has been one of the best actresses around for decades. 

Charlie Chaplin

It could be argued that Charlie Chaplin was the first bonafide superstar of the silver screen. While he would eventually become Hollywood's biggest star and one of the most financially successful moviemakers of his era, his childhood was a hardscrabble upbringing in central London. His parents had no capacity to raise children and he bounced around reform schools and other group homes as a kid before finding his way, first in the theater then later in silent films. 

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez famously grew up "on the 6," meaning the 6-Train through the Bronx in New York City. Her father had a job as a computer technician and Lopez had a solid, yet definitely blue-collar upbringing. 

Woody Harrelson

Woody Harrelson has starred in some of the best roles in Hollywood over the last four decades, and one of them, Woody Boyd on Cheers, reflected his actual blue-collar roots in Indiana. The story of Woody Boyd and Woody Harrelson are pretty similar, as both were raised in rural Indiana. Harrelson was famously locked up in prison for most of his upbringing, and he eventually died in prison after Harrelson's career had taken off. 

Viola Davis

Viola Davis was actually born on plantation in South Carolina, if you can believe it. She was raised mostly in Rhode Island, however, but it was a hard upbringing which has described of being very financially unstable. 

Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig may be famous for playing suave, debonair, and sophisticated characters, but that's nothing like his upbringing. His father was a construction worker and bar manager, though Craig does have aristocratic ancestors. 

Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix (and his late brother River) had a wild upbringing. His parent were part of a cult called the Children of God and Phoenix spent much of his early life living in South America as his parents traveled as missionaries for the religious group. Eventually, the family left the cult, adopting the name "Phoenix" as a sign of their rebirth as a family in a new life.

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is famously one of the richest people in Hollywood, but that's not how she started out. Her mother was a teenager in Milwaukee, but before long Winfrey found herself in Nashville living with the man she considers her father. While still a teen in Nashville, she started working in radio, which would eventually lead to her media empire. 

Bella Thorne

The whole reason Bella Thorne became a professional actor was to help support her family growing up. After her father was killed in a car wreck when she was ten, Thorne's mother was left to raise four children on her own. It was a tough upbringing, but the acting gigs started coming more and more often and got her big break on the Disney Channel's Shake It Up in 2010. 

James Caan

James Caan was in some of the best movies in Hollywood history. The list of Caan's best movies is incredible. His father was a deli meat salesman and he grew up in the blue-collar neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens, in New York City. He found acting while he briefly attended Hofstra, where he would also meet Francis Ford Coppola, who would give the role of Sonny in The Godfather years later. 

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez was raised by a single mother who had Gomez when she was just 16. Gomez has never been resentful, it seems, and credits her with raising her under such trying conditions. Gomez caught the acting bug at a pretty young age and ws soon landing shows on kids shows, leading to the insanely successful career we all know and love. 

Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington had the definition of a blue-collar upbringing as the son of a beautician and an employee of the water company in his hometown of New York City. His parent worked hard to make sure he got a good education and after graduating from Fordham, he embarked on one of the most successful Hollywood careers of all time. 

Cobra Kai's sixth and final season is on the way, and considering that the Netflix series has been wonderful about finding ways to work with past actors from The Karate Kid franchise, fans are hoping that Hilary Swank will play a role in the upcoming episodes. However, those curious about if she will be in the final season needn't wonder any longer, because she has responded, and I'm shocked. 

We learned about the star's status for Season 6 thanks to an interview with Collider, in which Hilary Swank was asked if she'd reprise her role as Julie Pierce for Cobra Kai. She gave about as definitive of an answer as she could, perhaps knowing that Season 6 is back to filming, saying:  

I have to say I'm shocked to hear this given Cobra Kai's track record. The series, now available to watch with a Netflix subscription, has brought back so many notable and obscure characters from The Karate Kid, and yet no one from the lesser-appreciated movie The Next Karate Kid. To exclude Julie Pierce is a smudge on the series' otherwise perfect legacy, though we don't know the full scope of what's happening behind the scenes. 

What we do know is the showrunners told CinemaBlend years ago they discussed bringing Julie Pierce to the show. Despite that, Hilary Swank later revealed that no one contacted her about being on Cobra Kai. When CinemaBlend spoke to Ralph Macchio about that, he felt there was room for the character in the series. 

As someone who personally advocated for Julie Pierce to appear in Cobra Kai, it's a little hard to reconcile with the idea that the stars didn't align. The series has justified finding room in the story for characters as obscure as Johnny's sidekicks from the first movie. In fairness, however, Swank did welcome twins back in 2023, so there is a possibility that that factored in her being unable to commit to any Cobra Kai plans if they did reach out to her. 

As Cobra Kai Season 6 continues with production, I do have growing questions about how the Netflix series will bring this story to a satisfying end. With so much happening between the characters and an international tournament potentially taking center stage, I do hope fans will be satisfied with the ending, given that it has been an incredible ride so far. 

It's never a bad time to binge Cobra Kai, and anyone who wishes to do so knows Netflix is the place to do it. Once I get through some of the other exciting shows on the 2024 TV schedule, I plan to set aside a weekend to work through it all again and get extra psyched for the final season. 

You know what all of the best sports movies have in common? Well, besides featuring stories centered around football, baseball, and even roller derby? They all include tremendous performances by actors that are believable and help the audience suspend disbelief, if only for a couple of hours. However, there are also movies where the actors, despite trying their best, are a little bit outside. 

Here are 32 times actors played professional athletes and whether or not they were believable.

Burt Reynolds (The Longest Yard)

Considered to be one of the best football movies of all time, The Longest Yard (the 1974 version) features a tremendous performance by the late Burt Reynolds as Paul Crewe, a former pro quarterback who ends up in prison and leads a group of prisoners against the guards in the annual football game. At the top of his game, Reynolds is a lights-out QB and play-caller in this iconic comedy.

Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)

Margot Robbie is to die for in the 2017 sports biopic, I, Tonya, which sees her take on the role of Tonya Harding, the talented and raw figure skater who made a mark on the sport before being tied up in its most notorious controversy. While Robbie’s off-the-ice scenes are superb, her figure skating was just as impressive, which should come as no surprise.

Jamie Foxx (Any Given Sunday)

Oliver Stone’s 1999 satirical sports dramedy, Any Given Sunday, sees Jamie Foxx portray Willie "Steamin" Beamen, the third-string quarterback for the fictional Miami Sharks football team. Foxx is outstanding in his take on the young QB and does a wonderful job of showcasing the character’s on-field talents and off-the-field escapades.

Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby)

Hilary Swank won an Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald in Best Picture winner, Million Dollar Baby, and rightfully so. The talented actress told CBS News she spent three months training at a Brooklyn boxing gym before filming Clint Eastwood’s 2004 sports drama, and it shows.

Sylvester Stallone (Rocky)

Rocky is without a doubt the most well-known boxing movie of all time, and that’s mostly due to Sylvester Stallone’s commitment to the role of Rocky Balboa. Though not as bulked up as he was in later films in the franchise, Stallone has a great physical presence and ring awareness in his breakout role.

Kevin Costner (Tin Cup)

If Kevin Costner isn’t believable as a down-on-his-luck and washed-up golf pro looking for a shot at redemption and to settle an old score in Tin Cup, then I don’t know what will sell it to you. Sure, Costner seems more comfortable in baseball movies like Bull Durham and For Love of the Game, but his take on Roy McAvoy is top-notch. 

Emma Stone (Battle Of The Sexes) 

Emma Stone played tennis trailblazer Bille Jean King in the 2017 sports biopic, Battle of the Sexes, which saw her take on Steve Carell’s Bobby Riggs in the famous 1973 match of the same name. The Oscar winner does a great job when it comes to every aspect of the role, including those tense tennis scenes.

Geena Davis (A League Of Their Own)

Geena Davis looks, feels, and acts like a professional baseball player in A League of Their Own. There’s no need to suspend your disbelief when watching Davis’ Dottie Hinson lead the Rockford Peaches to one victory after another. The physicality, the presence, the believability are all there.

Chadwick Boseman (42)

Chadwick Boseman became a massive star in 2013 thanks to his celebrated portrayal of Jackie Robinson, the Professional Baseball Hall of Famer who broke the color barrier more than a half-century earlier. Boseman, who died in August 2020, was phenomenal in his performance and made the film’s various baseball sequences incredibly realistic.

Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire)

Okay, Cuba Gooding Jr.’s take on Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire is killer, even when you take out the classic “Show me the money” scene. He’s cocky, brash, and hard to deal with, but he can back it up and makes the big catch to earn his team a playoff berth. We’ll let the off-field antics slide…

Tim Robbins (Bull Durham)

Bull Durham, one of the best baseball movies of all time, sees Tim Robbins play Ebby “Nuke” LaLoosh, a hot-shot young pitcher with a “million-dollar arm, but a five-cent head.” And the six-foot-five-inch Robbins very much looked and acted like a talented yet undisciplined ball player. 

Wesley Snipes (Major League)

Wesley Snipes’ Wille Mays Hayes, who could run like Hayes but not hit like Mays in Major League, was a convincing ball player in the 1989 sports classic. Yeah, he had trouble hitting the ball (part of his character), but he had unmatched speed. The scene where he runs in his pajamas in spring training is still the stuff of legend.

Charlie Sheen (Major League)

If you were to build the ultimate baseball movie team, Charlie Sheen’s Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn from Major League would have a permanent spot as the closer. To pull off the dominant pitcher’s fastball, Sheen took it to the extreme and tried out steroids, as he later told Sports Illustrated. 

Damon Wayans (The Last Boy Scout)

Tony Scott’s The Last Boy Scout is an all-time great buddy action movie, one that also features a former professional football player, or at least an actor playing one. Though we don’t see his character in action on the field, Damon Wayans just gives off the energy of a pro quarterback who lost it all. 

Carl Weathers (Rocky)

Carl Weathers’ Apollo Creed was one of the linchpins of the Rocky franchise and served as one of Sylvester Stallone’s best on-screen opponents. Weathers not only looked like a boxer with that ridiculous physique of his (especially in the later movies), but he also had that “it” factor needed to play such a flashy character.

Tom Berenger (Major League)

It’s hard to imagine anyone besides Tom Berenger playing Jake Taylor, the veteran catcher with bad knees and just enough gas left in the tank, in Major League. Throughout the movie, it feels like the Cleveland Indians’ senior slugger has been through the wringer multiple times, and that’s thanks to the incredible work of Berenger.

Chris Hemsworth (Rush)

Ron Howard’s 2013 sports biopic, Rush, features top-notch performances by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl as James Hunt and Niki Lauda, respectively. While Brühl is great with his cool and collected demeanor, it’s Hemsworth who steals the show with his take on the self-confident and talented Formula One driver, thanks in part to the actor’s electric personality and physicality.

Paul Newman (Slap Shot)

There was no way we weren’t going to talk about Paul Newman in Slap Shot. Seriously, try to think about this beloved hockey movie with anyone else taking on Charlestown Chiefs player/coach Reggie Dunlop. Is he the most talented skater on the ice? No. But is believable in his portrayal of good, old-fashioned hockey? You bet! 

James Caan (Brian's Song)

Though James Caan was mostly recognized for his work in the latter half of Brian’s Song, this shouldn’t discount his portrayal of Brian Piccolo before he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. His take on the Chicago Bears halfback, along with Billie Dee Williams’ Gale Sayers, is phenomenal, to say the least.

Denzel Washington (The Hurricane)

Denzel Washington gave a commanding performance in the 1999 sports biopic, The Hurricane, which saw him take on the role of middleweight boxer Rubin “The Hurricane” Carter, who spent nearly 20 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of murder. Washington, once again proving he’s one of the greatest to do it, excels in the ring.

Keanu Reeves (The Replacements)

Audiences never got to see Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Utah throw a pass in Point Break, but we did get to watch the actor play another left-handed quarterback from Ohio State with his portrayal of Shane Falco in The Replacements. This is a "whatever" movie if there’s ever been one, but Reeves looks at home leading the Washington Sentinels after the regular players go on strike.

John Goodman (The Babe)

John Goodman looks like Babe Ruth in the 1992 sports biopic, The Babe, but he doesn’t really play like the Great Bambino. This isn’t a knock on Goodman’s talents as an actor, it’s just that it’s impossible to accurately imitate the unmatched talents of one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

Adam Sandler (Happy Gilmore)

Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore will probably always be considered one of the best sports comedies of all time. The movie is heavy on both humor and sports (especially if you include the hockey scenes), and Sandler pulls off both things really well. 

Raquel Welch (Kansas City Bomber)

In the 1972 sports drama, Kansas City Bomber, the late Raquel Welch played K.C. Carr, a recently retired roller games star who returns to sport to settle an old score. No surprise, Welch was great in the movie and was a dominant physical force on skates.

Robert De Niro (Raging Bull)

One of Robert De Niro’s best movies, Raging Bull, sees the Oscar winner take on the role of middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta at various stages in his life and career. De Niro, who went through a physical transformation for the part, could hold his own in the movie’s various boxing sequences and never looked out of place.

Robert Redford (The Natural)

Would saying Robert Redford looked natural in his take on Roy Hobbs in The Natural be too on the nose? Who cares! Redford’s boyish charm and remarkable swing of his trusty bat, “Wonderboy,” helped make Barry Levinson’s 1972 sports drama an all-time classic. 

Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Not only was Mickey Rourke outstanding in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, but the actor’s portrayal of a washed-up Randy Robinson was also incredibly realistic. Whether he was in the ring or trying to fix the broken pieces of his life in the real world, Rourke bled, cried, and sweated like someone who had been in the squared circle for decades, not months.  

Tom Selleck (Mr. Baseball)

Mr. Baseball is one of those movies that feels like it should have been a much bigger deal, but here we are 30-plus years later with a baseball comedy that never really gets talked about anywhere besides the MLB Network. Despite this, Tom Selleck’s take on Jack Elliot, a New York Yankee who joins the Nagoya Chunichi Dragons of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball League, is both fun and believable. Come on, the Blood Bloods star even took an at-bat in an MLB spring training game a year before the film’s release.

Dwayne Johnson (The Tooth Fairy)

Dwayne Johnson, one of the greatest WWE Champions of all time, and a former college football player for the Miami Hurricanes, played a hockey player in the 2010 Disney movie, The Tooth Fairy. The Rock is great in just about anything, but not so much on the ice.

Will Smith (Ali)

Will Smith received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Muhammad Ali in Michael Mann’s 2001 epic sports biopic, Ali, and he did a decent enough job. The major problem with Smith’s performance doesn’t really have much to do with the actor, but instead, the man he was playing. Smith is great in the boxing sequences, but it’s hard to believe that he’s the greatest of all time and not an actor playing the iconic sports figure.

Dennis Quaid (The Rookie)

Dennis Quaid’s portrayal of Jim Morris in The Rookie is nothing short of magical. The way Quaid plays the high school chemistry teacher who becomes a major league pitcher more than a decade after his baseball dreams died is a lot of fun and believable. He has the heart and determination of the real-life Tamp Bay Devil Rays pitcher, which really carries the film.

Steve McQueen (Le Mans)

If there was a movie where Steve McQueen drives a car at a high rate of speed, you can guarantee the legendary actor looked natural doing so. That’s the case with the 1971 film, Le Mans, in which McQueen played Michael Delaney, a racer with a guilty conscience following a tragic accident. McQueen, who had experience as a race driver, looked like a natural.

Playing a professional sport is no easy task and takes years of training and dedication, but these actors did a fine job of playing athletes on the big screen. While some were better than others, each gave all they had.

Though Hollywood A-listers make more money for one movie that some of us will see in a lifetime, there are times where even some of the highest grossing actors of all time didn’t make as much as you'd think. Over the years, stars like Robert Downey Jr., Julia Roberts, and Brad Pitt have brought in massive paydays for acting and producing, but those same stars have also seen incredibly small paychecks for one reason or another.

If you’ve ever wanted to know about 33 actors who made way less than you’d think for a beloved movie, look no further…

Robert Downey Jr. Made $500,000 For Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr. was the first major star of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and would be a staple of the Infinity Saga for more than a decade. During this time, he made a ton of money for his superhero performances. However, he only took home a comparatively small payday of $500,000 for 2008’s Iron Man, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Bill Murray Made $9,000 For Rushmore

Bill Murray is one of the most beloved actors of all time and a frequent collaborator of Wes Anderson’s ever since the release of Rushmore back in 1998. That fruitful partnership started out modestly for the SNL alum, as he was paid $9,000 for his take on Herman Blume, per Vulture.

Gal Gadot Made $300,000 For Wonder Woman

When Gal Gadot first signed on to portray Diana Prince in the DCEU back in 2014, Variety reported that the Fast & Furious star would take on a salary of $300,000 per movie, including Wonder Woman, which was released three years later.

Julia Roberts Made $300,000 For Pretty Woman

Though she had some success at the box office prior to its release, Julia Roberts turned into a massive star thanks to 1990’s Pretty Woman and one of the most well-known A-listers on the planet. However, Roberts, who would go on to earn a ton of cash for movies like Erin Brockovich years later, reportedly received a modest sum of $300,000 for her role in the all-time great romantic comedy, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Hilary Swank Made $3,000 For Boys Don’t Cry

Hilary Swank won her first Oscar and became one of the most talked about actresses thanks to her transformative portrayal of Brandon Teena in Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don’t Cry. When appearing on Women’s Dinner Party years later, Swank revealed she was paid $3,000 for the role, which wasn’t enough to qualify for health insurance.

Tom Hanks Made $50,000 For Toy Story

Tom Hanks, who won two Academy Awards prior to the 1995 release of Toy Story, was reportedly paid $50,000 to provide the voice of Woody in the landmark Pixar film, according to the Los Angeles Times. In the same article, the publication reported that Hanks made $5 million upfront for its 1999 sequel.

Oprah Winfrey Made $35,000 For The Color Purple

Oprah Winfrey received an Oscar nomination for her performance in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple back in 1985. The media mogul, who is worth billions today, later told Essence she was paid $35,000 for portrayal of Sofia.

Robin Williams Made $75,000 For Aladdin

Aladdin will forever be remembered as one of the best Robin Williams movies, and rightfully so. And while the late actor provided countless hours of incredible lines for his co-starring performance, he only made $75,000 for his troubles, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Jamie Lee Curtis Made $8,000 For Halloween

John Carpenter’s Halloween, one of the best horror movies, turned Jamie Lee Curtis into a scream queen almost overnight. However, the Academy Award winner later told People Magazine that she only made $8,000 for her portrayal of Laurie Strode.

Nick Castle Made $25/Day For Halloween

Nick Castle has played Michael Myers a total of five times over the years, with the most recent being 2022’s Halloween Ends. Though the role made him a horror icon, Castle told Vanity Fair he was only paid $25 for each day of shooting in the original back in 1978.

Matthew McConaughey Made Less Than $200,000 For Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey won an Oscar for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club, a role that ushered in a new era of his career. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he was paid less than $200,000 upfront for the movie9 but did receive an undisclosed amount on the backend.

Chris Evans Made $300,000 For Captain America: The First Avenger

Chris Evans was a driving force for the first few phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was paid handsomely for his efforts later on. However, when he was cast to play Steve Rogers in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, he reportedly only made $300,000, per The Guardian.

Jeff Daniels Made $50,000 For Dumb And Dumber

Jeff Daniels, who was mostly known for his dramatic roles at the time, was cast to appear alongside Jim Carrey in the Farrelly Brothers’ 1994 comedy Dumb and Dumber despite New Line Cinema wanting someone else. Years later, the directors told The Hollywood Reporter that the studio low-balled him with an offer of $50,000, thinking he’d say no. You know the rest.

Taraji P. Henson Made $150,000 For The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Taraji P. Henson received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a performance that netted her a great deal of screen time. However, as she later told Variety, she was only paid $150,000 for the gig, which was several hundred thousand dollars less than her initial request of $500,000.

Jonah Hill Made $60,000 For The Wolf Of Wall Street 

Jonah Hill was paid $60,000 for his portrayal of Donnie Azoff in Martin Scorsese’s 2013 epic comedy The Wolf of Wall Street. While that may seem small considering the size of his role, Hill later told Howard Stern (via BBC) that he immediately took the offer, adding that he would have sold his house and given all his money to work with the acclaimed director. 

Orlando Bloom Made $175,000 For The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy 

Orlando Bloom was an instrumental part of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, with his character, Legolas, being featured heavily throughout all three movies. During a 2023 appearance on The Howard Stern Show, the actor revealed he was paid a total of $175,000 for the entire project.

Jon Heder Initially Made $1,000 For Napoleon Dynamite 

Napoleon Dynamite pretty much came out of nowhere and took the world by storm in 2004, partly because its star, Jon Heder. A few years after the film’s release, Heder told Stuff Magazine that he initially made $1,000 from the movie but was later able to negotiate his deal after MTV picked up distribution.

Daisy Ridley Made Between $100,000 And $300,000 For Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

Daisy Ridley was a relatively unknown actress when she was cast in one of the lead roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which might explain her low salary for the 2015 blockbuster. According to Variety, that number was reportedly between $100,000 and $300,000.

John Boyega Made Between $100,000 And $300,000 For Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

John Boyega’s Finn was one of the most heavily featured characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but the young actor reportedly only received a payday somewhere between $100,000 and $300,000, per Variety.

James Earl Jones Made $7,000 For Star Wars

James Earl Jones’ dynamic voice gave Darth Vader a menacing edge in George Lucas' 1977 film Star Wars (and the rest of the franchise), but did you know that he was only paid $7,000 for the first movie? When speaking with the American Film Institute, the legendary actor admitted that he thought that was good money at the time.

Mel Gibson Made $9,000 For Mad Max 

After appearing in Mad Max, Mel Gibson would go on to lead some of the best action movies of all time, but back when he was cast in the late ‘70s, he was a broke college student. That’s why, as he told ExperienceWith.com, his $9,000 salary for George Miller’s dystopian thriller seemed like a fortune.

Seann William Scott Made $8,000 For American Pie 

American Pie was one of the biggest movies of the ‘90s, and Seann William Scott’s Stifler was its breakout character. So, how much did the young actor make for his career-defining role? Well, as he told The Rich Eisen Show in 2023, he was paid $8,000, most of which he spent on a used Thunderbird.

Christian Bale Made The Minimum Salary For American Psycho 

Christian Bale’s take on the unhinged Patrick Bateman in 2000’s American Psycho is one of the actor’s most unforgettable performances, but it could very well be one of his smallest paydays. Though he didn’t reveal the exact number in a 2022 GQ profile, the actor did say it was the “absolute minimum they were illegally allowed” to pay him.

Michelle Williams Made $625,000 For All The Money In The World 

Michelle Williams was reportedly only paid $625,000 for her portrayal of Gail Harris in Ridley Scott’s 2017 biographical crime thriller All the Money in the World, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Though this is a hefty fee, her co-star, Mark Wahlberg, was reported to have taken home $5 million for his role.

Barkhad Abdi Made $65,000 For Captain Phillips 

Barkhad Abdi became an overnight sensation following the release of Captain Phillips, in which he plays lead pirate Abduwali Muse. According to the New Yorker, Abdi’s acting debut and Oscar-nominated performance earned him $65,000.

Jennifer Lopez Made $0 For Hustlers 

Jennifer Lopez received a Golden Globe nomination for her role in Hustlers, a movie she made for free. During a GQ breakdown of her biggest career moments, the multi-talented star said she starred in and produced the movie for no upfront money, as she was investing in herself. However, it wasn’t disclosed as to how much she made on the backend of the film’s release, which was $157.6 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Gunnar Hansen Made $800 For Texas Chain Saw Massacre 

Gunnar Hansen’s Leatherface is an instantly recognizable horror villain thanks to his mask made of human flesh and signature chainsaw. But did you know that the actor was only paid a three-digit sum for his performance in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre? In 2013, the actor told Fast Company that he made $800 for his part in the iconic ‘70s horror movie.

Dustin Hoffman Made $20,000 For The Graduate 

The Graduate was the movie that turned Dustin Hoffman into a young Hollywood star, but it was also one that didn’t earn him a whole lot of money. According to a 1968 New York Times article, Hoffman reportedly made $20,000 for his career-defining role, but he only ended up keeping $4,000 of that after expenses and taxes were taken out.

John Candy Made $414 For His Home Alone Cameo 

The late John Candy appears in Home Alone for only a few minutes, but it’s still wild to think that his cameo only netted the actor $414. In the Home Alone episode of Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us, it is revealed that Candy’s unforgettable portrayal of Gus Polinski, the Polka King of the Midwest, didn’t necessarily break the bank.

Jessica Chastain Made $1.75 Million For The Martian 

Jessica Chastain’s paycheck for The Martian was shockingly low. Around the time of the film’s 2015 release, there was a report that the actress made $7 million from her part, but she told The Huffington Post that she actually made around a quarter of that, which would be around $1.75 million. The film’s star, Matt Damon, reportedly made between $15 and 25 million for his part.

Brad Pitt Made $6,000 For Thelma And Louise 

Brad Pitt is one of the biggest and highest paid actors around today and has been that way for the better part of the past 30 years. However, that wasn’t always the case. According to the Daily Mail, the actor was paid just $6,000 for his breakout performance as JD in Ridley Scott’s Thelma and Louise.

Jon Voight Made The ‘Minimum’ Salary For Midnight Cowboy 

Jon Voight received all kinds of nominations for his performance in Midnight Cowboy, but the actor was paid the “minimum” for his portrayal of Joe Buck. When disclosing this to The Guardian decades later, Voight also revealed he received a $14.73 charge for meals on the final day of the shoot.

Adam Levine Made $0 For Begin Again 

Maroon 5 frontman and former coach on The Voice Adam Levine appeared in John Carney’s 2014 musical dramedy, Begin Again for free. When speaking with USA Today around the time of the film’s release, Levine explained that he did the movie “for no money,” stating that he had made enough through his other ventures and wanted the experience.

It’s safe to say that all of these actors have done okay for themselves over the years after making relatively small salaries throughout their career. But it’s still wild to think about Robert Downey Jr. only making half-a-million to play Tony Stark. What a steal.

Romantic comedies: They’re not supposed to be dangerous! This isn’t Tom Cruise driving a motorcycle off of a European cliff so he can transition into a base jump. It’s Sandra Bullock having a meet-cute with Keanu Reeves, or Julia Roberts falling for Hugh Grant at a bookstore in Notting Hill. That’s what makes the list of the Best Romantic Comedies of all time. However, Gerard Butler will tell you a story about the time that he almost killed Hilary Swank while the two of them worked on a rom-com, proving that sometimes, blood has to be spilt in order to earn a loved one’s heart. 

The movie in question is P.S. I Love You, an otherwise forgettable romantic comedy from 2007. Gerard Butler plays a recently deceased man who has left behind a series of letters for his widow (Hilary Swank) to find, helping her through her grief. A very sweet premise. But while appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show to promote his action-thriller Plane, he told a story about a scene that went horribly awry, and sent Swank to the hospital. Butler said:

I searched online for the clip in question, and found one of Gerard Butler in suspenders, but there was no dancing. It also seemed relatively harmless, which is not how he remembered it. He went on to tell Drew Barrymore:

Brutal. Totally unintentional! But still brutal. The movie didn’t really suffer from the devastation. We gave P.S. I Love You a decent grade in our official review. And Butler kept making movies, many of which are available to stream right now (though some of them, you might want to avoid). In the moment, however, Gerard Butler thought he was finished. He concluded to Barrymore, making her howl with laughter:

Making movies is really hard, folks. And occasionally dangerous, even on the ones that you don’t assume would be. Gerard Butler shared scarier stories from his time filming Plane, an action thriller that we’d assume causes bodily harm, at least according to the movie’s trailer. Then there was that time the actor ate raw chicken on a movie set. Never let it be said Butler can’t be Method. But in this case, an accident led to a bloody Hilary Swank, and Butler had a scary story to tell on daytime television. 

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has had a long and wildly successful career as both an actress and entrepreneur. After coming up in the ‘90s and winning an Academy Award, she eventually started her own company Goop. And while recently appearing on a late night talk show, Paltrow joked about cocaine and going home with “some rando” while being famous during that somewhat infamous decade of time.

Gwyneth Paltrow rose to prominence thanks to her role in projects like Seven, Emma, and Sliding Doors, prior to winning an Oscar for her performance in Shakespeare in Love. During that time she also famously dated other celebrities like Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck. Paltrow recently appeared in The Late Late Show with James Corden (which is ending its run on TV soon), where she was asked what it was like being famous before cell phones became commonplace. She responded hilariously saying:

Talk about honesty. While joking about drug use and hook ups, Gwyneth Paltrow definitely had a point. Namely that it was easier to be famous back in the ‘90s, and that celebrities could still operate with some level of anonymity. Unfortunately, that’s definitely not the case nowadays. Instead she’s an extremely public figure who recently bore it all for a photoshoot as she turned 50. 

Gwyneth Paltrow’s comments to James Corden are sure to go viral, thanks to her jokes about doing cocaine and “going home with some rando” at the height of her ‘90s fame. As she stepped largely away from acting in recent years, fans have been able to get to know more about Paltrow as a person– especially thanks to her Netflix series The Goop Lab. You can watch Paltrow’s recent appearance on The Late Late Show below:

As you can see, Gwyneth Paltrow appeared alongside fellow Oscar winner Hillary Swank, who is currently pregnant with twins. The two swapped stories about motherhood and pregnancy, before James Corden asked about their experience being famous in the 1990s. While now Paltrow is a mother and entrepreneur, it sounds like she got to sew some wild oats in her heyday, as we all should. 

Of course, many of Gwneth Paltrow’s fans are hoping she eventually puts her focus back on acting. While she’s appeared in Netflix’s The Politician and as Pepper Potts in the MCU, she’s largely been focusing on Goop and parenting. But who knows? Maybe she’ll find the right project to reignite her passion for acting. Only time will tell.

Gwyneth Paltrow doesn’t currently have any upcoming film or TV projects lined up, but she does have a brief voice role in She Said. Be sure to check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. Just don’t expect to see her suit back up as Pepper Potts anytime soon. 

Cobra Kai has found ways to incorporate just about every major star of the Karate Kid franchise and give their characters chances to grow. As of Season 5’s end, we’ve had every major villain Daniel LaRusso took on, but there’s still one glaring omission in the guest star lineup that fans desperately want to see: Hilary Swank. The Next Karate Kid star has said that she’s still waiting on her call to be in the Netflix series, and Ralph Macchio has some thoughts on that. 

CinemaBlend spoke to Ralph Macchio about his latest book Waxing On: The Karate Kid And Me, which is loaded with the actor’s personal stories about working on The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai. Macchio also talks about other projects he wasn’t as heavily involved in like The Next Karate Kid, so it seemed like a great time to ask if he’d seen Hilary Swank’s comments about not being called and whether he’d like to see her appear. He shared:

Ralph Macchio wanted to make it clear that while he’s one of the stars of Cobra Kai, having Hilary Swank appear in the series as Julie Pierce isn’t really up to him. That falls on the shoulders of the co-showrunners, who once told CinemaBlend they’d discussed plans for if Swank ever reprised her role. Those discussions evidently haven’t resulted in a phone call of any kind. 

Hilary Swank not appearing in Cobra Kai doesn’t sound like a slight to the actress or her contribution to the Miyagiverse, in case anyone thought that after hearing she hasn’t received a call to join. Ralph Macchio continued with his thoughts about Julie Pierce meeting up with Daniel LaRusso and finished with his honest thoughts on where things stand with inviting her: 

Ralph Macchio can’t give any guarantees, but it sounds like he’d expect Cobra Kai to offer Hilary Swank a chance to return should the story call for it, and the timing works out. With that said, there’s no telling if the timing will work out anytime soon, as Swank recently announced she’s expecting twins. I can imagine that she might not be down for any classic intense fight scenes! Of course, we’re still waiting on the official word that Season 6 is happening, but hopefully, that as well as a future Swank appearance as Julie Pierce will be confirmed in the coming months. 

Cobra Kai Seasons 1 through 5 are available to anyone with a Netflix subscription. Anyone looking to see Hilary Swank as Julie Pierce can also check out The Next Karate Kid on the platform, and see Mr. Miyagi’s other protege kick some ass.

The 2022 fall TV schedule is in full swing, which means there are loads of new and returning shows coming out on just about every channel and streaming service imaginable, with more being released each day. One of those shows, Alaska Daily, made its debut on ABC on Thursday and welcomed audiences into the newsroom of a daily paper where reporters, including one played by Hilary Swank, are attempting to get to the bottom of a series of mysterious disappearances.

After watching the new addition to the ABC 2022 fall lineup, there’s a good chance you’re asking yourself why everyone in the Alaska Daily cast looks so familiar. Well, wonder no more because we’re about to uncover the story on all the actors on Tom McCarthy’s latest addition to the world of great journalism movies and TV shows.

Hilary Swank (Eileen Fitzgerald)

Leading off things on Alaska Daily is Hilary Swank, who takes on the role of former New York City journalist Eileen Fitzgerald, who joins the team run by her former mentor in Anchorage, Alaska, after being canned from her prestigious role.

Throughout her career, Swank’s work on the big screen has earned her Oscars and Golden Globes for roles in movies like Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby, as well as a great deal of praise for performances in the likes of The Homesman, Logan Lucky, and Insomnia, Christopher Nolan’s 2002 thriller remake which coincidentally also took place in Alaska. Following a break from acting in the early 2010s, Swank returned on shows like Trust, BoJack Horseman, and Away.

Jeff Perry (Stanley Cornik)

Taking on the role of Stanley Cornik, Eileen’s mentor who offers a new job and a fresh start on Alaska Daily, is Jeff Perry.

No stranger when it comes to TV shows, especially in terms of classic ABC dramas like My So-Called Life and Grey’s Anatomy, Perry has spent a large portion of his career entertaining viewers week-in and week-out. After taking even the briefest of glances at his filmography, you’ll pick up shows like Nash Bridges, Chicago Hope, Prison Break, Scandal, and dozens of others that saw Perry appear in smaller roles.

Matt Malloy (Bob Young)

Veteran film and TV actor Matt Malloy shows up in the Alaska Daily cast as Bob Young, an employee at the metro newspaper at the center of the show’s story.

Throughout his career, which goes back to the the late 1980s, Malloy has appeared on dozens of shows ranging from The West Wing to Law and Order and Star Trek: Enterprise to Malcolm in the Middle, and everything else under the sun. He’s also had larger roles on shows like Alpha House, Six Feet Under, and Tanner ’88, to name only a few. His film credits are just as impressive, with movies like In the Company of Men, Armageddon, Jeff, Who Lives at Home, Battle of the Sexes, and The United States of Leland.

Meredith Holzman (Claire Muncy)

Taking on the role of Anchorage local Claire Muncy, who uses her familiarity with the community to provide key insight during Eileen’s investigation on Alaska Daily is Meredith Holzman.

Holzman knows a thing or two about appearing on drama series that deal with crime and mysteries, as she previously landed roles on shows like The Sinner, Inventing Anna, and The Good Fight, to name just a few. Throughout her career, Holzman has also popped up on shows like Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Only Murders in the Building, Chicago Fire, Madame Secretary, and The Blacklist.

Grace Dove (Rosalind ‘Roz’ Friendly)

Grace Dove shows up on the Alaska Daily cast as Rosalind ‘Roz’ Friendly, the young reporter Eileen reluctantly takes under her wing as she begins to investigate the various missing persons reports in and around Anchorage.

Dove appeared alongside Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio in Alejandro Iñárritu’s decorated 2015 adventure drama, The Revenant, in which she briefly played DiCaprio’s onscreen wife. In the years since then, Dove has landed roles in movies like O for a Thousand Tongues, How It Ends, Monkey Beach, and the World War II-era drama, Bones of Crows, which premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

Pablo Castelblanco (Gabriel Tovar)

Joining the Alaska Daily cast as young Anchorage newspaper reporter Gabriel Tovar is Pablo Castelblanco, who is a relative newcomer to the acting world when compared to some of his co-stars.

But, despite only having credits that go back to a little more than half-a-decade, Castelblanco’s credits so far are pretty impressive. This includes shows like his small-screen debut on the Fox horror comedy series Scream Queens, New Girl, Dear White People, Room 104, and various short films like There’s No Such Thing As a Dragon, and Admission.

Ami Park (Yuna Park)

Ami Park appears in the Alaska Daily cast as Yuna Park, a young, rookie reporter who is willing to do anything to help Eileen get to the bottom of the show’s core mystery.

Prior to landing a role on the new ABC newspaper drama series, Park made brief appearances on a list of shows that include intense family dramas like This Is Us and High Notes, as well as various others. She has also shown up in nearly a dozen short films, including Power to the People: The Yuri Kochiyama Story, Many Names, and Nightlight, to name only a few.

Craig Frank (Austin Teague)

Rounding out the Alaska Daily cast is Craig Frank, who shows up on the newspaper drama series as Austin Teague, another figure in the Anchorage newsroom.

Throughout his career, Frank has popped up on multiple TV shows like Silicon Valley, Sideswiped, You’re the Worst, Two Broke Girls, Knights in Hyrule, 8.13, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and countless others dating back to the early 2000s. 

These are just the major players in the Alaska Daily cast , and you can expect to see even more recognizable faces when new episodes of Tom McCarthy’s drama series debut at 10 p.m. ET Thursdays on ABC. Though don’t feel bad if you miss the episodes as they air live, as anyone with a Hulu subscription can catch up the following day, though fans will want to make sure to watch as much as possible, as the drama's ratings make it a potential candidate to get cancelled this year.

Stream Alaska Daily on Hulu.

Tom McCarthy has played a major role in two very different projects that focused on the profession of print journalism: first as an actor on the HBO drama series The Wire, and, years later, as the writer and director of the 2015 Best Picture winner, Spotlight. Though the two projects were drastically different in their treatment of the profession, both centered on complicated characters doing what they thought was best, either for themselves or the victims of a widespread conspiracy. And now McCarthy will get another shot at tackling the world of daily newspapers with new drama series, Alaska Daily. 

The ABC show starring Hilary Swank as a reporter with a questionable past attempting to make a fresh start will be released before you know it, and will once again see McCarthy continue his history of tackling topics within the newspaper industry. In the event that you haven’t heard too much about the show that is slated to premiere during the 2022 Fall TV schedule, worry not, because we’re about to go over a few quick things we know about the series so far…

Alaska Daily Premieres October 6th On ABC

When the ABC 2022 Fall schedule was released earlier in the year, it boasted a ton of great returning shows as well as some newcomers to the network. One of those new shows was Alaska Daily (the working title was Alaska), which is set to premiere at 10 p.m. on Thursday, October 6th, and close out the night’s scripted programming (Station 19 and Grey’s Anatomy precede it).

those who don’t have access to cable, internet TV services, or over-the-air antennas aren’t out of luck, as anyone with a Hulu subscription will be able to watch Alaska Daily on the streaming service the day after it premieres on ABC. 

The Alaska Daily Cast Is Led By Hilary Swank

Leading the Alaska Daily cast is Hilary Swank, who takes on the role of Eileen Fitzgerald, the talented award-winning investigative journalist who moves to the frozen landscape of Anchorage in the upcoming drama series. 

Other members of the cast include Jeff Perry (Scandal) as Stanley Cornik, Matt Malloy (Drop Dead Gorgeous) as Bob Young, Meredith Holzman (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit) as Claire Muncy, Grace Dove (The Revenant) as Rosalind “Roz” Friendly, Pablo Castelblanco (Scream Queens) as Gabriel Tovar, Ami Park (This Is Us) as Yuna Park, and Craig Frank (Silicon Valley) as Austin Teague, ABC has announced.

The Series Centers On An Investigative Journalist As She Starts A New Life In Anchorage, Alaska

When Alaska Daily takes to the airwaves (and streaming the following day) in October, it will center on Hilary Swank’s Eileen Fitzgerald, as the investigative journalist experiences a fall from grace and leaves her life in New York City behind to get a fresh start working for a daily newspaper in Anchorage. While there, Eileen will find a way to redeem both her professional and personal lives during an ongoing investigation into at the death of a Native Alaskan, which could very well be a homicide.

When speaking with TV Guide (via TV Insider) prior to the Alaska Daily premiere, show creator Tom McCarthy revealed that he was inspired by a series of investigative reports about Native Alaskan communities in the Anchorage Daily that ran from 2019 to 2020. 

The Alaska Daily Pilot Was Written And Directed By Show Creator Tom McCarthy

In addition to creating Alaska Daily and serving as one of the show’s executive producers, Tom McCarthy also wrote and directed the pilot episode, ABC has announced. Throughout his career, McCarthy has won an Academy Award for his screenplay for Spotlight and was nominated for writing the script for the 2009 Pixar film Up, meaning we have him to thank for that heartbreaking opening segment. 

This also won’t be McCarthy’s first time writing or directing on the small screen, as the acclaimed filmmaker has worked on shows like 13 Reasons Why and The Loudest Voice in the past. McCarthy was also the director of the original Game of Thrones pilot, which was canned and reshot after the show’s creators, Dan Weiss and David Benioff weren’t happy with the results.

There is no word on whether or not McCarthy wrote or directed any additional episodes of Alaska Daily or who will also sit in the director’s chair throughout the show’s first season.

Peter Elkoff Is The Alaska Daily Showrunner

Brought in to keep Alaska Daily up and running on ABC is Peter Elkoff, who was announced as one of the executive producers and the showrunner earlier this year. Elkoff, who most recently served as co-showrunner and executive producer on the Fox medical drama, The Resident, brings with him years of experience working on TV sets as well as some work in the film world.

Throughout his career, Elkoff has worked on a wide variety of shows that includes everything from Sons of Anarchy to Gossip Girl (the original series) and Ugly Betty to Heroes Reborn, and so much more. When Alaska Daily lands on Hulu the day following its ABC debut, it will be the second show produced by Elkoff to end up on the platform, with the first being the Hugh Laurie-led drama, Chance, which ran there for two seasons starting in 2016.

The Alaska Daily Teaser Offers A Glimpse At The Show’s Central Mystery

In August 2022, ABC released the Alaska Daily teaser trailer which offers a glimpse at the show’s central mystery, while not giving too much away about the story that will begin to unfold upon its debut. Clocking in at exactly 30 seconds, the trailer shows Hilary Swank’s Eileen Fitzgerald as she learns more about the mysterious series of disappearances upon joining the staff of the show’s daily newspaper. 

After watching the video, it’s easy to pick up on some of the themes of the show, especially when Jeff Perry’s Stanley Cornik begins to give a speech about the merits of journalism and responsibility of those in the profession. It almost plays out like a combination of McCarthy’s experiences with The Wire and Spotlight.

Alaska Daily is set to premiere Thursday, October 6th on ABC. If you’re looking for a way to spend the time until then, why not check out some of the best journalism movies while you wait for the show’s debut.

Alan Ritchson was already familiar to Smallville and Titans viewers for respectively playing Aquaman and Hawk, but now fans of the Lee Child-created Jack Reacher are well acquainted with him too. Following Tom Cruise’s run as the character in the cinematic realm last decade, Ritchson is bringing Jack Reacher to life on Amazon’s Reacher series, and along with him obviously being overjoyed he’ll continue to play the role in a second season, it’s also been announced that the actor is lined up to star in a movie with Million Dollar Baby’s Hilary Swank.

Hailing from Kingdom Story Company, with Lionsgate handling distribution, Ordinary Angels is based on a true story about a struggling hairdresser, played by Hilary Swank, who rallies the community to help a widowed father, played by Alan Ritchson, save the life of his critically-ill daughter. All of this happens while Kentucky is bombarded by its worst snowstorm in history. 

This marks Alan Ritchson’s latest team-up with Lionsgate, as the studio previously distributed Dark Web: Cicada 3301, which the actor starred in, co-wrote and directed. For Hilary Swank, Ordinary Angels will be her first movie since her 2020 offerings The Hunt and Fatale, the former of which was originally supposed to come out in 2019 until the controversy surrounding its subject matter saw Universal Pictures temporarily canceling The Hunt’s release. She also led the Netflix series Away, which was cancelled after just one season. Although Ordinary Angels’ premise sounds like it won’t be lacking in twists and turns, it’s a good bet Ritchson won’t have to worry about him suffering any fight scene-related injuries like he dealt with while shooting Reacher, including needing to go through surgery after Season 1 wrapped.

Behind the scenes, Deadline shared that The Unbreakable Boy’s Jon Dunn is directing Ordinary Angels and co-writing the latest draft of the script with Jon Erwin; Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig wrote an earlier draft. Stampede Ventures, Vertigo Entertainment, Stolen Sky Productions and Green Hummingbird Entertainment are also involved in the production. Gunn said the following about coming aboard Ordinary Angels:

There’s no word yet on when Ordinary Angels will begin shooting, and presumably we’ll have to wait a little bit to learn who else will be joining Alan Ritchson and Hilary Swank in the cast. Regardless, I’m intrigued to see how these two do performing opposite one another. This movie is also sounds like it’s right in Kingdom Story Company’s wheelhouse, as this is the production company behind the Zachary Levi-led American Underdog, which was released at the end of 2021.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more news concerning Ordinary Angels’ journey to the big screen. If you’re wanting to catch Alan Ritchson in action as Jack Reacher, his show can be watched with an Amazon Prime subscription. As for Hilary Swank, since last September, she’s been attached to star in an untitled, Alaska-set drama pilot for ABC from Spotlight director Tom McCarthy.

Before the TV show earned its spot in pop culture history the Buffy The Vampire Slayer movie gave us a campy teen movie about a valley girl who is from a long line of vampire hunters. This was Kristy Swanson’s breakout role, but did you know other actors like Ben Affleck and Hilary Swank also got their start in this movie? Keep reading to see what they, and the rest of the cast are up to today.

Kristy Swanson (Buffy)

Before Sarah Michelle Gellar was launched to stardom on the Buffy The Vampire Slayer TV show, Kristy Swanson originated the titular role of everyone’s favorite cheerleader turned vampire slayer. Although the film was a box office flop, it found new life on home video and has since become a cult classic. After Buffy, Swanson had a string of early-'90s hits including Charlie Sheen hits Hot Shots! and The Chase. After a string of box office bombs in the late-'90s, Swanson transitioned to TV work.

In 1998 she had a starring role in Early Edition, a pre-Friday Night Lights Kyle Chandler series, and has had a steady stream of guest roles including a recurring role as Marlowe Viccellio on the fan-favorite USA series, Psych, and recently-moved-to-Paramount+ series, SEAL Team. Swanson has also been frequently collaborating with fellow TV star Dean Cain on a bunch of religious-themed movies, and also a play focused on former FBI Agents Peter Strozk and Lisa Paige, a role for which Swanson has revealed she has received death threats.

Donald Sutherland (Merrick) 

As Merrick, Donald Sutherland portrayed the original watcher to Buffy’s slayer, the person who guides and mentors her through her vampire hunting. Sutherland was a popular actor prior to Buffy, with a career dating back to 1962 and appearing in films such as the popular firefighter drama, Backdraft. Sutherland’s post-Buffy work has also been impressive, starring in over 50 roles, including The Italian Job, the Oscar-winning Cold Mountain, and the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice. More recently, he appeared in the hugely popular Hunger Games franchise as the villainous President Coriolanus Snow.

Sutherland is no stranger to television either, with supporting roles in several shows including ABC’s popular, but short-lived Dirty Sexy Money, the FX oil drama Trust, and most recently as Nicole Kidman’s father in the HBO miniseries, The Undoing. The unique timbre of Sutherland’s voice has also netted him a string of voice work over the years, including a series of commercials for Delta Airlines. As a native son of Canada, Sutherland also did voice work for the 2010 Winter Olympics which were held in Vancouver, where he also got to be a flag carrier.

Ben Affleck (Basketball Player)

Bet you forgot Ben Affleck was in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, didn’t you? An uncredited, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo, Affleck briefly appears as a high school basketball player, who apparently had his line dubbed over. What’s he been up to since then? Just becoming one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, as well as a critically acclaimed director. Oh, and he was Batman. Really, you could stop it there, he was Batman. Just Kidding! Affleck’s early career includes being the Leonardo DiCaprio to Kevin Smith’s Martin Scorsese, but what really put him on the map was winning an Oscar for co-writing the 1997 hit, Good Will Hunting, alongside his Bostonian Best Friend, Matt Damon.

After a stint as one of Hollywood’s leading men in the late '90s and early 2000’s, Affleck’s career came crashing down after co-starring in the maligned, Gigli, alongside then girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez. A few years spent in actor jail gave Affleck the time to reinvent himself as a director, including critically acclaimed hits Gone Baby Gone, The Town and Argo. Of course, one of his most high profile roles in the last decade has been portraying Batman in the Snyderverse including the recently released Zack Snyder's Justice League, which he is set to reprise in The Flash, due in 2022 from Andy Muschietti.

Hilary Swank (Kimberly)

Who knew Buffy The Vampire Slayer would launch the careers of not one, but two Academy Award winning stars? While Buffy was Swank’s first film credit, playing Buffy’s cheerleader friend, Kimberly, it certainly would not be her last. Her first breakout role came in the 1994 fourth installment of The Karate Kid, cleverly titled, The Next Karate Kid. After some TV movies and even a recurring role on Beverly Hills, 90210 alongside fellow Buffy alum Luke Perry, Swank rocketed to the top of Hollywood’s A-list with her Oscar winning performance in the 1999 drama, Boys Don’t Cry, a role Swank has said if she was offered today she would turn down in favor of casting a transgender actor.

Swank also joined a rarefied list of double Best Actress winners after starring in Clint Eastwood’s critically acclaimed boxing drama, Million Dollar Baby, but her career began to slow down after that, though she did go on to have the title role in the Amelia Earhart biopic, Amelia, as well as roles in P.S. I Love You, Logan Lucky and 55 Steps. More recently, Swank is back in the mainstream, appearing alongside Buffy alum Donald Sutherland in FX’s Trust, and the short-lived Netflix astronaut drama, Away. She also voiced the role of Joey Pogo in BoJack Horseman.

Rutger Hauer (Lothos)

Rutger Hauer’s most iconic role actually came before his turn as Lothos in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Sci-Fi fans will remember him as Roy Batty from the groundbreaking 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner. After a slew of '80s films, Hauer was cast in mostly low budget movies and television. Genre fans might remember him from some guest spots in Smallville and True Blood, and a part as the acting CEO of Wayne Enterprises in Batman Begins. Hauer passed away in 2019 at 75 of what was reported as a “short illness”. Check out a supercut of Hauer’s wonderful bizarre Guinness ads from the late '80s and '90s:

David Arquette (Benny)

Spoiler Alert: David Arquette has spent a lot of time as a professional wrestler. Arquette played Benny, Luke Perry’s friend-turned-vampire, who you might remember from the scene where Buffy slices his hot dog (this is not a euphemism). Arquette wouldn’t reach superstardom until 1996’s horror hit, Scream, playing Deputy Dewey. After a string of turn-of-the-millennium hits including the rest of the Scream franchise, Never Been Kissed and Eight Legged Freaks, Arquette’s career took an interesting left turn.

After starring in the 2000 comedy Ready to Rumble, about the now defunct WCW, Arquette took a real interest in the sport. While he’s still had a steady stream of supporting work and voice work, he’s made a very serious attempt at becoming a professional wrestler, which has culminated in the 2020 documentary aptly titled, You Cannot Kill David Arquette. Arquette is slated to reprise his role as Deputy Dewey in the upcoming Scream 5 due in January 2022.

Paul Reubens (Amilyn)

Reubens will always be known for his iconic persona Pee-Wee Herman, which he inhabited during the '80s and into the early '90s. However, his career came to a screeching halt in the wake of his 1991 arrest for masturbation inside an adult movie theater in Florida. His role as Amilyn, Lothos’ henchman, came after this arrest at a time when he was taking on smaller roles that were mostly out of the spotlight. Since then, Reubens has made a career of supporting work including a guest stint on the '90s comedy Murphy Brown, which netted him an Emmy nomination.

A small part in the 1999 Johnny Depp drama, Blow, began a revival of his career, which has led to higher profile supporting work that has been very eclectic. Reubens has popped up on everything from 30 Rock, to the James Spader crime procedural, The Blacklist, and also a steady stream of voice work. His Pee-Wee Herman character has also been slowly brought back, which led to the 2015, Judd Apatow-produced film for Netflix, Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday.

Randall Batinkoff (Jeffrey)

Batinkoff’s role as Buffy’s boyfriend, Jeffrey, landed him some starring roles in the early '90s, including a role in the Brendan Fraser drama, School Ties. Since then he’s been a working actor, with guest roles in films and TV, most notably as George Washington in the CW Arrowverse show, Legends of Tomorrow.

Paris Vaughan (Vicki)

As part of Buffy’s cheer squad, Paris Vaughan’s character of Vicki didn’t have much to do in the film. Vaughan had some early roles before Buffy, including Knightwatch, a brief '80s TV show about teen vigilantes that also was an early role for Benjamin Bratt, but hasn’t acted since a guest spot on The Wayans Bros. in 1995. According to IMDB she’s currently married to retired hockey player Russ Courtnall.

Michele Abrams (Jennifer)

Another of Buffy’s cheer squad members, Michele Abrams made a go of acting in the 1990s. Some of her other credits include the daytime soap, Days Of Our Lives, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman, and 7th Heaven. Her final screen role was in the 1999 TV movie Replacing Dad.

Luke Perry

Luke Perry’s Pike was the opposites attract, outcast love interest to Buffy’s cheerleader personality. The original bad boy, vampire killing boyfriend (eat your heart out, Angel), Buffy and Pike ride off on a motorcycle together. Coming into Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Perry was already a teen heartthrob thanks to his breakout turn as the bad boy (you may be sensing a pattern here) with a heart of gold, Dylan McKay on the seminal teen drama, Beverly Hills, 90210. While Perry did appear in a number of films, most ended up direct-to-video. He found more success in television, including memorable roles in the early HBO prison drama, Oz, as well as a starring role in the mid-2000’s Showtime post-apocalypse drama, Jeremiah.

Luke Perry also did theater, appearing in lead roles in adaptations of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and When Harry Met Sally… Perry roared back to pop culture in a big way beginning in 2017 taking a lead role in the CW megahit, Riverdale, playing Archie’s father. Sadly, Perry passed away in March 2019 after suffering a massive stroke. His final on-screen role was a small part he shot for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

With a TV reboot long in development, Buffy continues to stay relevant in media. Although the film was a flop, the cast is stacked with A-list Hollywood talent, and this cult classic has its spot in the pop culture pantheon. If you’re itching for a rewatch or jumping in for the first time, Buffy The Vampire Slayer is available to stream on Starz or buy on Amazon Prime Video. Make sure to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest updates on the latest Buffy updates.

Cobra Kai Season 3 is on its way to Netflix, and with its arrival comes another chapter in the lives of Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso. It should be an exciting season for both characters, as their feud with each other has created quite a mess for both of them and the teens they've trained over the past couple of seasons.

With a lot of things in flux for our two main men, I have to question if it isn't time to bring a lady into the mix to shake things up. No, I'm not talking about Ali Mills, but rather another prominent female character in The Karate Kid franchise who still has yet to appear. The Next Karate Kid Julie Pierce still has yet to appear in this revival, and I think there are plenty of reasons to bring Hilary Swank's character into the mix in a future season if Cobra Kai has an opportunity.

Wait, Who Was Julie Pierce?

If you stopped watching The Karate Kid movies when Daniel LaRusso wasn't the main character anymore, you probably wouldn't know who Julie Pierce is. The Next Karate Kid follows Julie Pierce, an orphaned troublemaking teen whose grandfather was Mr. Miyagi's commanding officer in WW2. Miyagi, seeing Julie's grandmother is struggling with keeping her in line, offers to briefly take charge of the girl while she attends her high school.

After Julie rescues herself from nearly getting hit by a car, Miyagi learns that she was taught karate by her father. Miyagi sees Julie's talent and an opportunity to further develop her skills in karate as an outlet. She uses those skills in order to take on a group of trouble-making boys at her school, as well as their security instructor whose masochistic values create a gang of bullies with training to really do some damage to whoever their target is.

The movie was far from critically acclaimed, but it's widely recognized as a breakout role for Hilary Swank, and one that furthers the mythology of The Karate Kid in a meaningful way. The link between Julie Pierce and Miyagi leaves an opening for her character to appear in the series, and given what's happening in the series, the time couldn't be better.

What Julie Pierce Could Bring To Cobra Kai

If the past two seasons of Cobra Kai taught viewers anything, it's that Daniel is incapable of responsibly running Miyagi-Do and his regular life. Following Season 2 when Samantha was injured at the high school fight, Daniel's wife Amanda told him Miyagi-Do was done for him, no exception.

While I can imagine Daniel will eventually get back to teaching karate, perhaps there's a middle ground where he can still oversee the dojo without being so all-in and neglecting his other responsibilities. This is where someone like Hilary Swank's Julie Pierce can come in, as another known practitioner of Miyagi's Goju-Ryu. Depending on what she has going on in life, perhaps she could be that right-hand woman for Daniel to run this school and set these trouble-making teens straight.

Then again, I'm assuming that Julie Pierce has her anger fully in check in her adulthood. Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence clearly still have their faults as adults, so it would be silly to assume her faults are completely taken care of as an adult as well. Even so, that type of messiness is welcome in Cobra Kai and another direction for this highly-successful series to explore.

Why Hilary Swank Could Actually Join Cobra Kai

Cobra Kai Season 3 is just a couple of months away, and with more fans than ever obsessing about it, it would be really hard to sneak in some secret castings people wouldn't catch on to. I'm not going to rule it out entirely, but if I were a betting man, I would put money on the Netflix series not nabbing Hilary Swank for a role or cameo scene in the series for Season 3.

With that being said, the series is said to be doing very well at Netflix, and could foreseeably continue on for a while and continue to gain popularity. It may be unrealistic to expect Hilary Swank to make a cameo or have a guest-starring role in Cobra Kai in Season 3, but I don't think it's at all crazy to think Season 4 or Season 5 is out of the question. We've been told any and all characters in the franchise are fair game for this series, and when I think of a list of characters I'd like to see before the series ends, Julie is at my top of the list.

Plus, with Hilary Swank already a part of the Netflix family with a voice role in Bojack Horseman and the series Away (which was canceled, unfortunately), it almost feels like the odds are good that she could appear in Cobra Kai. Netflix is seemingly all about synergy with its actors, and once one actor joins in on an original series, it's not at all uncommon to see them pop up in others. With Swank already a part of The Karate Kid family, and with a recent relationship with Netflix, I would think it wouldn't be that hard for the Cobra Kai team to reach out and gauge her interest in reprising her role as Julie Pierce.

So while I can't say for sure whether Hilary Swank is at all interested in appearing in Cobra Kai and re-living her days from The Next Karate Kid, I do think there's a good possibility it could happen. Whether or not that's in the plans for the Cobra Kai team is another story, especially with some of the things the show seems to be working towards. Ultimately if it doesn't happen I don't think the series will be any worse for it, though I do think it'll be a missed opportunity and wonder what could have been.

Cobra Kai Seasons 1 and 2 are now available to stream on Netflix. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest happening in the franchise, and for more news in the world of television and movies.

Netflix strikes again. After a single season on the streamer, Away has been cancelled. Hilary Swank starred on the show, which joins many others in getting cancelled this year. In light of the grim news that Away will not launch a second season, Swank took to social media to share her response with fans. The announcement comes despite Away doing well, according to Netflix’s daily Top Ten reveal.

Hilary Swank was nothing but classy in her post about Away’s cancellation. The Oscar-winning actress went to Instagram to share her response:

Well, that was sweet of her to say. Hilary Swank thanked fans for tuning into Away while sharing her love for the time she did get to spend on the one-season drama. At least fans have The Right Stuff to enjoy, when it comes to space-related drama. Still, the Disney+ series would definitely not be the same as Away. The show’s three-year mission to Mars is not going to unfold over three seasons after all.

Away's cancellation comes not all that long after it premiered on Netflix. A little more than a month after making its debut in September, Netflix has cancelled any future missions for the Hilary Swank starrer. This news follows the streaming giant cancelling freshman dramas The Society and I Am Not Okay With This. The Society’s cancellation happened despite it already being renewed beforehand.

In Away’s case, the news came swiftly and without much warning, as far as I could tell. To riff off of Neil Armstrong’s famous quote, Hilary Swank being on a Netflix series was a huge “step” for Swank and a “giant leap” for her fans. Hopefully, she ends up on another show soon. Away saw the actress deal with her share of unanticipated physical challenges playing Emma Green in zero gravity.

While those difficulties proved more problematic than they might have appeared on paper, Hilary Swank sounds grateful to have gone on the ride. As for exploring more romance and space love, Away will not be going near either by way of Season 2. Speaking of which, now is probably a better time than ever to point you toward our list of shows worth streaming if you liked Away.

It is a tough day for fans, but hopefully, it will get better in time. To her massive credit, Hilary Swank certainly took the optimistic approach with her reaction, in my opinion. Away’s first and now only season is streaming on Netflix along with lots of 2020 premieres. While you try to digest the sad news about Away being cancelled, check out this fall’s schedule for another TV option.

Cobra Kai has really caught a new wave of popularity following its arrival on Netflix, and there's no shortage of people already curious about what will happen in The Karate Kid sequel series in Season 3. It does feel like the sky is the limit for any and everything to happen after that wild Season 2 finale, and that literally anything can happen.

And when anything can happen, it's hard not to believe anyone from Daniel LaRusso's past may work their way back into the story. Here are just some of the major names that still have yet to appear, and ones I at least will make an appearance sometime before the series' ending.

Ali Mills

One of the most glaring omissions of Cobra Kai so far, Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue) has been mentioned but has yet to be seen in the series. Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence's ex-high school girlfriend isn't around and apparently, has gotten married in the years since. Honestly, that's not all that surprising, but Season 2 did end with a cliffhanger of her reaching out to respond to Johnny's friend request. Given that Johnny still has some unrequited feelings from that relationship, and this is a television show where unrealistic things can happen, I wouldn't expect we'll wait much longer before we see Ali make her Cobra Kai debut.

Terry Silver

The baddest of the bad guys, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) is the mastermind behind it all in The Karate Kid. He was the guy that gave John Kreese money for Cobra Kai, and one of those stereotypical corporate villains whose company dumps toxic waste in the environment. He also played a key role in The Karate Kid III.  Did I mention he was a badass karate master as well? This guy is the full package, and possibly the reason why John Kreese was able to regain control of Cobra Kai in Season 2 so quickly. Are Kreese and Silver still close, and if so, when will he make himself known?

Kumiko

After Ali and Daniel broke up, there was Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita). Daniel and Kumiko were a thing in The Karate Kid Part II, but the two went their separate ways after the film. Kumiko actually ended up getting an offer at a dancing school in Tokyo. Who knows where life has taken her since, but considering Daniel LaRusso has kept tabs on what Ali has been up to on social media, I would imagine he and Kumiko are friends on Facebook as well. I'm not exactly sure how she'd come back into the story, though it would be interesting to hear maybe she ended up getting together with Chozen after all?

Chozen Toguchi

People think Johnny Lawrence's life was ruined by Daniel LaRusso in Cobra Kai but think about the raw deal Chozen Tuguchi (Yuji Okumoto) got. Not only did he get disowned by his uncle, but he made a fool out of himself by requesting that Daniel kill him after their fight and Daniel honked his nose like a circus clown. That's the kind of disrespect that sticks with someone their whole life, so I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Chozen Toguchi could be convinced to get in business with anyone who was looking to embarrass Daniel LaRusso. I don't think the odds of him appearing in Cobra Kai are great, but I certainly wouldn't rule it out.

Jessica Andrews

It would be a stretch to call Jessica Andrews (Robyn Lively) from The Karate Kid III a love interest of Daniel LaRusso, but the two were friends. She ends up moving to Columbus, Ohio and seeing as no real sparks ever flew between them, perhaps the two found each other on Facebook one day and are friends on the platform. Again, if he's friends with his high school fling decades after they broke up, I just have to believe that Daniel was in the habit of friending all these old flames. Hopefully, his wife is ok with that!

Dutch

Once Johnny Lawrence's right-hand man, Dutch (Chad McQueen) was noted as one of the baddest guys that was a part of the original Cobra Kai. Season 2 actually featured an update on his whereabouts, where it was said he was serving 5-10 years in a federal penitentiary. Typically name drops like that don't happen if there aren't plans to bring Dutch into the story, though one could argue Season 3 may be one of the worst times to do so. Imagine a bad egg like that finding Johnny at what could be his lowest point?

Julie Pierce

It wasn't that long ago that the thought of Hilary Swank appearing on Cobra Kai as Julie Pierce was a pipe dream. Now that Cobra Kai is on Netflix and Swank is starring in the streamer's series Away, it doesn't seem all that impossible. Perhaps the star of The Next Karate Kid could come into the story when she hears about Daniel's efforts with Miyagi-Do, or maybe even run the dojo if he can't anymore? Given the ban by his wife, he may need someone to carry on the legacy he can't.

Mike Barnes

How can we list off prominent characters in The Karate Kid -- or in this case, The Karate Kid III -- and not mention "Karate's Bad Boy,"? Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) was the man in karate and arguably a better competitor than Daniel LaRusso, but got bested by Daniel in a key tournament. His anger that followed resulted in a lifetime ban from all karate tournaments that followed. Barnes brought that on himself, but something tells me he'd also hold a Johnny Lawrence-type grudge for how his life turned out after, but maybe not. Either way, I'd love to see him on Cobra Kai just to find out.

Snake Silver

If you're going to bring Terry Silver back to The Karate Kid franchise, might as well bring his son Snake (Jonathan Avildsen) along for the ride. Snake Silver has about the most badass name in The Karate Kid franchise, though one that quite transparently labels him as a villain. How exactly does one make a good impression with a name like Snake Silver? I'd love to see Cobra Kai delve into this guy's story, and more importantly, reveal whether or not he really went by Snake Silver as the years went on and how that worked out for him.

Any other characters you'd like to see in Cobra Kai? Let us know in the comments, and stream Seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix. As always continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest happening in television and movies.

As someone who loves just about any TV show set partly in space, it was awesome to see Netflix teaming up with both the Oscar-winning Hilary Swank and the Emmy-winning producer Jason Katims (Fright Night Lights) for the astronaut-led drama Away. The series centers on the first human crew leading an expedition to Mars, and the myriad problems that said crew faces along the way. Of course, the cast and crew also faced some physical hurdles of their own, such as learning how to act in "zero gravity."

As one of Away's stars and executive producers – alongside The Batman's Matt Reeves and The Path's Jessica Goldberg – Hilary Swank was invested in the show both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. But only one of those job duties required her to get used to acting while pretending to be floating around in zero gravity, and it turns out that was all harder than it looked. Here's how Swank explained it in an interview with Collider:

Even though it may look like a fairly effortless act to float around for TV, it definitely takes more physical endurance than most people might readily believe. For one, the actors aren't actually filming in zero-gravity locations, so it all comes down to wire-work. And it doesn't take much imagination to consider how many cramps once might get while trying to travel through the air with wires attached to one's hips.

I love the fact that Hilary Swank brings up the idea that moving slowly in faux zero gravity automatically makes someone want to slow down their speech patterns in order to match their movements. That's the kind of concept that I probably wouldn't consider when doing mental planning ahead of filming that kind of role, having to practice speaking at a steady or quickened pace while moving slowly through the air. I suppose it's mildly comparable to being in a swimming pool, but swimmers obviously have more control over their movements in the water than astronauts do in space. (Especially swimmers with rocket boosters, of course.)

It does sound like taking on a zero-G performance in a project like Away is an interesting way to get into shape by working on abdominal muscles, as well as the glute muscles. Considering those all tend to be where one's center of balance is, they would definitely get strained the most when trying to stay upright within the wires. I imagine it's probably harder to actually go into space, but it's not like faking it is a complete (space)walk in the park. I guess we'll have to wait and see how Tom Cruise fares during his "actually filmed in space" project to see what the future may hold.

Will fans get to see Hilary Swank and the other cosmos-soaring astronauts for a second season of Away? It's hard to tell at this point, although creator Andrew Hinderaker is hopeful for more. While critical reviews for the show weren't universally positive, Away has consistently been one of Netflix's most popular shows since it debuted, so perhaps the streaming service will grant Hinderaker and Swank a second batch of episodes to explore more space sex and other good times.

Blumhouse's latest horror offering, The Hunt was pulled from the release calendar last summer when the buzz surrounding it became too controversial. It was bad timing – to put things lightly and the fate of the film became quite unclear. Now, it looks like The Hunt is back and ready to hit theaters. Check out the latest trailer below:

Talk about packing a punch! This new look at The Hunt is owning the controversy surrounding it by calling itself “the most talked about movie of the year” that no one has seen yet. The cut of the trailer even cleverly frames the line around Hilary Swank’s character as she talks about free speech and insists that what she is defending “wasn’t real”. Message received. The Hunt is officially coming to theaters.

The Blumhouse release is a blatant satire about the divide between liberals and conservatives in the United States, wrapped around an action-packed thriller. The Hunt is about twelve red-state strangers who find themselves in a sporting event put on by elites where they will hunt them down. It was originally set to hit theaters on September 27, 2019, but Universal pulled its marketing campaign and cancelled it when a large outcry against the movie began.

At the same time The Hunt began rolling out first looks at the movie, three fatal shootings happened within a week of each other in the United States in Gilroy, California, El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. These events turned much of the public completely off from The Hunt, including President Donald Trump who tweeted about the film claiming it was “made in order to inflame and cause chaos” in an August 9 tweet. One day later, Universal issued a statement cancelling the movie.

The latest look at The Hunt includes quite a bit of previously seen footage from the thriller, but it has a more comedic touch to it. The trailer leans into much more of its quippy lines, upbeat music and badass action sequences as Betty Gilpin’s character attempts to survive and fight off those after her in The Hunt. The movie features an incredible cast including Emma Roberts, This Is Us’ Justin Hartley, The Mindy Project’s Ike Barinholtz and completely transformed Remember the Titans actor Ethan Suplee starring as those being hunted.

Hilary Swank seems to be playing the film’s central “elite” (and villain?) as a businesswoman behind the scenes of the sporting event. It’s Always Sunny’s Dennis, Glenn Howerton is also among the liberals too. All in all, this is the best look at The Hunt yet. It looks like the new Blumhouse movie has the makings of a hit now that there is so much buzz around it and could begin further discussions about it ahead of its road to theaters. The Hunt’s new release date is March 13.

Modern science fiction films are too often another chapter to a continuing saga. Oh, how we crave a self-contained tale! After all, some of the best sci-fi entries are brief windows into an imagined future that seek to examine humanity and spark discussions. In being single stories, their conclusions can often serve as acts of abandonment that leave us alone with ourselves and new existential questions to ponder.

Grant Sputore's I Am Mother is this choice type of sci-fi. Netflix’s own Ex Machina. It’s an effective, small-scale genre film that follows the relationship between a empathetic robot mom (Rose Byrne) and its teen daughter (Clara Rugaard) – lovingly named “Daughter.” The pair are the sole life forms living in a high-tech facility with walls lined in human embryos. Mother tells her that one day they will build a family together with these embryos and keep humanity from fading from existence. That is, until a mysterious woman (Hilary Swank) turns up at their front door.

Daughter is then faced with an intriguing predicament. Who will she trust? The strange woman, who is the first she’s seen of her kind, or the hunk of metal that has raised her all her life? She’s caught between the emotional and the logical. Nature versus nurture. The clear side for Daughter to take isn’t obvious.

What makes I Am Mother so clever for audiences to enjoy is how little we know about the world we find ourselves in, so here we are right along with the protagonist for the ride. Blinded. What a beautiful position that is to be in when the sci-fi genre feels more formulaic than ever.

I Am Mother is Clara Rugaard’s first leading role in a film, and witnessing her play Daughter feels like the legitimate rise of an up-and-coming leading lady. In one scene you’ll do a double take… wait, is that Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley? Her character’s situation is heartbreaking, but her strength is even more enthralling.

Hilary Swank may take a backseat to Rugaard’s talent in her first Netflix outing, but she too still dazzles nonetheless. It’s great to see the actress take on a smaller production that reminds us of her raw talent. Her unnamed character is in survival mode throughout, and her motivations suspicious. Rose Byrne’s voice role as Mother is the second side of the same coin, and unrecognizable without her typical Aussie accent. The pair disappear in their roles, thus elevating the alienating tone I Am Mother presumes.

The movie places us in the position of what it might be like to be raised by a machine. How might we turn out? I Am Mother also asks the question the engineers behind self-driving cars have had to ask: how does an A.I. decide who lives and who dies when places in a life or death situation? What casualties are necessary and who’s concerns are more important? If you love to think through these kinds of questions, I Am Mother is a good space to live in.

The presence of so many ideas is, however, also a double-edged sword for the movie. While just a couple of themes approached are interesting enough, the film ultimately offers two times as many as needed. Perhaps it’s more realistic to find the future dizzying then have the luxury to just explore a few. Either way, it doesn’t benefit the film when we reach I Am Mother’s third act. While the goal may be to give audiences the kind of hit in the head Interstellar or Arrival does by the time they reach their twisty conclusions, the execution underwhelms in this outing.

Don’t be too discouraged by this, however. I Am Mother still ends up making the journey feel worth it. The movie is a nice reminder of how special a good indie science fiction movie really is. It’s the kind of fix we turn to nowadays on television shows such as Black Mirror and the recent Twilight Zone revival. It’s exciting to live in these kinds of thought experiments, and then think through it all as the credits roll. It’s a unique feeling when a story has the power to unfold our imagination and expand our brain for a moment without a huge budget. I Am Mother does that, even if not executed with perfect precision.

For a while, Hilary Swank had an epic run at the movies. In the late nineties and early 2000s, she earned an Academy Award for her role in Boys Don't Cry and later won a second Oscar for her role in Million Dollar Baby. However, as the 2000s wore on, the actress slowed down from acting a bit, only making a big comeback this past year with roles in Logan Lucky, 55 Steps and now the upcoming Getty-based TV series Trust. The actress recently opened up about her break from acting, noting on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that she spent the time taking care of her dad. She said:

As part of a lengthy segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, she explained that she wasn't as prevalent on the big or the small screen for a while because her dad was going through one of the hardest journeys that humans can go through. He had a lung transplant, and survived it, so Hilary Swank spent a lot of time helping her dad recoup. She has appeared in a few projects recently, and will be starring in Trust, which airs on FX later this week.

Although there isn't a gigantic gap in her resume due to the timing of when her projects eventually came out, Hilary Swank also told Stephen Colbert that she took a whopping three years away from acting before ultimately getting back into the business. According to the actress,

She's not the first and she's unlikely to be the last actor to take some time off in Hollywood. Following the release of Red Sparrow, Jennifer Lawrence mentioned she was going to take a year off from acting to pursue other interests; in her case the next year should include working on Represent. Us. She'll also be working on some projects that are already in development, so her year off likely is more of a year off from filming. Other actresses, including Michelle Pfeiffer and Cameron Diaz, have also taking extended time off, for varying reasons.

Now, Hilary Swank seems to be back in fine form. Trust is going to be a limited series over at FX, and early reviews for the project are just starting to roll out. It will hit the schedule on March 25. Plus, CinemaBlend will obviously keep you updated as the actress signs on for more big screen projects. In addition, Swank has What They Had coming later in 2018. For a full look at 2018 movies, check out our guide.

Movie star Hilary Swank is taking a break from the silver screen to appear on the small screen in the not-too-distant future. The Academy Award-winning actress has signed on to join the cast of a brand new cable series that actually sounds pretty fantastic. Swank is slated to appear in the FX series Trust, which will also star Donald Sutherland.

Trust will be a limited series event telling the story of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, who was the heir to a vast oil fortune. Paul was kidnapped in Rome in 1973 by a group of mobsters looking to score a big ransom from his wealthy family members. Unfortunately for the mobsters (and Paul), the reactions to the kidnapping were not what what they were hoping for.

The Italian authorities assume that the entire situation is a prank and not worth investigating. His father is too busy feeding his heroin addiction to respond to reports of his son's kidnapping. His fabulously wealthy grandfather is tucked away in the English countryside with a handful of mistresses and a pet lion. Paul's only hope is his mother, who must try to negotiate with the kidnappers despite not having any fortune of her own.

Hilary Swank will play Paul's mother, Gail Getty. She'll use her determination and resourcefulness to do anything and everything she can to bring her son home, no matter how little help she gets from the rest off the family. Donald Sutherland is on board to play the eldest John Paul Getty. The entire project is being produced by a trio of Academy Award-winning producers, comprised of Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, and Christian Colson.

The first installment of Trust will run for 10 episodes on FX. Production is scheduled to begin in London and Rome this June, with the premiere date listed as January 2018. The story of John Paul Getty III and his family is currently being billed as a limited series, but FX in a press release refers to it as "the first installment," which indicates that it could become another anthology series, a la American Crime Story and American Horror Story.

Trust should be a brand new kind of experience for Hilary Swank. While she has credits on plenty of projects over the years, all of her biggest gigs have been in films. In fact, her most high profile TV job prior to Trust was probably her role in Season 8 of Beverly Hills, 90210 back in the late 1990s. It will be interesting to see how she performs in a 10-episode season as opposed to a two-hour or so movie.

We have a while to wait before Hilary Swank makes her debut as Gail Getty on Trust, so be sure to check out our midseason TV premiere guide and our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Be sure to drop by our rundowns for cable/streaming and broadcast TV renewals and cancellations as well.

Who knew that NASCAR could serve as the backdrop for a heist thriller? Apparently Steven Soderbergh, that's who. Although it's very early in its development, Logan Lucky is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing thrillers in recent memory. Not too much is known about the project, but we know that Soderbergh has enlisted the acting talents of Daniel Craig and Channing Tatum as a pair of brothers who stage a daring robbery during a major NASCAR race.

However, it obviously takes more than a talented director and a pair of equally talented lead actors to tell a compelling heist story. According to a new report from THR, Logan Lucky has enlisted some incredibly stellar actors to fill out the supporting roles in the ensemble. Across the board, it's a talented band of actors and actresses, so let's get the ball rolling with the Oscar winner of the bunch...

Hilary Swank

The first performer confirmed to have joined the cast of Logan Lucky is none other than Oscar winner Hilary Swank. Out of all the actors present on the roster for the film, Swank has arguably the most impressive resume, having previously garnered two Oscars for her work on Boys Don't Cry, as well as Million Dollar Baby. We don't know the exact nature of the role she will play in Logan Lucky, but she's historically particular about the parts she picks, and we can likely assume she will bring her trademark intensity to the film.

Michael Shannon

These days, if you need to cast an actor to portray an all-around bad dude, there's no better performer to turn to than Michael Shannon. An incredibly skilled actor with a diverse portfolio of roles, Shannon has made a name for himself in the world of indie films with movies like Midnight Special and 99 Homes, as well as major blockbusters like Pearl Harbor and Man of Steel. Although we don't have many details about his role in Logan Lucky, we can reasonably expect Michael Shannon to once again embody the sort of vile character he's so good at portraying.

Katherine Heigl

Here's where things get a little more interesting. Although she achieved famed fame for her roles in Grey's Anatomy, 27 Dresses and Knocked Up. Katherine Heigl hasn't really appeared in many noteworthy films in recent years. That being said, she's an undeniably talented actress, and her place within the talented ensemble of Logan Lucky could signal the beginning of the Katherine Heigl comeback very soon.

Adam Driver

Unlike Katherine Heigl, whose career has decline somewhat in recent years, Adam Driver has slowly, but surely, become a household name with a strong resume of roles. First gaining notoriety in the hit HBO series Girls, Driver has made a swift transition to the silver screen with roles in Inside Llewyn Davis, and While We're Young. However, the former soldier's biggest break came last year with his career-making role as Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens.

Seth MacFarlane

Although he has become a household name over the course of the last two decades with his work in the field of animation, Seth MacFarlane doesn't have too many live-action credits to his name. His most recent effort -- 1,000 Ways To Die In The West -- fell fairly flat at the box office, but it's clear that he has more talent as an actor than he ever gets credit for. If his role in Logan Lucky is received well by critics and audiences, this could mark the beginning of a brand new Seth MacFarlane on the silver screen.

Riley Keough

The final confirmed member of Logan Lucky's cast, Riley Keough has made a very good impression on critics and audiences in a very short amount of time. She has appeared in numerous films, ranging from The Runaways, to Mad Max: Fury Road, and, most recently, The Girlfriend Experience. Logan Lucky will mark her reunion with director Steven Soderbergh following their work on 2012's Magic Mike, so the iconic director clearly sees something in this young talent.

With such a talented ensemble of actors and a noted visionary behind the camera, Logan Lucky could be the thriller to beat in the near future. We will bring you more information related to the upcoming NASCAR heist film as it becomes available to us.

While this morning’s partial reveal of 2014's Toronto International Film Festival screenings was noticeably missing Alejandro González Iñárritu’s highly anticipated comedy Birdman, the director’s upcoming small-screen effort One Percent is at the center of some excellent casting news. The Media Rights Capital-produced series has targeted Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank, Oscar-nominated actor Ed Harris, and Hangover star Ed Helms, and each of them are in various stages of negotiations to join what will presumably be a prestige-laden show.

Should all go according to plan, the hour-long One Percent would take place within the world of organic farming – what? – and would see Helms and Swank playing a married couple who are having problems keeping their business above water, which of course leads to personal problems. As Deadline reports, Harris would star as the family patriarch, though it doesn’t say whose father he would play.

That isn’t much to go on, and doesn’t really hint too directly at what the title means. Is this the dreaded Occupation protesters’ “one percent,” or does it refer to something involving the farming community? Maybe that’s the percentage of startup businesses that actually stay open after a certain period of time. Regardless of what this plain-sounding story ends up being, I’m willing to trust that Iñárritu and this trio of actors wouldn’t team up on a complete waste of time.

Iñárritu will indeed be directing the series from a screenplay written with Birdman collaborators Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolas Giacobone and Armando Bo. MRC is expected to shop the series around in the coming weeks, probably trying to secure a straight-to-series order rather than going the pilot route. MRC, who worked with Seth MacFarlane on Ted and A Million Ways to Die in the West, snagged a two-season order for MacFarlane’s upcoming live-action comedy for Starz, and they're also one of the companies behind Netflix’s House of Cards, which was naturally also granted an all-at-once series order.

Should One Percent go through, this would be Swank’s first TV series since starring on Beverly Hills 90210 in the late 1990s. She hasn’t been in a lot of movies lately, either, having most recently starred in Philip Noyce and HBO Films’ made-for-TV drama Mary and Martha. She’ll soon be seen in Tommy Lee Jones’ western The Homesman and in George C. Wolfe’s caregiver drama You’re Not You.

Harris, meanwhile, starred in the at-long-last recently released thriller Snowpiercer and voiced a character for the in-theaters animation Planes: Fire & Rescue. He’s got an assortment of upcoming projects, including Michael Almereyda’s modernized Shakespeare epic Cymbeline, Michael Berry’s border drama Frontera, Jaume Collet-Serra’s hitman thriller Run All Night and Pamela Romanowsky’s adaptation of Stephen Elliott’s memoir The Adderall Diaries, which is currently filming. Oddly enough, Harris has never had a leading TV role.

Helms, who for years played Dunder Mifflin’s most bluegrassy employee on The Office, last appeared in theaters nationwide in We’re the Millers, but can be found on VOD in David Wain’s clever rom-com spoof They Came Together. He’ll next be seen in Joe Carnahan’s Stretch, assuming that film ever gets released, and will be heard in the upcoming Captain Underpants animated adaptation.

Tommy Lee Jones was just seen alongside Meryl Streep this past summer in the David Frankel-directed dramedy Hope Springs, and apparently they enjoyed working together so much that they're already thinking about pairing up again. New reports have surfaced saying that both Streep and Hilary Swank are now both attached to The Homesman, the new film that Jones is set to star in, write, direct, and produce.

The story centers on a pioneer (Jones) and a frontier woman who work to transport three insane women across America. The Wrap, which first reported the casting news, says that Swank will play the frontier woman, but apparently "it was not clear which role Streep would play." The film will be only Jones' second feature directorial effort and first since 2005's The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. He has, however, directed two projects for the small screen, including the Emmy-nominated The Good Old Boys, which came out in 1995 on TNT, and Cormac McCarthy's The Sunset Limited, which played on HBO last year. This will be his first time writing a full feature.

The project only has three actors attached so far, but between them they have a total of six Academy Awards, which is pretty damn impressive. In addition to The Homesman, Streep is currently working on the John Wells-directed adaptation of Tracy Letts' play August: Osage County. Swank is attached to Jean-Marc Vallée's The Dallas Buyers Club, which is currently in pre-production and set to co-star Matthew McConaughey.

The Homesman will be shopped to buyers this November at the American Film Market.

If recent reports were in fact true, it looks like Sam Raimi has lost a big casting battle against Disney as they put together his next film Oz: Great and Powerful. Rumor had it back in April that Raimi really wanted to cast Hilary Swank as one of the main witches in the Wizard of Oz retelling, but that the studio was pressuring him to go with Michelle Williams instead; today Variety reports that Williams has gotten the job, and she won't just be playing any witch, but the iconic Glinda the Good Witch.

In this telling of the story there are three central witches, as opposed to the two in the original Oz film; Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis play the evil sisters while Williams is working on the side of the Wizard, a snake-oil salesman who lands in Oz and helps Glinda fight for control of the kingdom. Williams will be far from the first person to play Glinda in the 21st century-- Glinda is one of the two main characters in Broadway's hit Wicked, the musical that's still scheduled for a movie version at Universal, but is probably on hold until Raimi's Oz shows up in theaters, which Variety says could happen as early as fall 2012.

It's a shame that Williams's casting may have come against Raimi's will-- remember, we don't actually know what went on behind the scenes, or even if Swank was actually interested in taking the part. But seeing Williams come on board is especially interesting given that, since leaving Dawson's Creek, her film career has almost exclusively focused on indies. She never played the ingenue in a superhero blockbuster like so many of her contemporary actresses, and even now seems to be playing a much better developed female character than you usually get in movies of this scale.

This casting also indicates that Williams is pretty much fearless-- this year she's already playing another movie icon, Marilyn Monroe, in My Week With Marilyn, and now she's moving on to recreate one of the most enduring characters in cinema history. Regardless of how she wound up in the film, let's hope she and Raimi see eye to eye as Oz: Great and Powerful goes into production; it's the rare giant blockbuster with a lot of potential, and adding a name like Williams to the already-terrific cast increases the odds of us getting something great.

Director Tony Goldwyn doesn't do much to dress up the true story at the center of the earnest, perfect all-right Conviction, but truth be told he doesn't need to. Betty Anne Waters' 20-year odyssey to free her brother Kenny from prison, starting by earning her GED and leading to a law degree, is an astonishing story with little embellishment needed, and as acted by Hilary Swank and the magnetic Sam Rockwell, Conviction works better than you might expect for what's essentially a Law & Order episode with bigger stakes. It's not the artiest or most impressive thing you'll see this fall, but it works.

Goldwyn and screenwriter Pamela Gray make the odd and somewhat mystifying choice of never proving off the bat that Rockwell's Kenny is innocent. A roughneck maligned by the system ever since he and Betty Anne were split up in foster care as kids, Kenny is convicted of brutally murdering an elderly former neighbor, primarily based on the primitive crime scene blood testing available in 1983 and the testimony of a few ex-girlfriends with an ax to grind. After Kenny attempts suicide devoted sister Betty Anne decides to go to law school to help solve his case and, miraculously, pulls it off. The first 40 or so minutes of the film cover all this back story in loose flashbacks before finally settling on Betty Anne as a recent law school graduate and single mom, balancing between caring for her two boys and chasing her single life passion of proving her brother's innocence.

Because so much of the film takes place in dim law libraries, courthouses and police stations it doesn't look all that great, and while Swank is at least somewhat restrained doing her usual down-home gal thing, she doesn't quite have the charisma to carry the movie through its discussions of DNA testing and statues of limitations. Luckily there's a solid supporting cast to back her up, starting with Rockwell, whose every scene in the prison interview room and especially flashbacks gives the film a jolt of electricity; Minnie Driver is also quite good as Betty Anne's sharp-tongued lawyer friend, and even good old Peter Gallagher shows up as the good guy lawyer from the Innocence Project to help Betty Anne late in her case. Juliette Lewis is a little more inexplicable in her tiny supporting role-- is she delightfully batty or totally over the top?-- but it seems churlish to do anything but be grateful she's still around, so she gets a pass.

It's possible to sit through Conviction, like I did in parts, with your hands crossed over your chest wondering when the flat legal stuff will actually take off into something that feels original. But when Betty Anne receives the fax that could free her brother at last, or when Kenny finally encounters the daughter he lost touch with when she was an infant, it's hard to deny that Conviction has succeeded on some level, even if it's all happening on the surface. It's a movie just bland and vaguely ambitious enough to slip by with the Academy, but I'd bet on the movie's Oscar campaign only going as far as a Supporting Actor claim for Sam Rockwell and a vain attempt at Best Actress on behalf of Hilary Swank-- and that's just fine. It's a low-key movie of small and uncomplicated pleasures, and trumping it up with a serious Oscar bid-- or a berth at a major festival like Toronto, for that matter-- does it no favors. Go in with low expectations and be willing to catch a few good, surprising things amid the standard-level drama you already saw coming.

More Cinema Blend coverage from the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival right here.

Hilary Swank may be in a bit of a rough patch, but that doesn’t mean writer-director Shawn Lawrence Otto is having much trouble securing her a co-star for Dreams of a Dying Heart. As reported by Deadline, there are two famous faces interested in the part, Matthew McConaughey and Josh Brolin.

Swank is reuniting with her Boys Don’t Cry production company, Killer Films, to play Rachel Watson, a soldier who returns from Iraq after surviving a helicopter crash. The trauma of the incident is so sever that even when she’s home, she suffers from terrible visions that somehow force her to fight for her daughter’s life. That’s about it in terms of what we know about the plot right now, but back in May, Lawrence Otto told Screen Daily, “We’re going to use mind-blowing visuals to tell a unique story of women and combat – which is a perfect fit with Hilary’s very special talent for toughness and vulnerability. A lot of directors focus on the beauty in violence, but there is also an element of violence in beauty. Dreams of a Dying Heart explores both.”

I’ve got a hard time imagining McConaughey teaming up with Swank and an even harder time seeing him involved in a project that could be aiming for an Oscar. Jonah Hex aside, Brolin is a completely different story. However, it’s also a little difficult choosing between the two without knowing a single thing about the role. Regardless, if this is indeed yet another Oscar effort by Swank, Dreams of a Dying Heart will belong to her.

Last week we brought you the first trailer for Conviction, the very Oscar baity new movie starring Hillary Swank as a real-life woman who put herself through law school in order to free her brother (Sam Rockwell) from prison. It's a remarkable inspiring story, but the verdict is still out on how it will translate into a movie. The last time Swank blatantly ran for the Oscar was in another Fox Searchlight film, Amelia, and even though it came out last fall you and I have both already forgotten it ever happened.

On the heels of the trailer Searchlight has released the film's poster, which you can see below. It's actually pretty nice and simple for a movie that might have the potential to be bombastic, and focuses on the quiet aspects of the relationship between the two siblings, not all the crusading legal stories. I like it a lot. Take a look below and look for Conviction this fall.

There are many accents that come out of different regions of this great country. There's the southern drawl, the Minnesota nice, and the Valley Girl, but few are as mind-numbingly hard to listen to than that of South Boston. It's hard to imagine that anyone with that inflection can listen to themselves without thinking, "I should really consult a speech therapist." That said, between The Departed, Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River, there are plenty of movies that have used the accent wonderfully. Tony Goldwyn's Conviction will try and reach those ranks.

Apple has premiered the first trailer for the film starring Hillary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo and Minnie Driver, and while the film looks like typical Oscar-bait, it also appears to have gotten some tremendous performances. Based on a true story, Swank plays Betty Anne Waters, a woman who sees her brother get a life sentence for a crime he didn't commit. Instead of just visiting him and trying to find a lawyer who could help him, she decides to go it herself, getting her GED and going to law school so that she can fight for him herself.

Check out the trailer below or in HD over at Apple.

Alongside Wes Craven, John Carpenter was the king of 80s horror. With films like The Thing, Christine, and The Fog, he was among the untouchables in Hollywood. In recent years, however, Carpenter's productivity and quality has slipped, producing only one feature, Ghosts of Mars, in the last decade. Now he's back and ready to conquer the horror world again.

Regal Literary has announced, via press release, that John Carpenter will direct Fangland, a vampire film starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank. Based on the John Marks novel of the same name, Swank will play Evangeline Harker, a producer on a 60 Minutes-esque show, who travels to Transylvania to do a story on a Romanian gangster. While there, she discovers a monstrous secret and is abducted. Months later, she is found recuperating in a monastery with no memory of what happened. But after she returns to New York, strange occurrences begin that nobody can explain.

If the name "Harker" looks familiar, it means you are likely a fan of Bram Stoker's greatest work. Marks' novel is a re-imagined version of the classic Dracula tale and is even written in the same fashion (using diary entries, letters and articles rather than prose). Carpenter is already scheduled for his comeback later this summer when The Ward is released in September, but perhaps this news means that he's back for good.

Historical figures like Amelia Earhart are hard to come by-- a woman who bucked the trends of her time by wearing pants and refusing to marry until her 30s, who wasn't just a pioneer in the field of aviation, but was committed to helping other women follow in her footsteps. Then again, directors like Mira Nair and actresses like Hilary Swank are hard to come by too. Nair is one of few female directors working consistently with big budgets and stars, while Swank has made her career playing tough women like Million Dollar Baby's Maggie Fitzgerald, or tackling tricky roles like Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry.

Suffice it to say that the pair were as excited as can be to tackle the iconoclastic Earhart, delving deep into her history and her psyche to present a portrait of the woman from the inside, not as a cultural figure but as a real person. A little over a week ago Nair and Swank arrived at an airfield in New Jersey, accompanied by the Electra airplane used in the film, to talk to press about their inspirations in making the film, the role of daredevilry in acting, and how women in power can help and support one another. Read below for a selection of their conversation with the press. Amelia is currently in theaters everywhere.

How did you build tension in the film when we know how it ends?

Hilary Swank: Well, you think you know how it ended. You have to go see it to see if really ends the way you think it ended. 'Cause there's a lot of theories, aren't there?

Mira Nair: Truth is much stranger than fiction and, often, much more powerful. And-- the ending, we have the records of the last transmissions. And nothing could be more dramatic or heartbreaking that that. Besides the fact that we know there is a mystery. I very systematically, with a lot of help from people here and my crew really staged very, very carefully and truthfully the actual transmissions. My work is also to create some sense of poetic power. And I imagined what it would be like, you know, as you see your fate in front of you.

? Hilary did what she does beautifully. And when we felt we had it, then I whispered some not so sweet nothings in her ear. And I said, "Let's just-- let's just fall apart now." Amelia was controlled, but could see what was happening to her. And then realizing it. And then it's, I hope, a certain visual drama that will take you to where she was.

Hilary Swank: Obviously, making a movie is a collaboration. And it takes a lot of people's ideas. But in the end, you know, I just tried to do what I was told and what was on the page. It's a big responsibility to play someone who really lived. We all have such a great idea of who she was and what she looked like. So, there wasn't a lot of room for fictional license. And we had to just do the best we could to do honor to that person.

What was the research you did into Amelia's life? And Mira, as a director, what do you focus on with a life this big?

Hilary Swank: I learned about Amelia from a very young age, but what I learned is what you learn in textbooks. And so for me, obviously, getting under the skin of a person that I'm playing is really important. We're all specific human beings. There was lots of literature about Amelia. So reading all of that literature. Also, trying to understand who she was. I think Amelia was a very private person. So, you know, what she was expressing out in the world might not necessarily have been what her true thoughts were.

? I kind of expected from women to really wanna see this movie. But a lot of men are also coming up to me saying, "I can't wait to see this movie." And I think what people are, in my opinion, kind of, magnetized to is the idea this person, Amelia, who lived her life the way she wanted to live it. She made no apologies for saying, "This is my life. And this is how I see it. And this is how I want it to be done." It's obviously a period piece. Yet, it even transcends what we even know now. It was, certainly, a reminder for me to live my life-- you only have one life. And it's so short. I think Amelia was just such a great reminder that you can live your life the way you want it and find love and experience your dreams. And you can have it all.

Mira Nair: There is still a very interesting enigma about who Amelia really was. And we, kind of, used that in the film as well. For me, the real window on to understanding who she might have been was her own writings. And she wrote really, very interesting turn of phrase. She had simple, pithy, but really pretty contemporary ways of writing and speaking. You know, she wrote the first pre-nup, really, to George Putnam, who she resisted many, many times. And then she laid down her conditions. Which were very gracefully laid down. But they were very direct and very modern, you know? ?

Hilary, you took flying lessons, right? Can you talk about that?

Hilary Swank: Obviously, you can't play Amelia Earhart and not learn how to fly. That would just be wrong in every way. Learning how to fly, for me, was so euphoric. Because it was like I was learning how to ride a bike. It was a first. And, you know, it takes all of your senses. You are completely immersed. It's dangerous. It's adventurous. It's all of the things that I love and that I think Amelia loved. I'm not a big sweater. But I would find after a two hour flight lesson, I would land and my back was drenched, just from the concentration. It was really wonderful?

I would like to get my pilot's license. I like to see things through to the end. And I don't wanna just say, "Yeah, I flew." I'd like to continue to go up on my own. One of the great things about my job is I get to do all of these things that I may not experience had I not been an actor. And I think saying that I learned how to fly to play Amelia Earhart is pretty great.

Mira, you've said that Hilary brought a spiritual quality to the role. What do you mean by that, and what do you think she has in common with Amelia?

Mira Nair: When I said that she had this spiritual quality, I meant it. Besides all the accoutrements of the outside-- you know, getting her to look and all of that like Amelia/ But it's really from within, I felt, that her strength and also her daredevil quality. Hilary is completely a spiritual daredevil. And that's not something you can direct. With Hilary, it comes from within. Because she is someone who gets excited about, you know, just taking leaps and taking challenges and then mastering them.

? Is Amelia a role you've always wanted to play? And as a woman, how did you relate to her open marriage?

Hilary Swank: I wouldn't say I was always longing to play Amelia Earhart, but I do long to play roles that challenge me and scare me and make me learn new things about the world, about myself, about my art. I had read a script on Amelia about ten years ago, right after I did Boys Don't Cry, and it didn't capture Amelia to me. When this one came across my desk, I just felt that connection.

Amelia's way about living her life was very honest and very open. When she lived her life the way she wanted and the way she said she wanted to live it, she had already expressed that's how she was gonna do it. So, it wasn't like she was hurting anybody along the way. I respect anyone who is able to be so forthright about themselves.

Hilary, Uma Thurman has suggested you might get another Oscar for this role. What do you think about that?

Hilary Swank: Well, first, to have such a compliment from another actress that I admire so much is a great honor. You know, Amelia was so, I think, so supportive of other women. And women aren't always supportive of another woman's strengths. I think powerful women are supportive of the underdog woman or the women suffering from inequality, yet when it's another woman's strength, they find it hard to muster up a lot of accolades. So, one, it's very, very nice to hear such a nice compliment from someone that I admire so much.

? In my opinion, Mira being at the helm of this ship was such a perfect match because I think it's rare to see a woman carrying herself in the way in which you do. I think Mira also makes no apologies for her strengths. And it's interesting when you see a woman in a place of power, a lot of times, they're apologizing for it. So, to be with Mira and to see her ask for what she needs, to see her direct with the strength in which she carries herself and with the vision that she carries, I think, was perfect to direct a story about Amelia Earhart.

Mira, you're very successful in a field that doesn't have very many success stories for women. Can you talk about your role as a role model for other female directors?

Mira Nair: My first film was Salaam Bombay, about street kids in Bombay. It really directly impacted the government policy on street kids, and then, we set up the salaambalack (PH) trust which is a foundation for street kids. And now, 5,000 street kids and 17 centers later, 21 years of this is carrying on. So, this can sometimes happen with cinema and sometimes not. I mean, cinema is such a wide-ranging, entertaining, extremely powerful vehicle.

? When I made my second film, Mississippi Masala, I made it in Uganda and East Africa, and have since lived in Uganda for part of the year, and noticed over the 20 years I've lived there that there is very little of Africa on screen. The few times we see the stories of Africa, they are hardly every made by Africans. So we set up Maisha, which is a Swahili word which means life, to start our own film school in East Africa. It's a free school that gives scholarships to Rwandese, Kenyans, Tanzanians, and Ugandans. It's basically based on the principle that if we don't tell our own stories, no one else will. The idea is to tell our own stories, like Amelia did. One of the big reasons I said I wanted to make Amelia was because she had a dream, she pursued it, and she also had an incredible grace and responsibility to the world at the same time as she was pursuing her dream. And that's what I think, you know, art should do.