HBO doesn't have a monopoly on prestige television, but they are the king of it. The network loves to work with the same people who have proved they have what it takes to make great shows. That includes many of the same great actors who appear on more than one show. Some of these actors have appeared in three or four (or more) shows over the years, but for this list, we're sticking with at least two, usually the ones they are best known for. Actors like Wendell Pierce, Cynthia Nixon, and many more.

Wendell Pierce - The Wire And Treme

Wendell Pierce first broke out as the best-dressed detective in the Baltimore Homicide Unit on The Wire. Pierce's character, Bunk Moreland, appears in every episode of the show. A couple of years after The Wire ended in 2008, the show's creator returned to HBO with Treme, and it was a natural fit to include Pierce, who is a New Orleans native, in the cast.

Carrie Coon - The Gilded Age And The White Lotus

2025 was a huge year for Carrie Coon on HBO. Not only did she return for Season 3 of The Gilded Age as the determined high society lady, Bertha Russell, but she also killed it on the third season of the anthology series The White Lotus. She stole the show with her monologue in the final episode of that show, while continuing to dominate New York society in the 1880s in The Gilded Age.

Steve Buscemi - The Wire And Boardwalk Empire

Steve Buscemi's first appearance on HBO came when he joined the cast of The Sopranos as Tony Blundetto, Tony Soprano's cousin, in Season 5 of the legendary peak TV-era show. He wasn't on the show long, but a couple of years later, he played a much bigger role on Boardwalk Empire. He played the fictional mob boss Nucky Thompson in the period piece created by Sopranos writer Terrance Winter.

Evan Rachel Wood - True Blood And Westworld

Evan Rachel Wood started her career as a talented child actor and made her first appearance on HBO as a recurring character in True Blood. She made an even bigger splash on the network as one of the main characters in Westworld. Wood also appeared in the miniseries Mildred Pierce on HBO.

Alexander Skarsgård - True Blood And Big Little Lies

Alexander Skarsgård is a true HBO regular. His first show for the network, the limited series Generation Kill, aired in 2008 and he returned to the network that same year as a series regular in the vampire hit True Blood. While still starring on that show, he made a one-off appearance in the series finale of Eastbound and Down. He was a main cast member on Big Little Lies, playing a very dark character (and earning an Emmy in the process), before he took on a notable guest-starring role in Succession, earning two more Emmy nominations.

Sydney Sweeney - Euphoria And The White Lotus

Sydney Sweeney burst onto the scene alongside her castmates in the teen drama Euphoria on HBO in 2019 and in 2022, she also appeared in Season 1 of The White Lotus. She earned not one, but two Emmy nominations that year, one for each show.

Edie Falco - Oz And The Sopranos

The HBO show Oz was an early entry in the "peak TV era" from the network, running for six seasons in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The cast of Oz was stacked and included Edie Falco as Officer Diane Whittlesey. That isn't the show she is most famous for on the network, of course. As Falco's time was coming to a close, she landed the role of a lifetime as Carmela Soprano in The Sopranos, and her amazing performances earned her three Emmy awards.

Aidan Gillen - Game Of Thrones And The Wire

Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish in Game of Thrones is one of the great TV villains of all time, and the character was played brilliantly by Aidan Gillen. It wasn't Gillen's first major role on HBO, as that came a few years earlier when he played the ambitious politician Tommy Carcetti on the final three seasons of The Wire.

Cynthia Nixon - And Just Like That And The Gilded Age

itsCynthia Nixon has been a staple on HBO for decades now, starring as Miranda Hobbes in And Just Like That... and it's predecessor. She's also one of the stars of the incredible period drama The Gilded Age as the spinster-turned-wealthy widow Ada Forte, née Brook.

Michiel Huisman - Game Of Thrones And Treme

Treme, which ran for four seasons on HBO, had a whole host of actors who were HBO regulars. Michiel Huisman, who played the musician only known as "Sonny" on the New Orleans-based show, was also starring in a little show called Game of Thrones at the same time on the network, playing Daario Naharis.

Michelle Monaghan - True Detective And The White Lotus

It must be incredibly rewarding for any actor to have the opportunity to star in two anthology shows on HBO. Michelle Monaghan knows exactly how it feels. She first starred in Season 1 of True Detective and, more recently, was part of the stellar cast of Season 3 of The White Lotus.

Michael K. Williams - The Wire And Boardwalk Empire

The late Michael K. Williams left behind an incredible legacy at HBO. He was, of course, one of the most incredible TV characters of all time as Omar Little on The Wire, and he followed that up with a great turn as a gangster in 1920s New Jersey in Boardwalk Empire. Those weren't his only appearances on the network. He popped up in a one-off scene on The Sopranos in 2001, then later in the miniseries The Night Of. His final television credit before his tragic death was on the HBO show Lovecraft Country.

Alexandra Daddario - The White Lotus And True Detective

Before earning an Emmy nomination for her great turn as newlywed Rachel Patton in Season 1 of The White Lotus, Alexandra Daddario had a recurring role on another HBO anthology series, True Detective, during its first season. She even had a cameo early in her career in The Sopranos.

Murray Bartlett - The White Lotus And The Last Of Us

It's easy to see why The White Lotus was such a monster hit when it aired its first season, with Murray Bartlett stealing the show as the hotel manager who gets caught in a serious downward spiral as the show goes on. He's hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time. Later, he was cast in "Long, Long Time," one of the most beloved episodes of The Last of Us, as Frank, the deceased lover of Bill, played by Nick Offerman. While it was only one episode, it was so good that we had to include it here. Bartlett was also a regular cast member on the HBO show Looking.

Danny McBride - Eastbound And Down And The Righteous Gemstones

What is there to be said about Danny McBride's various sitcoms on HBO? After making his name in supporting roles in movies like Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder, he arrived on HBO in the now-legendary Eastbound and Down. His next hit for the network was Vice Principals alongside Walton Goggins, and then as Jesse Gemstone on The Righteous Gemstones.

Clarke Peters - The Wire And Treme

It's hard to believe that The Wire is one of those shows that never won an Emmy. That goes double for the excellent cast, including the great Clarke Peters, who played Lester Freamon in all five seasons of the show. Like some of his co-stars on the show, he also appeared in Treme on HBO.

Jeanne Tripplehorn - The Gilded Age And Big Love

Jeanne Tripplehorn is a veteran actor whose career stretches back to 1992's Basic Instinct. She was a big part of Big Love on HBO as Bill's only legal wife in the show about polygamy in Utah. Tripplehorn also starred in a recurring role on The Gilded Age as a disgraced high society outcast who happens to be one of the kindest characters on the show. She was also nominated for an Emmy for her role as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in Grey Gardens on HBO.

Jeffrey Wright - Westworld And Boardwalk Empire

Jeffrey Wright is one of the best actors of his generation, and he's had an opportunity to show off just how great he is in multiple HBO shows. First, he won an Emmy for his role in the miniseries Angels in America. Later, he had a recurring role on Boardwalk Empire, before his fantastic turn on Westworld, for which he was nominated for three more Emmys, but sadly didn't win one. In 2025, he reprised his voice role in The Last of Us video game in the HBO adaptation.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler - The Sopranos And Entourage

Jamie-Lynn Sigler occupies an interesting spot here. Of course, she's best known for her role as Meadow Soprano on The Sopranos. Her next role on HBO came in a role that was a fictionalized version of herself dating Turtle in Entourage.

Walton Goggins - Vice Principals And The White Lotus

Walton Goggins has been one of the hardest-working actors in Hollywood for many years, and in 2025, he really upped his profile with his fantastic performance in Season 3 of The White Lotus. It was his third major show on HBO after Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones.

Lena Headey - Game Of Thrones And The White House Plumbers

She played one of the greatest villains of all time on Game of Thrones, and Lena Headey returned to HBO in 2023 in the underrated miniseries The White House Plumbers, where she played Dorothy Hunt, wife of one of the Watergate burglars, E. Howard Hunt.

Pedro Pascal - Game Of Thrones And The Last Of Us

Like a lot of actors, Pedro Pascal put in a ton of work early in his career with one-off roles in every show you can imagine. Then, in 2014, he was cast as Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones, and his career blew up. More recently, he's been breaking hearts on The Last of Us on HBO.

Indira Varma - Game Of Thrones And Rome

The Game of Thrones cast was absolutely stacked, including the great Indira Varma, who played Ellaria Sand in 13 episodes of the show. That wasn't her first time in an HBO show, however. In 2005, she starred as Niobe in two seasons of Rome, the incredibly underrated (and expensive to produce) historical drama created by John Milius.

Jim True-Frost - The Wire And Treme

Jim True-Frost's character in The Wire has one of the most interesting character arcs on a show full of great arcs. His performance as Roland Pryzbylewski was, like so many others on the show, nothing short of excellent. Like others on The Wire, True-Frost also starred in Treme. He even had a cameo in Boardwalk Empire as legendary lawman Eliot Ness.

Kim Dickens - Deadwood And Treme

Kim Dickens has a stellar television resume, and two jewels on that CV are both HBO shows. First, she was one of the main characters, Joanie, in Deadwood. Later, she starred on Treme.

John Hawkes - Deadwood And Eastbound And Down

The original cast of Deadwood was a bunch of heavyweights, including John Hawkes, who played Sol throughout the run of the show. A few years later, the versatile actor returned to HBO in a completely different kind of role as the brother of Kenny Powers in Eastbound & Down. Most recently, he put in a fantastic performance in Season 4 of the anthology series True Detective.

Rose Leslie - Game Of Thrones And The Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife is one of the more under-the-radar shows in HBO history. Rose Leslie led the cast of the show that was canceled after one season, despite a passionate fanbase. Of course, Leslie first became a star on HBO as Ygritte on Game of Thrones.

Bobby Cannavale - Boardwalk Empire And Vinyl

Bobby Cannavale really made his name on HBO as the volatile gangster Gyp Rosetti in Boardwalk Empire, though his first gig on the network was in a small role on Six Feet Under. After Boardwalk Empire, he teamed up with the creators of Vinyl, starring in the lone season of the short-lived show.

Edi Patterson - The Righteous Gemstones And Vice Principals

The Righteous Gemstones and Vice Principals are two shows that were perfect for Edi Patterson. She's wonderful at playing quirky characters, fitting in great with the cast of both of those shows.

Domenick Lombardozzi - The Wire And Boardwalk Empire

Herc in The Wire is an obnoxious character that is hard to love, but Domenick Lombardozzi's performance charms everyone who watches the show. He repeated the feat later on Boardwalk Empire.

Regina King - Watchmen And The Leftovers

If anyone on this list needs no introduction, it's the great Regina King. She is a force of nature in everything she does, including two excellent HBO shows, The Leftovers and the one-and-done Season of Watchmen.

Michael Imperioli - The Sopranos And The White Lotus

Some people might remember Michael Imperioli as Spider in Goodfellas, but most will first know him as Christopher Moltisanti, Tony's frustrating nephew in The Sopranos. He returned to HBO in Season 2 of The White Lotus and once again reminded fans of the network how great he can be.

The White Lotus Season 3 finale was mostly great, and despite a few small gripes regarding characters, I'd say most people are happy some of the wilder theories about the season didn't come to pass. There's one in particular that Aimee Lou Wood deemed the "weirdest" she'd heard, and yes, it involves the monkeys.

The actress spoke to EW about the wild theory surrounding a monkey being responsible for one of the biggest scenes in the season finale. For those who don't already know, I'll let her explain:

I'll admit, I was one of the few convinced this theory was true. We were getting a lot of shots of the monkeys, and that gun was getting passed around a lot.

That said, I ultimately settled on the theory that there was more than one shooter, which explained the sporadic amount of gunfire in the opening sequence. I'm not saying a monkey with a gun would've been a terrible twist, but I would say it'd certainly be not as good as what we ultimately got.

Typically, stars of shows can't say anything one way or another when it comes to spoilers. After all, confirming or denying even a false theory scratches one possibility off the list and leads fans closer to the actual answer before they see it on screen.

Of course, actors don't always play by the rules, and Aimee Lou Wood said one of her co-stars just had to shoot the monkey theory down after seeing it too much:

I think in this case, Michelle Monaghan didn't take that big of a risk dismissing the monkey theory. Even with that off the board, there was no way of predicting the twists and turns that would ultimately happen at the end. It might've kept people less occupied with all the Season 3 drama, which Jason Isaacs has since said he ultimately regrets bringing up.

Life goes on, of course, and there will be other shows on the 2025 TV schedule that will pull interest away from all of that. I must say, I think it's hilarious that while that theory didn't play out in The White Lotus, a service monkey with a gun became a vital part of the series finale of The Righteous Gemstones (which was airing in the time slot right after The White Lotus). Seriously, what are the odds of that happening, especially with the shows airing around the same time? It was a thing of beauty, and an underappreciated coincidence I felt was overlooked at the time.

Watch The White Lotus Season 3 on Max, but just don't pay too much attention to those scenes with all the monkeys. We still have some time to wait before Season 4, so now might be the perfect time for anyone looking to rewatch.

Spoilers ahead for The White Lotus Season 3 finale.

Despite the finale airing a week ago, those with Max subscription are still reeling from the wild finale of The White Lotus Season 3. My personal favorite storyline in the third season was about "The Ladies" aka Laurie, Kate and Jaclyn. Carrie Coon absolutely slayed the finale with her moving monologue, but I'm shocked another touching moment from this dinner wasn't scripted.

While some folks figure out how to watch The White Lotus Season 3, I've spent the last week re-watching the finale's most memorable scenes. That includes the last dinner shared between the ladies, where Carrie Coon delivered a devastating monologue about self-worth and friendship. Afterward Jaclyn and Kate tell Laurie that they love her, and it turns out that was actually improvised. Leslie Bibb revealed this during a conversation with Bustle, offering:

How touching is that? The White Lotus Season 3 cast clearly bonded on set, especially as they kept each other company for months while filming in Thailand. That's seemingly why the ladies' words of love for each other felt so natural when Bibb and Michelle Monaghan said them to Carrie Coon during their final emotional scene together. And I'm shocked the moment wasn't already in the script.

While this season of The White Lotus offered viral moments like the Ratliff brothers' kiss, many fans (myself included) were drawn to the too-real female friendship plot line. Being a fly on the wall as the three women gossiped about each other and tried to keep their frustrations at bay was thrilling television. And while they all ultimately survived the shooting that's been teased throughout Season 3, that didn't make their final dinner any less memorable.

Rumors have been swirling about feuds amongst the White Lotus Season 3 cast, largely thanks to comments Jason Isaacs made that promptly went viral. While the public doesn't know what really happened behind the scenes in Thailand, Leslie Bibb's recollection of filming the finale offers a lighter take.

While watching these three old friends gossip and compete for men's attention was fun, Carrie Coon's character in particular made sure that there were real emotional stakes involved. From the moment she cried in Episode 1 it was clear that Laurie wasn't feeling quite as happy and blessed as her two travel companions.

Of course, the Gilded Age actress finished off her tenure as Laurie by hilariously sprinting away from the shooting that occurred in the finale. So she didn't depart the White Lotus without one more laugh. All three seasons of the acclaimed dark comedy are streaming now on Max.

The highly anticipated Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is without a doubt one of the biggest titles on the 2025 movie schedule. Based on what’s been shown of the film thus far, it looks like Tom Cruise and co. are about to deliver a true spectacle. Cruise just shared another BTS look at the film when he dropped a photo of himself hanging out of an airplane. While that’s certainly impressive, I’m really just loving the sweet way his co-star, Michelle Monaghan, reacted to his post.

It would seem that another Final Reckoning trailer is on the horizon, as Tom Cruise announced that via his Instagram post. The photo in question shows the actor’s silhouette, as he dangles from the bottom of the plane. So far, the black-and-white pic seems to be dazzling fans, based on the comments. Michelle Monaghan simply provided a four-word response to the photo, and it humorously and sweetly speaks to her personal relationship with Cruise:

Part of me really wants to believe that the Ethan Hunt actor spends many of his Sundays performing death-defying stunts. That may be the case when he’s filming a movie but, otherwise, I’d hope that he uses the day to rest like many others do. I love that Michelle Monaghan – who plays Ethan’s eventual ex-wife Julia Meade in three M:I films – seems to have a playful relationship with her co-star. Check out the cool photo that prompted her cheeky response:

A couple of other actors reacted to the post as well. Pom Klementieff – who plays Paris in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and reprises her role in the eighth film – dropped in a few fire emojis. Fan-favorite actress Gwendoline Christie also reacted with the raised hands emoji. No matter whether you’re an actor, producer or general fan, you really do have to take a moment to admire the stunts the Top Gun icon is able to pull off.

Now, with this latest film in the M:I franchise, Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie are seemingly going to have to pull off their greatest feat yet – delivering a satisfying conclusion to a beloved film series. The eighth installment is shaping up to be the end of Ethan Hunt’s journey, and the first Final Reckoning trailer suggests it’ll conclude in a bombastic way. During Paramount Pictures’ CinemaCon panel this past week, the upcoming trailer was shown, and the early reactions to it were positive. I’m not sure I’m prepared for it.

There are still plenty of questions swirling around this globe-spanning tale, and among the questions I have is whether or not Michelle Monaghan’s Julia might pop up. It’s true that her and Tom Cruise’s characters received closure in 2018’s Fallout. Nevertheless, if there’s a place for her in the narrative, I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing her again. In the meantime, though, I’m definitely content with any interactions that Cruise and Monaghan have on social media.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hits theaters on May 23. Ahead of the film’s release, I’d suggest grabbing a Paramount+ subscription and streaming all of its predecessors to prepare.

Spoiler alert! This story discusses The White Lotus episode “Killer Instincts,” from March 30. The episode is available to stream with a Max subscription if you’re not caught up.

With just one episode to go before The White Lotus Season 3’s run on the 2025 TV schedule comes to an end, fans are going crazy with theories about who the shooter is and who dies. Meanwhile, I find myself getting so caught up in the too-real female friendship between Jaclyn, Laurie and Kate. Carrie Coon delved into why many women like myself can relate to the trio, and it’s almost sad how right she is.

In “Killer Instincts,” passive aggression and backhanded compliments finally gave way to full-on rage, particularly between Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and Laurie (Carrie Coon), after Jaclyn’s affair with resort employee Valentin. Even Kate (Leslie Bibb) got caught in the crossfire. Coon told Harper’s Bazaar that this story resonates with viewers because an understanding of female friendships is “the one piece of the puzzle that everybody has some relationship to.” She continued:

Personally, I feel so exposed watching this story play out, because I see similarities between the characters and my own (less toxic) girlfriends, where we all grew up together but these days interact almost exclusively in a group chat. I couldn’t help but compare what was happening on The White Lotus to our own rare reunions, thinking, “Ha! That’s exactly how that would happen,” while hoping really hard that we’re not nearly as catty.

Carrie Coon said that kind of comparison — regardless of gender — is human nature. She continued:

The issues that drive the tension between the women are likely topics that many of us have discussed in one way or another with our own friends: Laurie gets upset that Jaclyn cheated on her husband; Kate gets confronted over voting for Trump; and Laurie becomes the topic of gossip over how much she’s drinking. Carrie Coon spoke to how she chose to make Laurie relatable through that storyline, saying:

This friendship story may not be the most salacious plotline of The White Lotus Season 3 — what with all the brotherly love, the reappearance of Greg (sorry, “Gary”), and that Internet-breaking monologue from Sam Rockwell — but I have little doubt that, sadly, Laurie, Jaclyn and Kate’s story is the most relatable.

Tune into the season finale to see how it all ends at 9 p.m. ET Sunday, April 6, on HBO and streaming on Max.

There are lots of mysteries to be solved in regards to what happens to The White Lotus Season 3 characters as Mike White’s dark comedy plays out on the 2025 TV schedule. Fans are dying to know what Greg is up to and how much we should worry about Belinda, but another big question might be how the creator was able to predict real-world events? After President Trump became the topic of conversation on a recent episode, some of the cast admitted they questioned the timeliness of the topic.

One of the stories we’ve been following on this third installment of The White Lotus (available to stream with a Max subscription) involves longtime friends Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon) reuniting for a girls trip. In the episode "The Meaning of Dreams," Kate’s friends are shocked to learn she voted for Trump, and Bibb admitted to EW she didn’t realize how relevant that topic would still be, saying:

When the current season of The White Lotus filmed, we hadn’t yet been through the 2024 election, so Leslie Bibb was only thinking about 2016. For his part, Mike White couldn’t actually have known that voting for Trump would still be such a hot-button issue that people are talking about in 2025.

Factually, sure, the stress-inducing group of female friends could have been referencing Trump's first presidency and, in that case, I can see how Leslie Bibb would wonder if the events of eight years ago would still be topical. She wasn’t even thinking about the 2024 election making that issue relevant again, as she said:

Donald Trump officially announced that he was running for president again in November 2022, but many weren’t thinking that far ahead, and The White Lotus was filmed before the race (and tensions surrounding it) heated up.

Mike White definitely had an eye on the future when he added politics to the list of polarizing subjects for Jaclyn, Laurie and Kate to tackle, and it definitely fit right in there with their other topics of conversation like each other’s religious beliefs, love lives and physical appearances.

The scene in question set Kate up to be ostracized from her friends, much in the same way she and Jaclyn had stayed up late gossiping about Laurie earlier in their trip. I’m afraid tensions are just going to continue to boil between the three old friends (sorry, longtime friends) until at least one of them explodes.

Tune in to see what fireworks await with new episodes of The White Lotus Season 3 airing at 9 p.m. ET Sundays on HBO and streaming on Max.

SPOILERS are ahead for The White Lotus Season 3’s first four episodes, now streaming for those with a Max subscription.

Real talk: one of the reasons I think I love The White Lotus so much is how unrelatable so many of the characters are to me. While I of course love a series that explores the kind of problems I deal with in my own life, there’s something especially beautifully escapist about watching these incredibly wealthy people have an absolutely bonkers vacation at a luxury resort that I don’t think I’d ever stay at – unless I won the lottery, I guess? Not to say I’ve never related to a single plot in The White Lotus before (I mean rich people are just like us, right?) and there are always characters Mike White has on the show that kind of serve as the everyman – which very much feels like Natasha Rothwell’s return as Belinda this season), but, I really wasn’t expecting to relate to one plotline.

It's the trio of women this season. This one is hitting harder than usual, and I need to discuss.

Alright, The White Lotus Friend’s Trip Plotline Is Stressing Me Out So Hard

There’s a lot going on right now in The White Lotus as we find ourselves halfway through the season. We finally know why Walton Goggins’ Rick is at the resort, and we’re still boiling over the return of Greg Hunt after Tanya’s death, and what it will mean for Belinda’s safety. But, weirdly enough, I find the friendship dynamic between these ladies to be the most nailbiting.

You know what I’m talking about. Michelle Monaghan plays a famous TV actress named Jaclyn Lemon who is with her longtime girlfriends vacationing in Thailand. Leslie Bibb plays Kate Bohr, who’s currently something of a country club wife who lives in Austin, Texas, whereas Carrie Coon plays Laurie Duffy, a corporate lawyer and recent divorcée who lives in New York. These three haven’t seen each other in forever, and spend conversation after conversation seemingly having pleasant exchanges, but it's obvious to any viewer that they are more so showboating and judging each other, and it honestly makes me sick to watch.

I Definitely Wasn’t Expecting To Relate To These Passive Aggressive Friends, But Here I Am, I Guess

The element of the relationship that is bothering me the most is how they speak to and about each other. The truth is, these passive aggressive women aren’t only representing how affluent white women in their 40s talk to and about each other, but what I’ve seen across the board my entire life. And it’s the kind of thing I currently run so far away from whenever I start to notice it sinking into relationships I'm part of. From conversations I’ve had within my own friendships with women or ones that I observe outside myself, this show is allowing me to reflect on a more common dynamic than we don't give women enough credit for.

Whether it's a tinge of negativity in response to someone reporting an impressive life update, or a silent takedown when one is threatened by a new friend, it’s an omnipresent part of the female experience we don’t put a mirror to enough. The topic has obviously been portrayed in movies and TV before, but it usually fits into one extreme of the friends being ridiculously toxic to each other or being all-time besties. Sure, there’s a heightened satire to the relationship being presented as they converse, but I wasn’t ready to start reflecting on my own friendships after watching.

When Laurie Tapped Against The Glass After Kate And Jaclyn’s Conversation, I Felt That

Chiefly, I could relate to the many times where I’ve been in group settings, and then had smaller conversations about someone else talking about how another common friend was acting down the line. It’s so cringey to see it happen in the context of a TV show’s dialogue, especially having lived it prior.

Perhaps, the perfect example happens at the beginning in Episode 2 when Jaclyn and Kate start talking about Laurie in their suite while she’s elsewhere. While they start their discussion with talking about all these positives about her, it quickly turns into them gossiping about her divorce, family and work life. When you look at the conversation, the two women are basically comparing facts they know about Laurie, passing judgments about her and discussing her perceived failures in relation to their own life choices. Then, Kate says “no wonder she looks tired” after saying she looks “great” just a few minutes prior at the top of the conversation.

Their talk is interrupted by Laurie tapping on the glass to come into the room, which leads both of the other women to suddenly shower her with compliments and kind of playfully fight over her… as if they weren’t just talking behind her back. I’ve since gone about my life and reflected about how much women regularly do this to each other, even when it’s not our intention to be malicious. Why do we feel the need to be in competition with one another, both in the context of our own friendships and in relating our lives to theirs?

Their Toxic Dynamics Show The Dark Side Of Female Friendships

Or, there’s the conversation Jaclyn has with the older women at the pool. Instead of enjoying their company, she cannot stand being associated in the same space as people who are older than her because it makes her confront that she’s not young anymore. The friends could have technically gone anywhere and had a good time, but because they are so caught up in appearances and comparison, they find themselves hanging out with much younger men at a bar. Their vacation isn’t about their actual friendship at this point at all, but proving to the others they are doing better.

What’s sad is these women were on a solo vacation in Thailand, they probably would have a better time because they wouldn’t be concerned with whether they are seen at a pool full of older women, or how their body scan stacks up. No wonder solo travel is so popular nowadays.

There’s Years Of Boiled Up Emotions Between These Three, And I’m Scared To See What Happens Next

While there’s literally murder at stake in the new season, I find myself at the edge of my seat over this trio of friends. I really hope the season ends with them having a moment where they realize how they are treating each other and break the barrier and truly have a good time, but I have a feeling things are going to really come to a head after all that backtalking and passive aggressive speech.

Mike White and the writers did an incredible job of bringing this facet of dynamics women can fall into to light in The White Lotus, and I cannot wait to see what’s next for the plotline.

After two years, The White Lotus officially returned to HBO, and your girl’s got theories.

Like the monkeys of Thailand featured in the premiere episode, The White Lotus Season 3 swung onto our 2025 TV schedule with a luxury-filled February premiere. We've now finally met the cast of characters that we'll no doubt get to know very well over the next several episodes. With all the casting announcements over the years, it’s about time we got to see all these actors in action while making grand predictions about them.

Because as is the case with any The White Lotus season, theories begin to take hold the moment the first episode starts, and Season 3 has me in a chokehold already. Let’s get into the six massive theories for what I think will happen this season.

The Girl’s Trip Will Dissolve Into Everyone Admitting How Much They Actually Hate Each Other

There’s a reason why there’s a stereotype out there that girls' trips tend to dissolve into chaos. And I have a feeling that's where things are going for Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon and Leslie Bibb's characters.

From the moment we meet Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie, there’s something...off about the trio. It feels as if they’re excited for this vacation, as anyone should be, but the more interactions we see even on just the first day, the more it feels as if there’s a massive disconnect between all three of them.

Or at the very least, Laurie is the the odd one out. As we see, she literally excuses herself from the table at one point to go and drink while sobbing in her room. That’s not necessarily the right way to start a good girls' trip. But it’s really because all Kate and Jaclyn are so complimentary about each others' lavish lives, while Laurie is left out of it.

But I also think the former two are engaging in passive-aggressive types of compliments, and that each is probably secretly jealous of the other’s life. Which will no doubt lead to some big blow-up between them, presumably sparked by Laurie unleashing a comment that leads to all three cracking. Childhood bonds sometimes stick, but with these three, I’m not feeling it, and I know they’ll fall apart.

Those Brothers Are Going To Have Sex – Or At The Very Least, Something Sexual

Look, this is HBO., so I’m not even going to sugarcoat it. What’s an HBO drama without a bit of incest? It usually happens in the channel's best fantasy shows like Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, but others like Six Feet Under have introduced it into a more modern reality, so why not here?

As jokey as this might sound, I do think something is going to happen between Sam Nivola's Lochlan and Patrick Schwarzenegger's Saxon. (Who names their boys that? What?) There wouldn’t have been as much tension around the conversational focus on sex, I wouldn't think. And Lochlan's lingering look at his sibling's nude body wasn't there for frivolity's sake.

I think the more prominent way this theory plays out is with the reveal that Lochlan isn’t biologically related to Saxon and Piper, and will be adopted. I think Piper and Saxon are Timothy and Victoria’s biological children, but I also think something feels kind of off with Victoria (played by Parker Posey, whom we already adore) - I’m not sure what. Still, maybe whatever it is led to them adopting a third child instead of conceiving one, and it’s perhaps why Lochlan has such weird, seemingly sexual energy with Saxon.

Either way, these two are definitely going to do something. I don’t know if it’ll be sex, but there’s something that will go down. Cough, cough. Wink, wink.

Chelsea And Chloe Will Conspire Against Their Middle-Aged Men

Okay, so Chelsea is already my favorite The White Lotus cast member, and I say that with full transparency because I get such sweet vibes from her. It feels like she genuinely wants to help Rick, but he’s just…middle-aged and grumpy about not meeting up with the man he traveled there to see.

But there’s something about this suddenly bursting friendship between Chelsea and Chloe – the model who is dating Greg, the White Lotus Season 1 cast member who was Tanya’s lying husband – that I love.

I know a lot of people assume that it’ll turn into a romance or something between them, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think these two are going to conspire against their lovers. Not to the lengths of killing them, maybe, but still working together to force their respective partners into treating them right, or taking their money as an alternate.

I don’t know—maybe it’s just my inner girl-lover persona who wants to see them fight back against men who treat them so terribly, but I want to see them work together.

A Big Confrontation Is Coming For Timothy And Rick

We only got two moments between the two, but I am full-steam ahead on an impending confrontation between Rick and Timothy.

We still don’t know what the heck Rick does, but it's clearly enough for him to have shelled out the money to come to this resort. Meanwhile, Timothy is already going through some kind of tricky thing at work, indicated by the call about a Wall Street Journal story. So tensions are running high.

So while I’m not sure how it will go down between these two, it feels like there’s going to be a lead-up to them getting into a fight, presumably started by Rick flicking a cigarette into the other man's face.

Belinda ISN’T Going To Die

I know the premiere's cold open alluded to it, but I stand by the idea that Belinda isn’t going to die in Season 3, and that definitely wasn't her body.

When we all found out Natasha Rothwell would return for Season 3 of the show, we were eager to see what would happen. It was a shame what happened to Jennifer Coolidge’s character in Season 2, but I think all of us really knew deep down she might not last long with how volatile she could be.

Belinda, on the other hand, is the most peaceful person out there and legitimately would not hurt a fly. We see that she’s excited to be at the Thailand White Lotus the moment she arrives. I really don’t think they would bring her back just to kill her off this season, especially when we just met her son, Zion, and it was hinted at but not confirmed.

Maybe I’m just being over-optimistic and thinking that somehow everything will work out with her coming back, but I really don’t think she’ll die.

But One Of The Women On The Girls' Trip Is Doomed

That’s my final bet. I don’t just think the girls' trip will fall apart – I think it’ll end in death.

I think pointing to Laurie would be an easy guess since it’s clear that she’s already a little unstable with how she feels around her friends. What I think might happen is that Jaclyn or Kate is going to snap and somehow get a gun, and one way or another, one of them is going to die.

But as we heard in the beginning, there were multiple gunshots, so maybe it’s not them pulling the trigger – it could be someone else entirely. Perhaps there’s a hitman out there or another guest that just snaps – Rick, maybe? Since we have no clue who he is? I don’t know, but I think one way or another, one of these women is going to bite the dust.

Critics have been calling The White Lotus Season 3 unique in many ways, and already, given its exotic location, I’m eager to see where it goes. I’m not sure how the story is going to play out, but I am here for the drama and the murder mystery. We’re back to White Lotus Sundays!

Who’s ready to get weird in Thailand? One of the most anticipated series on the 2025 TV schedule is upon us, in Mike White’s long-awaited third season of The White Lotus. After Season 2 ended in the shocking death of Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid, we’ll see a (mostly) new cast of eccentric characters check in to the titular resort when the series premieres February 16. White got fans hyped with promises of a “longer, bigger, crazier” season, and while critics are praising Season 3, many are saying it starts a bit slow and is less comedic than its predecessors.

In addition to an impressive new cast that includes Harry Potter alum Jason Isaacs, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Michelle Monaghan and Patrick Schwarzenegger, to name a few, Season 1 fan favorite Natasha Rothwell is back, as her character Belinda is in Thailand as part of the resort’s exchange program. The trailer looks as unhinged as ever, and Emma Kiely of Collider confirms Season 3 is “irresistibly entertaining,” rating it a 7 out of 10 and writing:

Only the first six of the eight-episode season were released to critics, so any big reveals or twists remain under wraps. Still, Alison Herman of Variety agrees that it takes time for the pieces to come together in Season 3, and even for Mike White to reveal all the pieces the characters are playing with. However, once it gets going, the newest offering is White’s most ambitious. Herman writes:

Nick Levine of NME, meanwhile, declares The White Lotus television’s most essential destination, giving it a 4-out-of-5-star rating. The pacing issues that slightly blemish the first two episodes are a result of introducing so many characters, Levine points out, and were also present in the first two highly regarded seasons (which can be streamed with a Max subscription). The review continues:

Niv M. Sultan of Slant feels that after the Season 3 premiere kicks off with its signature murder and then flashes back to “One Week Earlier,” the characters are content to simply stew in their established misery. The cast is great, though, and the first six episodes still pack a punch, the critic says. Sultan gives it 2.5 out of 4 stars, writing:

Belen Edwards of Mashable says The White Lotus is still “a pressure cooker of social tensions and personal crises,” with fantastic performances from top to bottom. Overall, however, Season 3 attempts to do too much, threatening to spiral into bloat. The review continues:

Every one of the reviews I read praised the cast in its entirety for their work on The White Lotus Season 3. Fans of the Mike White series will have to watch for themselves to see if the darker, slower and decidedly less funny direction is for them. Catch the premiere at 9 p.m. ET Sunday, February 16, on HBO and streaming on Max.

A stay at The White Lotus is one of the most coveted gigs in town, with everyone from Jennifer Aniston to James Marsden to Elizabeth Banks begging series creator Mike White to add them to the star-studded cast of the upcoming third season. Well, we finally got an update into exactly which actors will be joining the much-anticipated next installment of the HBO anthology series and, though sadly Jen and James aren't currently on the cast list, there are some exciting guests checking in, including a Harry Potter alum. 

We already know that Season 1 White Lotus cast member Natasha Rothwell will be returning as spa manager Belinda Lindsey, the only O.G. The White Lotus character set to appear in the third season so far (sorry, Jennifer Coolidge stans). But, per an HBO press release on January 5, we've got a new crop of vacationers that will include indie queen Parker Posey, Iron Man actress Leslie Bibb, Echoes star Michelle Monaghan, Bangkok Dangerous actor Dom Hetrakul, newcomer Tayme Thapthimthong and Lucius Malfoy himself, Jason Isaacs, of Harry Potter fame. 

The news comprises only six of the reported 13 roles being cast for the new season. As relayed by Deadline, Season 3 is aiming for nine series regulars, ranging in ages between 18 and 80, including a “patriarch, a corporate executive, an actress, a couple of mothers, a misfit, and a yogi.” 

It's not clear what parts the already announced performers would play (though we'd put serious money to see Parker Posey as a well-to-do Goop-loving yogi). Overall, though, the casting additions are a great mix of beloved familiar faces (I'm especially excited to see Popular icon Leslie Bibb in the mix!) as well as intriguing newcomers, and I can't wait to find out which role each actor will be taking on.

Other casting rumors have been swirling around the series, including that a current member of the HBO family will be making a move to the resort-set show. Scooper Jeff Sneider alleged on Twitter that The Gilded Age cast's leading lady Carrie Coon is "reportedly in talks for a key role" in The White Lotus Season 3. It would admittedly be an easy transition for the actress, as the aforementioned period drama is already full of rich people behaving badly. However, this casting gossip has not officially been confirmed by HBO nor Coon. 

While the first season of the Emmy-dominated drama series was set in Hawaii, with its equally acclaimed follow-up taking place in Sicily, the third edition will move continents yet again and head for Asia —Thailand, to be exact. Production will begin "in and around Koh Samui, Phuket, and Bangkok in February," and it will follow "a new group of guests at another White Lotus property," reads the release. 

Janet Graham Borba, EVP of Production of HBO & Max, expressed her excitment for the upcoming season and it's location in a statement, saying:

Though we don't yet have an exact date for when we'll be able to see Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs and the lot on The White Lotus, we do know that the HBO hit won't be on the 2024 TV schedule, as sizzle reel confirmed the third season to drop sometime in 2025. In the meantime, you can revisit previous editions of the anthology series with a Max subscription. 

As we wrap up the 2023 movie release schedule, it's natural that we'd look back on some of the surprise cinematic successes of the last month. Thanks to those with an Apple TV+ subscription, the Mark Wahlberg-led ensemble picture, The Family Plan, has become that streamer’s largest hit to date. As such, this family comedy has become a rather hot topic. Part of the conversation surrounds the cast member that actor/producer Wahlberg considers the “missing ingredient,” which he chatted with CinemaBlend about.

I was able to speak with both Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan during the press day for The Family Plan, which led to a discussion pertaining to his shaping of the project. As one of the first parties to join the production’s team, Wahlberg's role as a producer allowed him to help shape the full structure of the story.

It also helped him realize that friend and collaborator Michelle Monaghan was a vital presence that lended the enterprise something it truly needed. As he spoke to CinemaBlend, the leading man showered Monaghan with the following well-earned praises: 

Clearly, Mark Wahlberg is on to something here, as The Family Plan is winning over fans, despite critical reviews being less than favorable. I certainly wouldn’t argue against Michelle Monaghan being a “missing ingredient” in this action-comedy romp, as her pairing with Mr. Wahlberg sells a very important part of the Morgan family’s adventures. Especially when, at the time of publication, this movie has become the most watched Apple TV+ picture in the streaming platform’s history. 

The bond between the two co-stars undoubtedly comes from years of friendship, as well as their previous collaboration on the biographical drama Patriots Day. But, also, both stars have experience with action and comedy-oriented adventures, so their individual skills further bolster that that sort of chemistry you can't fake. 

Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan aren't the only ones who get to display such charm throughout director Simon Cellan Jones’ family-friendly action fest. Also on the Morgan family’s roster are young co-stars Zoe Colletti and Van Crosby. They, too, felt a special rapport that clicked almost instantly, which led to significant developments, including The Family Plan’s last minute Lizzo easter egg happening on the fly. 

With a cast in a very improv-encouraged groove, and the friendship between the two leading stars greasing the rails, this movie only benefitted from the steady hands that shaped it along the way. And at the center of it all is Michelle Monaghan's evolving maternal figure, who makes the best of the dangers suddenly thrown at her.

Incidentally, Mark Wahlberg's Las Vegas residency may have helped him pick that iconic and glitzy setting as this road trip's final destination. His influence on the shaping of writer David Coggeshall’s 2021 entry on The Black List would have certainly allowed for such a decision, and the third act climax benefits greatly from such a choice. 

It all signals that the Oscar nominee's instincts as a creative force are just as sharp as Dan Morgan’s diaper-changing skills on screen. That could come in handy, should a sequel to The Family Plan come to fruition. While there's no official rumblings on that front, the door left is wide open at the end of the picture. As the whole cast has their own ideas as to where that hypothetical story could go, Michelle Monaghan's potential concept would only capitalize on her "missing ingredient" status with Mark Wahlberg.

You can see what the fuss is about with The Family Plan, as it's currently streaming. While you’re at it, keep an eye out for some of the best Apple TV+ movies that are also available on the platform. They’re not all as family friendly as this title, but this roster of winners will help you get the most bang for your buck. 

The Mission: Impossible movies have required Tom Cruise to do some pretty incredible things. Cruise has put his life on the line to do practical stunts that make the movies look incredible. But it’s all nothing compared to the sacrifice that Michelle Monaghan made for Mission: Impossible III, as it turns out she skipped out on her honeymoon to make out with Tom Cruise. Now that’s dedication.

The good news is that her brand-new husband wasn’t too upset, in fact, he was incredibly supportive of the whole thing. Monaghan, who appears in the new Apple TV+ movie The Family Plan with Mark Wahlberg recently spoke with Collider where she talked about the fact the M:I III started filming just after she had gotten married, forcing her to skip the planned honeymoon. Then the production started with her having to make out with the star. She said…

Movies often start out productions with intimate scenes as a way to “get them out of the way” and that may have been the plan here as well. Romantic scenes in movies are often a little awkward, but it had to be that much weirder for a woman who just got married. Not all spouses would be entirely okay with some of what happens on film sets, but it seems Monaghan’s husband was actually incredibly supportive. She continued… 

Monaghan says she had worked hard to get the role in Mission: Impossible III and her husband knew what it meant to her, and there’s little argument that being able to say you made out with Tom Cruise on your honeymoon makes it a unique experience. Not a lot of people can say that. Monaghan celebrated the anniversary of Mission: Impossible III a couple of years ago by reminding us all, and probably her husband, what she did in that movie.

Michelle Monaghan returned briefly to the Mission: Impossible franchise since her introduction as Ethan Hunt's wife. She's not officially part of the Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two cast but considering how the women in Ethan's life tend to not stay away, perhaps we'll be surprised.

It is not unusual for an actor just starting out in the business to film scenes for a movie that, ultimately, never see the light of the day. In fact, it's not out of the ordinary for that same thing to happen to an established A-lister either. See for yourself by taking a look at some of the biggest stars you did not realize were almost in some of your favorite film, if not for the magic of editing.

Ana De Armas (Yesterday)

Yesterday is a universe-altering movie that takes place in a reality in which the Beatles never existed. Coincidentally, there exists an alternate cut of the film featuring Ana de Armas as a Late Late Show guest Himesh Patel’s Jack Malik romantically sings “Something” to. Per writer, Richard Curtis explained that the character was cut to avoid making Jack’s relationship with Ellie (Lily James) any more complicated. Though De Armas did appear in the trailer, and fans pursued legal action against Universal over the marketing.

Kevin Costner (The Big Chill) 

In one of the best movies of the ‘80s, The Big Chill, a group of friends reunite for the funeral of their friend, Alex, who was supposed to be played by the future Oscar-winning star and director of Dances with Wolves (pictured), Kevin Costner. Star Jeff Goldblum told Yahoo! that the Yellowstone cast member was “wonderful” in a flashback scene that was ultimately cut from the 1983 ensemble dramedy, in which his character finds himself reluctant to carve a Thanksgiving turkey and ruin its perfection.

Christopher Lee (The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King)

One of the most important characters from the Lord of the Rings movies, Saruman, is not in the third installment, The Return of the King. Per Ain’t It Cool News, Peter Jackson felt his scene — which was originally shot for The Two Towers — served as more of a wrap-up to the previous film than a suitable beginning for this one. While appearing at University College Dublin, Saruman actor Christopher Lee shared how shocked he was to learn his scene from the Best Picture Oscar winner — in which he stands off against the Fellowship — was cut before recommending the crowd “buy the extended DVDs.”

Harrison Ford (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial)

Steven Spielberg told EW that, as a favor to him and writer Melissa Mathison (also his then-girlfriend), Harrison Ford shot a scene for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial as Elliot’s (Henry Thomas) school principal that can be found on YouTube today. It never made the final cut of the 1982 box office smash, but know that had it been included, the star of the Indiana Jones movies (pictured) still would have gone mostly unseen as the camera never shows his face.

Andy García (Dangerous Minds)

Andy García told BlogTalkRadio (via Express) that when he was approached to star in 1995’s Dangerous Minds as a love interest for Michelle Pfeiffer’s inner city teacher, Louanne Johnson, he openly expressed that he found the role unnecessary. Still, the star of Father of the Bride (pictured) shot the scenes that were written for him (but not included in the initial script). But they were indeed removed from the final cut.

James Gandolfini (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close)

The late James Gandolfini shot scenes for 2011’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close as a man Sandra Bullock’s widowed character meets at a 9/11 victims support group meeting. The Sopranos cast member (pictured) was even credited on the Oscar-nominated drama’s poster. According to the LA Times — his role was removed following a poor test audience reception.

Eric Stoltz (Back to the Future)

One of the most infamous examples of an actor cut from a movie — save one frame — is Eric Stoltz, who led the Back to the Future cast for about a month before director Robert Zemeckis and others realized his “intense” approach to the role was not working. As Collider recalls, Zemeckis got approval to reshoot most of the movie and replace Stoltz with their initial choice, Michael J. Fox, whose performance in the time travel movie classic as Marty McFly is iconic.

Ashley Judd (Natural Born Killers)

In a sequence cut from Natural Born Killers (which can be found on YouTube), Ashley Judd plays Grace Mulberry — the sole survivor of Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory Knox’s (Juliette Lewis) mass teenager murder. She appears in court to be personally cross-examined by Mickey, who then stabs her to death with a pencil on the stand. In an interview for Metrograph, director Oliver Stone recalls removing it for its “length, and violence,” but now believes the “touching” scene belongs in the controversial 1994 satire.

Tobey Maguire (Life Of Pi)

In 2012’s adaptation of the novel, Life of Pi, the title character (portrayed as an older man by Irrfan Khan) recalls his unbelievable story of survival to a writer, played by English actor, Rafe Spall. However, according to USA Today, the role was originally played by Tobey Maguire until director Ang Lee decided the sSpider-Man star (pictured) was too distractingly recognizable and opted for reshoots. 

Chris Cooper (The Ring)

Anyone who ever wondered who Naomi Watts’ Rachel passes the curse tape along to at the end of The Ring should know it was Chris Cooper. The Oscar-winning star of Adaptation. (pictured) told Sci-Fi Wire (via MovieHole) that he shot bookend scenes for the 2002 horror movie classic. One establishes his character as a serial killer and the other shows him receiving the tape. Both were cut for disrupting the flow.

Shailene Woodley (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)

The Amazing Spider-Man franchise was meant to introduce of Shailene Woodley as Mary-Jane Watson to Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker. Per MovieWeb, the Divergent star did shoot a cameo for TASM 2, which was later cut so she could officially debut in the next film — a plan ruined when the franchise was cancelled completely.

Robert Pattinson (Vanity Fair)

Before Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson played lovers in Water for Elephants, they played mother and son in the 2004 period drama, Vanity Fair. But the then-teenage actor — who went on to hit it big in Twilight (pictured) — was cut from the move, which he discovered while attending the premiere, according to his 2017 W Magazine interview.

Skeet Ulrich (Cursed)

The 2005 werewolf movie, Cursed, marked a reunion for director Wes Craven, writer Kevin Williamson, and original Scream cast member Skeet Ulrich that audiences never saw. According to MovieHole (via Killer Movies), Ulrich — also known for Riverdale (pictured) — was removed in lieu of studio-optioned rewrites and reshoots. But in 2022, the Scream fan site, Hello Sidney, revealed his role via stills from an unreleased director's cut.

Michael Biehn (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)

Despite Kyle Reese' death in 1984’s The Terminator, Michael Biehn reprised the role in the 1991 sequel, which is now regarded one of the greatest action movies of all time. However, according to ScreenRant, the sequence — in which he comes to Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in a dream — was cut from Terminator 2: Judgment Day to maintain a tighter pace, but was later restored for an extended special edition. 

Angela Bassett (Mr. & Mrs. Smith)

Technically, Angela Bassett is in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but her part as Brad Pitt’s boss was originally meant to be more than an uncredited voice role. On YouTube, you can find deleted scenes from Doug Liman’s 2004 romantic action-comedy with the two-time Oscar nominee appearing in person alongside Keith David as Father.

Adrien Brody (The Thin Red Line)

Several major actors had their roles were either severely trimmed or completely removed from Terrence Malick’s 1998 war epic, The Thin Red Line, like including Mickey Rourke and George Clooney, as ScreenRant recalls. However, Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody’s character, Cpl. Fife, was the central lead of James Jones' original novel and had even done press for the film when he discovered right before the premiere that he was barely in it, per The Independent (via Eskimo).

Mick Jagger (Fitzcarraldo)

Mick Jagger’s underrated acting skills were praised by Werner Herzog (per Playboy, via The Local), who cast the rock star in his 1982 adventure film, Fitzcarraldo. Unfortunately, according to Far Out, multiple problems facing the production — including star Jason Robards’ dysyntery, as the New York Times reported — caused a delay that interfered with The Rolling Stone's touring schedule. Thus, Herzog was forced to recast Robards’ title role with Klaus Kinski and write Jagger’s character out entirely.

Matt Damon (Ocean's 8)

Ocean’s 8 had some fun cameos from members of Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven cast — namely Elliott Gould’s Rueben and Shaobo Qin as Yen — but we almost saw more. In addition to the late Carl Reiner telling Vanity Fair he filmed a scene with Sandra Bullock, THR reports that Matt Damon's cameo as Linus Caldwell from the 2001 heist favorite (pictured) was taken out due to “editorial and storytelling reasons,” as director Gary Ross claimed. The article does, however, mention a petition to remove Damon following comments he made about the #MeToo movement and Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Michelle Monaghan (Constantine, Syriana)

When Michelle Monaghan spoke to MovieHole to promote Mission: Impossible III, it was mentioned that she was removed from two different movies released in 2005: Constantine and Syriana. The fantasy comic book movie did preserve one of her scenes, but she's nowhere to be found in Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning political drama, which already had many storylines to juggle, as Monaghan herself mentioned.

Tim Roth (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood)

Tim Roth is in many of Quentin Tarantino’s best movies — including Pulp Fiction (pictured) — and came very close to joining 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. But Tarantino was orced to remove Roth's part to avoid a five-hour runtime. Roth did share in an interview with Uproxx that he appreciated, at least, being mentioned in the credits as “cut.”

Ellen Pompeo (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind) 

As a video essay by Film Radar demonstrates, if Ellen Pompeo role’s in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind had not been removed, we would have seen Michel Gondry’s trippy romantic sci-fi dramedy in a whole different light. In deleted scenes, the Grey’s Anatomy star plays Naomi — the woman Jim Carrey’s Joel left for Clementine (Kate Winslet) and whom he reconciles with after his memory wipe. Though he leaves her again when he meets Clementine on the train, unaware he has done this before.

Paul Rudd (Bridesmaids)

The Bridesmaids cast included plenty of funny people, but did you know Paul Rudd was also part of it for a moment? Director Paul Feig told EW he “felt bad” cutting the Ant-Man actor’s darkly funny cameo as Annie’s (co-writer Kristen Wiig) deranged blind date, but did so to shave down the runtime and avoid distracting from Annie’s love triangle with Ted (Jon Hamm) and Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd).

Katherine Langford (Avengers: Endgame)

In a deleted scene from Avengers: Endgame, immediately after Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) “snaps” Thanos (Josh Brolin) away, he is given the chance to say one final goodbye to an older version of his daughter, Morgan (Katherine Langford), in the Soulworld. At least the sequence’s omission gives Langford a chance to play a different Marvel character at some point, hopefully.

Uma Thurman (Savages) 

The 2012 crime drama Savages could have been touted as a reunion between John Travolta and Uma Thurman, who first worked together on Pulp Fiction (pictured), had the latter’s role as Ophelia’s (Blake Lively) mother not been removed. Director Oliver Stone revealed to Huff Post that Paqu was actually one of several character from Don Winslow’s novel did not make it into the movie due to time constraints.

Amy Poehler (Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy)

When mentioning her axed cameo as a bank teller in 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy with Vulture, Amy Poehler admits she correctly predicted the movie was already too long to keep her scene, which also featured fellow SNL star Maya Rudolph as a gang leader. Thankfully, the Parks and Rec cast member did appear in the 2013 sequel alongside her buddy, Tina Fey.

Rachel Weisz (To The Wonder)

In 2012, Rachel Weisz spoke to La Stampa (via EW) about how she had the pleasure of working with Terrence Malick on To the Wonder, but would “not have the pleasure of seeing [her] work.” For unknown reasons, the Oscar-winning star of The Constant Gardener (pictured) was removed from the romantic drama starring Ben Affleck and Olga Kurylenko. And she wasn't alone, as IndieWire later reported that Barry Pepper, Michael Sheen and Amanda Peet were also missing from the final cut.

Viggo Mortenson (The Purple Rose Of Cairo)

One of the first movies Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortenson worked on was Woody Allen’s 1985 fantasy rom-com, The Purple Rose of Cairo. The star of the Lord of the Rings movies (pictured) spoke to ABC News' Peter Travers about how his frustrating experience shooting the film turned out to be meaningless since he was edited out the movie after it was released.

Matthew Fox (World War Z)

The 2013 adaptation of Max Brooks’ World War Z was plagued by rewrites and reshoots that resulted in an entirely new third act from what was intended. As a result, Lost cast member Matthew Fox’s role as a paratrooper was scaled down to just one line of dialogue, which may have been disappointing for the self-proclaimed fan of the OG book, per Huff Post.

Jack Whitehall (Frozen)

In a clip shared to Jack Whitehall’s official YouTube channel, the British comedian shares with an audience how his one-line role as a troll in Disney’s Oscar-winning animated film, Frozen, was reduced to a non-speaking part. The Jungle Cruise cast member and star of Clifford the Big Red Dog (pictured) goes on to say that, after discovering his line was removed when he first saw the movie, a friend of his found a photo of him at a Frozen press junket and meme-ified it. 

James Van Der Beek (Storytelling)

Tom Solondz’s 2002 anthology dramedy, Storytelling, consists of two segments dealing with various challenging topics, but there were original three. As EW reported, the omitted third chapter starred James Van Der Beek — known for being part of the Dawson’s Creek cast and Varsity Blues (pictured) — as a high school football player discovering he's gay.

Sienna Miller (Black Mass)

Before the 2015 crime thriller released, it was already confirmed tha Sienna Miller had been cut from Black Mass. She was cast as Catherine Greig, who had a relationship infamous gangster, Whitey Bulger (played by Johnny Depp in the film). Director Scott Cooper admitted to The Boston Globe that it was a difficult decision to remove the English actor -- then best known for American Sniper (pictured) -- but it ultimately “came down to narrative choices.”

Jena Malone (Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice)

Following previous rumors that she would play Robin, Jena Malone’s comic book movie debut in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice actually never made it to the big screen. Luckily, her role as head S.T.A.R. Labs scientist Jenet Klyburn — first revealed in leaked footage —  would be included in the 2016 DC movie’s three-hour “Ultimate Cut."

So if your friends ever quiz you about has or hasn't starred in major movies, this list should provide you with some interesting loopholes.

There’s no way of getting around it — we are currently in a banner year when it comes to the 2022 Netflix TV schedule and its slate of original shows. If you look at the Netflix Top 10 on any given day, there will be new arrivals or perennial favorites released by the streaming service sitting atop the list, with other originals usually following not far behind. On Friday, August 19, another show was added to the collection, this time a seven-episode limited series by the name of Echoes.

Anchored by Michelle Monaghan’s dual performance as twins who have long lived a double-life before one goes missing, the Echoes cast is great from top to bottom with some familiar faces and great character actors. If you have watched, or are planning on watching, the psychological thriller series and want to know where you’ve seen the actors before, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s break down the cast and get to the bottom of at least one mystery…

Michelle Monaghan (Leni And Gina) 

Taking on the role of not one, but two characters on Echoes is Michelle Monaghan, who portrays author Gina and horse trainer Leni, whose disappearance is at the center of the limited series’ sprawling narrative.

No stranger when it comes to emotionally and physically-demanding roles, Monaghan has appeared in gripping drama series like True Detective Season 1, the Hulu original, The Path, and Messiah, which premiered on Netflix in 2020. Monaghan is also known for her big-screen work, which includes everything from amazing action movies like Mission Impossible III and her reprising her role in Mission: Impossible - Fallout, black comedies like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and a few dozen other titles of note.

Matt Bomer (Jack Beck) 

Matt Bomer shows up in the Echoes cast as Jack Beck, Leni’s husband whose life is thrown into disarray when his wife mysteriously disappears and becomes the talk of town.

Bomer received a Golden Globe Award in 2015 for his moving performance in the HBO original movie, The Normal Heart, in which he appeared alongside Mark Ruffalo. Over the years, Bomer has also appeared in movies like Magic Mike and its 2015 sequel, The Boys in the Band (reprising his role from the original stage production), and multiple others. His TV work includes everything from high-profile roles on shows like Doom Patrol and White Color to soap operas like All My Children and Guiding Light, and just about everything in between. He has also been a part of several seasons of American Horror Story, last appearing on the American Horror Stories cast in 2021.

Daniel Sunjata (Charlie Davenport) 

Daniel Sunjata, who is no stranger to the small screen, shows up in the Echoes cast as Charlie Davenport, Gina’s husband back home in California.

A fixture of the Rescue Me cast throughout its entire seven-season run, Sunjata has also spent a lot of his career on shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Grey’s Anatomy, Manifest, Power Book II: Ghost, and even Sex and the City. But, Sunjata has also had success on the silver screen, appearing in the Devil Wears Prada cast, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and was even briefly seen in The Dark Knight Rises.

Ali Stroker (Claudia) 

Joining the Echoes cast as Leni and Gina’s tough-as-nails older sister is Ali Stroker, who Netflix subscribers might recognize from her work as Charles-Ann on the final chapter of Ozark.

Outside of the realm of emotionally-taxing Netflix shows, Stroker has also appeared on series like The Glee Project, Faking It, Charmed, Blue Bloods, Only Murders in the Building, and And Just Like That…. Stroker also won a Tony Award in 2019 for her celebrated performance in Oklahoma!, a role that also earned her a Drama Desk Award.

Karen Robinson (Sheriff Louise Floss) 

Taking on the role of Sheriff Louise Floss in the Echoes cast, a tenacious investigator who looks into Leni and Gina’s past in an attempt to get to the bottom of the mystery at hand, is Karen Robinson.

Fans of the Schitt’s Creek cast will certainly remember Robinson as Veronica “Ronnie” Lee in the show’s large ensemble for its entire run. But, Robinson’s body of work doesn’t stop there. Over the years, Robinson has appeared on shows like A Million Little Things, Morning Show Mysteries, Forgive Me, and multiple others. Her film work includes Against the Ropes, Who Killed Atlanta’s Children, Silent War, and Defund to name just a few. On stage, Robinson has given numerous commanding and decorated performances in everything from Riot to Angélique and Doubt to Da KINK in My Hair. 

Michael O’Neill (Victor) 

Michael O’Neill shows up in the Echoes cast as Leni and Gina’s father, Victor, who brings with him decades of experience on the small screen.

Throughout his prolific TV career, O’Neill has given outstanding performances on shows like The West Wing, 24, Boston Public, This Is Us, and Jack Ryan, on which he played the power-hungry Senator Mitchell Chapin during the show’s second season. His film work is just as impressive, with roles in movies like Traffic, Seabiscuit, Dallas Buyers Club, and a couple dozen others.

Jonathan Tucker (Dylan James) 

Rounding out the main portion of the Echoes cast is Jonathan Tucker, who shows up on the new Netflix show as Gina's high school boyfriend, Dylan James.

Tucker has done a little bit of everything since he made his professional acting debut in the 1994 spaghetti western, Troublemakers. This includes moves like Sleepers, The Virgin Suicides, In The Valley of Elah, The Next Three Days, and the 2019 Charlie’s Angels reboot. His TV work includes shows like The Black Donnellys, Kingdom, American Gods, Justified, Snowfall, and Westworld.

Well, hopefully all this helps you make sense of the Echoes cast and where you’ve seen the individual actors in the past. However, this is just a small portion of the cast, as there are multiple other actors who appear on the seven-episode limited series. If you have already finished the psychological thriller and want to know what other shows coming down the road, check out our 2022 TV schedule so you don’t miss a thing.

Stream Echoes on Netflix.

Ted Lasso creator Bill Lawrence has a new show on the way, and it’s looking very promising -- and has a cast that features at least two alumni of the hit HBO series True Detective. We already knew Lawrence’s upcoming series would feature actor Vince Vaughn, who starred in Season 2 of True Detective. Now, an actress from the show’s inaugural season has joined the fray, as Bad Monkey added actress Michelle Monaghan to the fold in an interesting role. 

Michelle Monaghan (who played Martin’s wife Maggie in True Detective Season 1) joins the cast of Bad Monkey in the role of Bonnie. Deadline describes Bonnie as an enigmatic woman who is currently in a toxic marriage. And apparently, she's going to make things difficult for the main character Yancy, (played by Vince Vaughn), both personally and professionally. 

Yancy is at the center of Bad Monkey, which sees the former detective demoted to a restaurant inspector living in Florida. He's then pulled into some drama when a severed arm found by a fishing tourist leads to the discovery of greed and corruption that's occuring in Florida and the Bahamas. No doubt Vince Vaughn and Michelle Monaghan will give great performances in the upcoming series, which is set to stream on Apple TV+.

Bad Monkey Has Added Other New Cast Members

Michelle Monaghan is just one of a couple of new names announced for the series, as a couple of other notable actresses joined the cast of the upcoming Apple TV+ series. Both Jodie Turner-Smith and Meredith Hagner are in the upcoming drama, in the roles of Gracie and Eve, respectively. 

Jodie Turner-Smith’s Gracie possesses an interesting alter ego -- the “Dragon Queen.” On the show, Gracie has a reputation in Andros as someone both respected and feared for her skills as a practitioner of Obeah. This is a spiritual practice in which people can use supernatural abilities to communicate with entities and spirits in an effort to harm other living people. It certainly explains why Turner-Smith’s character would be an intimidating force in the town, and she sounds like a character that will be interesting to watch when the show comes out. 

As for Meredith Hagner’s Eve, she’s a widow who's questioned by Yancy, and the detective apparently suspects that she knows more than she lets on. And given this series features a severed arm, and yes, a monkey, I feel his instincts may be correct. 

This definitely sounds like a series TV fans will appreciate, so I can only hope the final product is as promising as these castings and character descriptions. Because Apple TV+ has a solid track record thus far with shows like Ted Lasso and The Morning Show, one can only hope that Bill Lawrence's newest project can live up to those standards. There's no telling when we might get our first official look at the show so, at this point, interested parties will be playing the waiting game.

2021 isn’t just the 25th anniversary of the Mission: Impossible film series launching; it also marks 15 years since Mission: Impossible III was released. J.J. Abrams’ first outing as a feature filmmaker saw Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt having retired from IMF field work and living a quieter life with Michelle Monaghan’s Julia Meade. To commentate exactly a decade and a half having recently passed since Mission: Impossible III made its way in front of our eyeballs, Monaghan shared a steamy throwback of her time with Cruise.

With the first two Mission: Impossible movies having given audiences an Ethan Hunt fully committed to stopping bad guys out in the world, it was definitely weird seeing our main protagonist as a domestic man. However, he was clearly happy with Julia Meade, and Michelle Monaghan also enjoyed working with Tom Cruise, as she mentioned when posting some nice Mission: Impossible III pictures on Instagram. Take a look:

Michelle Monaghan had already appeared in some notable movies ahead of Mission: Impossible III, such as The Bourne Supremacy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Still, the opportunity to work with Tom Cruise would leave a lot of actors starstruck, and it sounds like Monaghan found herself in that camp. 15 years later, she still looks back on Mission: Impossible III fondly, hence why it was important she acknowledge this “anniversary.”

Six years passed between the release of Mission: Impossible 2 and Mission: Impossible III, with various directors and actors coming and leaving over the latter movie’s years of development. In addition to J.J. Abrams sitting in the director’s chair and co-writing the script with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the cast included Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Billy Crudup, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell and Maggie Q. Mission: Impossible III, which saw Ethan Hunt tracking down Hoffman’s weapons dealer character, Owen Davian, was met with a solid amount of positive reception and collected approximately $398.5 million worldwide off a $150 million budget.

Although Mission: Impossible III ended with Ethan Hunt and Julia Meade reunited after she’d been kidnapped, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol revealed that she’d been murdered… or rather, that’s how it was made to look. Julia’s death had actually been faked for one of Ethan’s missions, but unfortunately, their marriage ended. Monaghan reprised Julia for Mission: Impossible - Fallout, where she crossed paths with Ethan and his team while she was working at a medical camp in Kashmir with her new husband, Erik.

With two more Mission: Impossible movies on the way, it’s possible Michelle Monaghan could find her way back to this franchise, although Fallout seemed to conclude Ethan and Julia’s story for good. Luckily, there won’t be any shortage of familiar faces participating in Mission: Impossible 7, including Henry Czerny’s Eugene Kittridge, who hasn’t appeared since the first Mission: Impossible movie. Monaghan most recently appeared in Every Breath You Take, and can next be seen in Spinning Gold.

Mission: Impossible 7 opens in theaters on May 27, 2022, and Mission: Impossible 8 will follow on July 7, 2023. Keep track of what’s hitting the big screen later this year with our upcoming 2021 movies schedule.

Unfortunately, there are times in which we read headlines regarding a well-known actor acting like a snob or being selfish on set. Thankfully, this is not one of those stories, because apparently Tom Cruise can be a real joy to work with - at least if you’re Michelle Monaghan. The Mission: Impossible III actress has now expressed just why she loved working with Cruise on the set of the storied action franchise.

Although she will not be reprising her role in the newest Mission: Impossible film, Michelle Monaghan played Julia Meade in three of the franchise’s films. That’s three times she has been opposite Tom Cruise on a set, so it’s safe to say that she's gotten a feel for working with the famous actor. In an interview with Looper, Monaghan praised Cruise’s ability to connect as an actor and says he really is “the best of the best”. Here it is in her own adoring words:

That’s quite the compliment coming from Michelle Monaghan, because, like she says, she has worked with a ton of talented actors in the 20+ years she has been in Hollywood. The majority of titles on her resume have her playing opposite some huge names, like Robert Downey Jr., Casey Affleck, Gerard Butler, and Jaime Foxx, just to name a few. While that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of actors she's worked with, apparently Tom Cruise makes it to the top of her own list.

In the same interview, Michelle Monaghan says that what she really enjoys about working with Tom Cruise is that she feels very focused every time she is in a scene with him, which she finds to be quite helpful in regard to her other projects. This is how Monaghan puts it:

While we may not be able to count on more on-screen chemistry between Michelle Monaghan and Tom Cruise in the next Mission: Impossible films, we will have plenty of Cruise’s skilled acting in our future. Cruise and his castmates have reportedly finished shooting the seventh installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, which is set to release in summer 2022. A much closer Cruise mission, though, will have him taking up his equally iconic role of Maverick in the steadily approaching Top Gun: Maverick, which you’ll be able to check out when it arrives on November 19.

It is hard to believe that it has been nearly five years since Nic Pizzolatto's demented yet fascicnating HBO crime anthology series True Detective came in and provided one of the greatest eight episodes of television before or since. Thanks to Pizzolatto's decades-spanning story about two Louisiana detectives pushing themselves to brink of madness to get to the bottom of a grizzly murder, it's two leads — Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson — and the rest of the stellar cast, True Detective Season 1 remains a landmark television event.

In the years since the show's debut on HBO, the cast of True Detective Season 1 has gone on to have remarkable careers in film and on television, thanks in part to their outstanding performances we're still discussing a half-decade later. Here's a brief rundown of what each actor has done since the conclusion of Nic Pizzolatto's first major foray into television.

Matthew McConaughey (Rustin "Rust" Cole)

Matthew McConaughey's performance as Rustin "Rust" Cole on True Detective Season 1 came in the middle of what is now called the McConaissance, a time in the actor's career when he made the jump from run-of-the-mill romantic comedies and low-brow action franchises to serious and acclaimed movie and television roles like Dallas Buyers Club and Interstellar, and the HBO crime drama only helped his case. Since the final, and confusing moments of True Detective, there have been rumors that McConaughey would return to the franchise, but it's hard to think that he has the time with all the great performances and his philanthropic acts as of late. However, he does have something in the works with True Detective's creator.

Woody Harrelson (Martin "Marty" Hart)

Woody Harrelson deserves as much credit as anyone for his pained and conflicted portrayal of Martin "Marty" Hart in True Detective Season 1 because he was right there in the thick of it until the case was over and done with. Harrelson was by no means a struggling actor when he was cast in one of two lead roles in the HBO series, but in the years following his appearance, he has received an Academy Award nomination for his performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, shown up in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and will soon play the iconic Marvel villain Carnage in the upcoming Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Harrelson, a longtime environmentalist, narrated the 2020 documentary Kiss The Ground which breaks down how the earth's soil can help in the fight against climate change.

Michelle Monaghan (Maggie Hart)

Michelle Monaghan's performance as Maggie Hart, Marty's loyal and fed up wife, in True Detective Season 1 remains one of the highlights of the actress' career, which is saying a lot. In the years following her time on on the HBO series, Monaghan had a leading role on the Hulu original series The Path as well as the short-lived Netflix series Messiah. After a 12-year absence, she also returned to the Mission: Impossible franchise in 2018 with Mission: Impossible — Fallout. Monaghan most recent film appearance is in Zoe Lister-Jones' The Craft: Legacy which serves as a soft reboot to the 1996 supernatural horror flick The Craft.

Alexandra Daddario (Lisa Tragnetti)

Throughout True Detective Season 1, Alexandra Daddario's Lisa Tragnetti appeared off-and-on as Marty Hart's mistress who eventually called things off when the married detective took things too far. Already a star in her own right, Daddario continued with her success on the crime series with major roles in movies and shows like the Dwayne Johnson disaster epic San Andreas, the 2017 film adaptation of Baywatch, and the CBS All Access original series Why Women Kill. Daddario will next appear in the upcoming Michael Bay-produced science fiction thriller Songbird, which is not only based on the COVID-19 pandemic, but was also filmed during the heart of the health crisis.

Michael Potts (Maynard Gilbough)

Michael Potts, who appeared as Maynard Gilbough, one of the modern-day detectives trying to uncover the mystery in True Detective, is one of the many actors with the distinction of being featured on two of the most iconic HBO series, Oz and The Wire. Since his time on True Detective, Potts has remained busy with various television projects like Random Acts of Flyness, Elementary, and Taken, as well as film roles like the one of Slow Drag in the upcoming Ma Rainey biopic Ma Rainey's Black Bottom starring Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman.

Tory Kittles (Thomas Papania)

Tory Kittles appeared as Thomas Papania, Maynard Gilbough's partner in the modern-day portions of True Detective, and has remained just as busy ever since. Following his eight episodes on the HBO crime drama, Kilttles worked with HBO once again when he showed up as Clarence Smith, the older brother of Queen Latifah's Bessie Smith in the 2015 TV film Bessie. Kittles would go on to appear in another biographical drama four years later when he portrayed abolitionist Frederick Douglass in the 2019 Underground Railroad drama Harriet. Kittles has also continued to makes strides on television and currently has a main role on the CBS crime drama The Equalizer.

Kevin Dunn (Ken Quesada)

Kevin Dunn will probably always been known White House Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty on the HBO comedy series Veep or Communications Director Alan Reed in the 1993 political comedy Dave, but Dunn also gave a convincing performance as Major Ken Quesada on True Detective Season 1. Following the end the anthology series' first season, Dunn continued to be one of the best things about Veep and made appearances in movies like Above Suspicion, Keeping Up with the Joneses, and Captive State.

Erin Moriarty (Audrey Hart)

Erin Moriarty was a relative newcomer to when she appeared as the teenage version of Marty Hart's daughter, Audrey on True Detective. In the years following her portrayal of a youth in crisis, Moriarty has found a great deal of success in both film and television, with her two most notable roles being that of Hope Shlottman on Jessica Jones Season 1 and more recently as Annie January / Starlight in the Amazon original superhero series The Boys where she remains on the main cast.

Brighton Sharbino (Macie Hart)

Brighton Sharbino appeared as the older version of Marty Hart's younger daughter, Macie on True Detective Season 1. During her time on the show, Sharbino also had a recurring role on The Walking Dead for a short time. Sharbino is next set to appear on The Shadow Diaries, a serialized scripted podcast that dives into the troubling world of a fictionalized pop star.

Michael Harney (Steve Geraci)

Michael Harney appeared throughout True Detective Season 1 as Sheriff Steve Geraci, a character that first appeared to be an ally of Rust and Marty's but ended up holding back more information than he should. During his run on True Detective, Harney also had a memorable role as Sam Healy on Orange is the New Black, he followed up with movies like A Star Is Born, Widows, and most recently The Banker, which like the series For All Mankind, is available on Apple TV+.

Jay O. Sanders (Billy Lee Tuttle)

Jay O. Sanders' portrayal of the corrupt (in ever sense of the word) reverend Billy Lee Tuttle on True Detective Season 1 remains one of the most detestable and disgusting characters in the entire series. In recent years, Sanders has appeared on a number of successful television shows like Blindspot, The Sinner, and most recently Manhunt: Unabomber.

Glenn Fleshler (Errol Childress)

Glenn Fleshler only appears in three episodes of True Detective Season 1, but his portrayal of Errol Childress, the monster behind the abduction and murder of countless children in southern Louisiana, remains one of the most unforgettable roles after all these years. With a face and demeanor like that, it's hard to forget Fleshler. Over the years, he has appeared in movies like Joker and A Most Violent Year, as well as TV shows like Waco, The Twilight Zone, Watchmen, and most recently For Life. Still, Errol Childress will always be his most notable and unforgivable character.

Charles Halford (Reggie Ledoux)

Reggie Ledoux, the very southern Louisiana man with questionable prison tattoos in True Detective Season 1, is just one part of the widespread child abduction conspiracy throughout the series, but still pays for his actions. Shortly after his character was killed off True Detective, Charles Halford was cast in a more positive role in the 2014 television adaptation of Constantine, where he played Francis "Chas" Chandler, John Constantine's best friend. He has also done some voice work with Tangled: The Series, Injustice 2, and Reign of the Superman.

Shea Whigham (Joel Theriot)

Shea Whigham was no stranger to HBO audiences when he appeared as the disgraced reverend Joel Theriot in True Detective Season 1, thanks in part to his portrayal of Elias "Eli" Thompson on Boardwalk Empire, but his characterization of the charismatic preacher was a memorable one to say the least. Since we last saw Theriot, Whigham has appeared on shows like Fargo, Narcos, and Waco, as well as movies like Joker and First Man. He will also soon appear in Mission: Impossible 7 and its sequel.

Ann Dowd (Betty Childress)

Ann Dowd, who took home a Primetime Emmy Award and Critics' Choice Award in 2017 for her performance on The Handmaid's Tale, appeared briefly in the True Detective Season 1 finale as Betty Childress. Since her sickening performance on the HBO series, Dowd has done quite a bit, even outside of The Handmaid's Tale, including a time on The Leftovers, Olive Kitteridge, and Girls. Dowd most recently appeared in the Netflix adaptation of Rebecca, where she portrayed Mrs. Van Hopper.

Well, that was most, if not all, of the main cast from True Detective Season 1. I guess now it's about time to see what the cast of the show's forgettable second season has been up to…

The following article contains soft spoilers (and one big one related to the end) for The Craft: Legacy, so you might want to watch the film before ruining the magic by reading along.

Few movie genres have evolved as fascinatingly as horror, with each passing era spawning the chance for stylistic reinvention and a reintroduction of old favorites to the next generation. Lately, that seems to be a primary goal of Blumhouse, whose latest release is a follow-up to The Craft, which follows a four high school girls who discover the joys (and dangers) of practicing witchcraft. Just like its predecessor, The Craft: Legacy cast puts a new quartet of up-and-coming actresses at the center, but also includes a few more familiar faces.

Written and directed by actress Zoe Lister-Jones in her second feature-length effort behind the camera, The Craft: Legacy has some of the DNA of a direct sequel 24 years in the making, but really aims to tell a new story from the perspective a young woman (Caliee Spaeny) struggling to adjust under a new roof in a new town. She finds an escape in three classmates (Zoey Luna, Gideon Adlon, and Lovie Simone) who invite her into their coven, which becomes the catalyst for some unusual, life-changing circumstances and disturbing revelations as well.

One aspect of The Craft: Legacy that it can boast having over the 1996 original (which also starred Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich of Scream fame), is even more cultural diversity within the main quartet of spell casters, as well as supporting characters who may even go deeper to explore social issues of the modern era. Yet, the biggest question on many fans’ minds after watching this new story must be, What do I recognize these people from? We can surely answer that for you by taking a look at the resumes of its 11 most notable cast members.

Cailee Spaeny (Lily)

The young witch who is the central focus of The Craft: Legacy is Lily, played by Cailee Spaeny - a 23-year-old Missouri-born actress who is already no stranger to fantasy, having made her feature film debut in 2018’s Pacific Rim: Uprising piloting a Jaeger against a new Kaiju army. That same year, she also played the victim of a different sort of cultish activity in Bad Times at El Royale, as well as two people closely connected to real life-historical figures (a younger version of Dick Cheney’s wife, Lynne, in Vice and Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s daughter, Jane, in On the Basis of Sex). Spaeny’s singer-songwriter talents will be exhibited when her debut single “Fallin” appears in her next film The Shoes, which is currently in post-production.

Zoey Luna (Lourdes)

In an example of LGBTQ+ representation refreshingly unique to its predecessor, The Craft: Legacy includes a transgender woman in the coven played by Latina actress Zoey Luna, who was the subject of a 2017 documentary about her gender identity struggles called Raising Zoey. She makes her feature-length film debut as teen witch Lourdes after breaking out in the acting world in Rosario Dawson’s 2019 short Boundless, followed by an appearance on Season 2 of Pose - an FX series from the creators of American Horror Story. Luna will star as the lead of the upcoming film Cielo Azul, once again playing a transgender role and showing signs of a trailblazing career for her community in the media.

Gideon Adlon (Frankie)

Possibly showing signs of a trailblazing career bringing witchcraft back to the mainstream is Gideon Adlon, who will follow her role as Frankie in The Craft: Legacy playing the lead of Witch Hunt - a political satire set a modern world that outlaws magic and currently expected for a 2020 release. The 23-year-old rising star previously encountered the supernatural as the voice of Violet in Telltale’s video game adaptation of The Walking Dead and on Netflix’s teen sci-fi drama The Society, which reunited her with her Blockers co-star Kathryn Newton. Adlon has also made notable guest appearances on TV series like Louie, Girl Meets World, and Better Things, an FX comedy co-created by and starring her mother, Pamela Adlon.

Lovie Simone (Tabby)

Unlike a few of her co-stars, The Craft: Legacy is the first foray into the supernatural for Lovie Simone, who plays Tabby. However, the 21-year-old one actress has proven herself as a strong force of talent since breaking out in a starring role on the Oprah Winfrey-produced soap opera Greenleaf. She also plays the title character of Amazon original high school film Selah and the Spades, gave a memorable performance in Netflix’s Covid-19 era anthology series Social Distance, and will appear on Power Book III: Raising Kanan - an announced prequel to the hit crime drama on Starz.

Nicholas Galitzine (Timmy)

Lovie Simone also starred in an HBO original teen mystery thriller called Share, which also starred her The Craft: Legacy co-star Nicholas Galitzine, whose character Timmy undergoes a magical transition from Lily’s bully to “less of a garbage person.” The English-born 26-year-old debuted as a teen mentored by a washed-up rock star played by the late Luke Perry in 2014’s The Beat Beneath My Feet before playing a violinist falling in love with a beautiful dancer (Keenan Kampa) in High Strung, and a very troubled teen in the 2019 Netflix original horror series Chambers alongside Uma Thurman. He will next star in a new musical version of Cinderella as the royal love interest of Camilla Cabello in the title role.

Donald MacLean Jr. (Isaiah)

Revealed to have an interesting connection to Timmy in The Craft: Legacy is Lily’s stepbrother Isaiah, played by Donald MacLean Jr. The sequel is the young actor’s first movie, but not his first time acting opposite a witch - namely his recurring spot as Seth Allen short-lived Netflix series October Faction, which is based on a comic book about a monster hunting agency. He is otherwise well known for this starring role on the Canadian medical Nurses.

Charles Vandervaart (Jacob)

Starring as Isaiah’s younger brother, Jacob, is Charles Vandervaart, whose role in The Craft: Legacy actually marks his second time as Donald MacLearn Jr.’s onscreen sibling after playing a young Fred Allen on October Faction. He previously starred alongside the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato in Disney Channel’s Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, has a supporting role in the supernatural teen romance Every Day, and plays Holly Hobbie’s brother, Robby, on the Hulu original series based on the titular greeting card icon. Vandervant is also expected to appear in Season 3 of Lost in Space, which will also be the sci-fi series’ final season on Netflix.

Julian Grey (Abe)

The youngest of Lily’s stepbrothers is Abe, played by 14-year-old Julian Grey - who has become one of the more experienced child actors of his time since leading the three-minute horror short Urban Reptile when he was just 7. He also previously got a taste of supernatural on the Twin Peaks-esque Fox series Wayward Pines, played the son of a slippery sheriff in Netflix’s 7-part western Godless, and called Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus his parents in the family tragicomedy Downhill.

Michelle Monaghan (Helen)

While not being very well known for horror movies before playing Lily’s mother Helen in The Craft: Legacy, Michelle Monaghan’s filmography is chock-full of variety. She received praise from Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone, was nominated for a Golden Globe for Season 1 of True Detective, and has captured the eye of Robert Downey Jr. twice, playing his childhood dream girl in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and his pregnant wife in Due Date. However, you might recognize her best as Tom Crusie’s ex-wife, Jules, from the Mission: Impossible franchise.

David Duchovny (Adam)

Perhaps the most recognizable face from The Craft: Legacy is David Duchovny, whose role as Lily’s stepfather Adam (a motivational speaker with odd secrets of his own) is just the latest addition to his legacy as a “scream king,” despite trying his hand at everything. The 60-year-old has two Golden Globes, one from playing Mulder on sci-fi crime procedural The X-Files and the other as sex addict Hank Moody on Californication. He would also, sort of, lampoon his UFO-chasing definitive character in the 2001 comedy Evolution and also reprised his early role of transgender FBI agent Denise Bryson on the 2017 revival of Twin Peaks.

Fairuza Balk (Nancy Downs)

Speaking of reprisals, the biggest and most pleasant surprise in The Craft: Legacy would come at the end when Lily discovers that her birth mother is Nancy Downs, played once again by Fairuza Balk. The 46-year-old actress was a fan favorite of the original The Craft, having previously played Dorothy in Return to Oz (the infamously dark 1985 Wizard of Oz sequel), and would go on to steal more scenes in American History X, The Waterboy, and Almost Famous, to name a few. There is still more witchcraft in store for Balk in the upcoming rock ’n roll fantasy series Paradise City.

What do you think? Was Fairuza Balk’s appearance as Nancy Downs in The Craft: Legacy the icing on the cake in your eyes, or do you feel the rest of the cast was good enough for the film to survive on its own. Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on Blumhouse’s supernatural sequel, as well as even more retrospectives on what the cast members of your movies and TV shows have been up to, here on CinemaBlend.

A big deal was made about the departure of Michelle Monaghan's Julia when Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol seemingly wrote the character out in order for her to lead a peaceful life. Unfortunately for those involved with the franchise, that didn't put the issue to bed as some would have hoped. Luckily, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie was able to reintegrate the character into Mission: Impossible - Fallout, thanks to the following process:

Knowing the inner workings of McQuarrie's editing style, the revelation that he made Tom Cruise really work to bring Monaghan back as a Mission: Impossible cast member makes all the more sense. Recent interviews with Collider, including this very one, have shed light into what made it into Mission: Impossible - Fallout, and what didn't. So while we lost a scene of Vanessa Kirby's White Widow singing in a nightclub, we gained a long awaited piece of closure to Mission: Impossible lore.

Introduced in Mission: Impossible III, Julia Meade eventually became Julia Meade-Hunt, as she married Ethan in a quickie ceremony during the mission that saw him chasing down arms dealer Owen Davian and the fabled Rabbit's Foot. It wasn't meant to be though, as Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol saw the couple splitting up, complete with a faked death and new identity for Julia. So through all of this trouble of coupling the characters, and splitting them apart, seeing Ethan and Julia together again needed some vital story work.

Christopher McQuarrie, no stranger to such work in the Mission: Impossible franchise, had some prerequisites that needed to be made in order to make Julia's appearance in Mission: Impossible - Fallout work to the film's advantage. That criteria was laid out thusly, by McQuarrie:

In the end, all of the work done to include Julia and her new husband, played by Wes Bentley, in Mission: Impossible - Fallout was well worth the time and effort. The story of Ethan and Julia is now properly closed, with Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa potentially being Ethan's next romantic interest. More importantly, it allowed the audience who always wanted to see Michelle Monaghan return get to see her receive the proper resolution she deserved.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout will hit 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on December 4.

Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible franchise is the fine wine of action series; it only gets better with age. It's been over two decades since we first saw Ethan Hunt drop down into the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and each of the five Mission: Impossible films has brought something entirely new and endlessly exciting to the table. It doesn't matter if it's an awesome new stunt or a badass new character; each and every installment in this series has carved out a niche for itself and added to the overall Mission: Impossible mythos. On that note, our hopes are currently sky high that Mission: Impossible 6, now officially titled Mission: Impossible - Fallout, can recapture the excellent balance of style and substance when it finally hits theaters.

With that in mind, if you're anything like us, you've probably been searching high and low for any and all relevant bits of information related to this film. Although we don't currently know much about the upcoming sixth installment in the long-running spy series, we have gone through the recent news reports and compiled everything that we now know about the film. Let's start with the (unsurprisingly) action-packed first trailer!

Click Here to Buy Tickets for Mission: Impossible - Fallout on Fandango!

Damn. That looks...Awesome! Mission: Impossible - Fallout is shaping up to be one of the most compelling sequels in recent memory, so let's kick this list off with one of the most important aspects of any movie: its release date.

What Is The Mission: Impossible - Fallout Release Date?

In keeping with the Mission: Impossible franchise's lack of consistent continuity, the release windows between films has similarly never really made much sense. We sometimes get two Mission: Impossible movies within the span of a few years, and other times it can take the better part of a decade. Mission: Impossible 6 will keep its release window on the shorter side for this franchise, as the current release date for the film is slated for July 27, 2018 -- a mere three years after the release of the wildly popular Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation. The franchise is currently riding a hot streak of solid entries, so we will keep our fingers crossed that it can maintain this momentum for the foreseeable future.

Of course, maintaining this release date is largely dependent on one thing at this point: star Tom Cruise staying healthy. During production on Mission: Impossible 6 in mid-August 2017, Cruise broke his ankle while performing a stunt that required him to jump between buildings. While it was thought for a while that his injury would lead to the release date getting pushed back, that didn't happen at the time. Cruise was able to take several weeks off to heal, and director Christopher McQuarrie used the down time in filming to get to work on editing the movie so there would be less of that to do after production finally wraps.

Seven weeks after his injury, Cruise was back at work on the movie, and in January of 2018 he was already filming stunts again. So, what's the problem, you ask? Well, unfortunately, just a couple of days after he returned to stunt work, it appeared that Cruise may have actually injured himself again. Official word on another injury (or re-injury) hasn't come down yet, so it's still a rumor at this point, but if Cruise is hurt again, this might be the injury that leads to Mission: Impossible - Fallout needing to push back its release date. As of right now, with the production finally releasing a photo of one of the death-defying stunts Cruise took part in, it still seems to be on track to hit its July debut.

What Is The Mission: Impossible - Fallout Rating?

Although the Mission: Impossible franchise has changed and evolved considerably since the first installment in the franchise hit theaters back in 1996, the rating has remained consistent. Misson: Impossible has pretty much always been a franchise that has relied on the tried and true PG-13 rating, and we do not see that changing anytime soon. The rationale makes plenty of sense, as PG-13 allows the Mission: Impossible films to utilize quite a bit of brutality and violent content, while still casting a wide enough net to draw in the largest possible demographic for audiences.

Of course, it is worth noting that other franchises have started to become more and more willing to tinker and toy with the concept of an R-rated blockbuster over the course of the last few years. Movies like Logan and Deadpool have proven that major franchises can still be successful with a more restrictive rating, so it is not completely outside the realm of possibility to think that the Mission: Impossible franchise may one day opt for an R-rated adventure. We just don't think that is going to happen for Mission: Impossible - Fallout.

What Will Mission: Impossible - Fallout Be About?

At this point, no specific plot details for Mission: Impossible - Fallout have been revealed. The series maintains a very loose sense of continuity between films, so it's generally pretty difficult to tell where the franchise will go from one entry to the next. Ethan Hunt and his various teams have prevented nuclear winters, the release of deadly viruses, the funding of secret wars, and even taken down mysterious doomsday devices. Clearly, nothing is off the table for this franchise, so it's anyone's guess as to what type of MacGuffin they will chase down next.

However, with the release of the official title came a plot synopsis that does give us a lot more to go on. Apparently, Mission: Impossible - Fallout will involve a "race against time" after a "mission gone wrong," and director Christopher McQuarrie recently revealed that the subtitle has a dual meaning. Not only will the threat of nuclear terrorism be a focus of the sixth installment in the franchise, but Ethan will also be dealing with "the fallout of all his good intentions," with the plot being driven by "the end result of choices that Ethan Hunt has made in his life."

Who Is The Mission: Impossible 6 Director?

Mission: Impossible 6 is going to take the espionage franchise into uncharted territory with its particular choice for director. Chris McQuarrie (the man behind Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation) will step behind the camera for the sixth installment of the series, thus making him the first filmmaker to direct more than one Mission: Impossible film. McQuarrie is a longtime collaborator with Tom Cruise (having also worked on Jack Reacher, as well as The Mummy and Edge of Tomorrow) so it's pretty clear that these two have a very strong rapport and a very comfortable working relationship. Their recent projects have currently put them on a seriously impressive hot streak, so there's no reason not to assume that the sixth Mission: Impossible movie will continue that tradition.

Tom Cruise As Ethan Hunt

Throughout two decades, five directors, and a wide variety of stories, one thing has remained consistent within the Mission: Impossible franchise: Tom Cruise and his always reliable portrayal of super spy Ethan Hunt. Despite the fact that he's one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood (not to mention one of the last real "movie stars") Mission: Impossible is Cruise's only real franchise that he has regularly returned to over the course of his career. Sure, he has returned to the role of Jack Reacher for Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, but Ethan Hunt is the franchise role that Tom Cruise will always be known for.

That said, despite the consistency, we should note that Cruise's take on Ethan has changed to match the style of the director that he has worked under. In Brian De Palma's original Mission: Impossible he had an everyman quality to him, in John Woo's Mission: Impossible 2 he was a gun-toting action hero, in J.J. Abrams' Mission: Impossible 3 he was basically a superhero, and in Brad Bird's Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol he was more of a bumbling, comedic character. Under the guidance of Chris McQuarrie, Cruise seems to have consolidated all of those versions of Ethan into a single character, and as such our hope remains high that we will see the endlessly badass and equally charming Ethan from Rogue Nation in the next film.

Rebecca Ferguson As Isla Faust

I think it's safe to say that Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation did a lot of things right, but none of its strong creative decisions compares to the casting of Rebecca Ferguson as Isla Faust. Ferguson brought a quiet and deadly intensity to the femme fatale turned friendly agent, and the performance quickly turned her into a bonafide movie star. With that in mind, it makes absolutely perfect sense that Chris McQuarrie and Tom Cruise have tapped the actress to once again reprise the role of the badass female super spy in the upcoming sequel.

Of course, the exact way in which Rebecca Ferguson's Isla Faust will actually factor into the story for Mission: Impossible 6 remains to be seen. The character underwent a massive arc during the events of Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation, so it is relatively unclear exactly what the story will do with her in the upcoming sequel. With another female lead (who will be played by The Crown's Vanessa Kirby) on the horizon, it is possible that Ms. Faust might not survive the events of the film. We really hope that it will not come to that, but it can't be ruled out just yet.

Ving Rhames As Luther Stickell

Ethan Hunt never operates entirely on his own. Although he regularly goes into the field by himself, he always has someone in his ear to help him get through his missions alive. His most consistent partner has been Ving Rhames' Luther Stickell, and the stylish hacker is once again slated to return for yet another mission when M:I 6 finally debuts. We're sure he will bring his best Versace jacket and a fedora hat for the occasion.

It will be interesting to see how Luther Stickell factors into the plot of the film, because while he has appeared in every Mission: Impossible movie to date alongside Tom Cruise, the scale of his involvement has varied from movie to movie. In films like Rogue Nation and Mission: Impossible 3, he played a central role in the overarching plot. By contrast in Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol, his involvement in the story was little more than a glorified cameo. Luther is unquestionably one of the most fun aspects of the Mission: Impossible series, so our hope remains high that he will play a significant role in Ethan Hunt's brand new adventure.

Simon Pegg As Benji Dunn

Mission: Impossible 3 did a lot to correct course after the sub-par Mission: Impossible 2. One of the most important things that the third film did was bring Simon Pegg on board as Benji Dunn. Initially little more than a sarcastic tech guru, Benji has grown over the course of the last three films to become one of Ethan Hunt's most trusted partners -- he has arguably even spent more time on screen with Ethan than Luther has.

Benji is a fan-favorite character, so, luckily, his presence was officially confirmed at CinemaCon in early 2017. After all, after so many life or death experiences together, it's hard to imagine that Ethan would want to go anywhere without Benji by his side.

Jeremy Renner As William Brandt

For quite a while, Jeremy Renner's William Brandt was listed as "rumored" for the project on IMDB. Unfortunately, another casting reveal to come of out CinemaCon was that Renner would, more than likely, not be part of the cast of Mission: Impossible 6, seeing as how he wasn't listed as being among those who were on board for the movie. That said, considering the characters who are returning to the fold from previous films, it wouldn't be impossible (See what I did there?) for Brandt to make a small surprise return to help out Ethan on his latest mission.

One of the more interesting aspects of Jeremy Renner's character in the Mission: Impossible franchise is the way in which the series seems to have backpedaled from his original purpose. During the events of Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol, it seemed that the franchise was grooming Renner to eventually take Cruise's place as the headliner of the series. After all, this was back when Jeremy Renner appeared to be the next big action star. However, Brandt played a much smaller role in Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation, so as of right now it's really anyone's guess as to whether or not there's a clear vision for this character in the future of the series. And with the actor having been busy filming two Avengers films back to back in the past year, it would certainly make sense if he didn't show up in this edition of the franchise at all.

Vanessa Kirby

This is where we begin to dive into new territory when it comes to Mission: Impossible characters. Not much is currently known about who Vanessa Kirby will portray in the upcoming sixth installment of the Mission: Impossible series. The only real description of her character that has been provided is the fact that she will be somewhat reminiscent of Rebecca Ferguson's Isla Faust in the previous film. That's obviously not much to go by in terms of narrative or character motivation, but it serves as a solid indication that she will be able to kick ass and take names alongside Ethan. The Mission: Impossible series actually has a pretty strong track record when it comes to badass female action heroes, so we can't wait to see what The Crown star brings to the table for this film.

Henry Cavill

Next, we have the real life Superman himself. Henry Cavill is the most recent star added to Mission: Impossible 6, and we have to say that we think this particular casting choice is a stroke of genius. Although specific details regarding the exact nature of his character have not necessarily been revealed yet (impressive mustache notwithstanding), Cavill has proven himself quite capable in the spy genre with his work on Guy Ritchie's recent The Man From U.N.C.L.E adaptation. He was also at one point considered for the role of James Bond, so I think it's safe to say that he's been prepping to get involved in a major A-list espionage franchise for quite some time. Who knows? With William Brandt no longer the frontrunner to replace Ethan Hunt as the face of the Mission: Impossible series, it's entirely possible that the series could be grooming Cavill to take over for Cruise when he finally decides to retire -- if Cavill is playing one of the good guys, that is.

Other Casting

Oscar nominee Angela Bassett is joining the Mission: Impossible franchise for the first time with this film. The American Horror Story and 9-1-1 star will be playing the new, currently unnamed, director of the CIA. That role was previously filled by Alec Baldwin's Alan Hunley, but his character will now appear as the new IMF secretary in M:I 6. Meanwhile, Michelle Monaghan will reprise her role as Julia, and Sean Harris is back on board as bad guy Solomon Lane.

Though most people may think of Netflix when asked about the best original streaming series, Hulu has been doing a damned fine job of building its reputation in the world of scripted dramas. It's proven best in the wildly addictive and suspenseful The Path, led by the powerhouse trio of Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan and Hugh Dancy. And Hulu's powers-that-be know not to let a good thing go, as The Path has been renewed for Season 3 on the very day that Season 2 is ending.

The Path's Season 2 finale was released in the early Wednesday morning hours, and dedicated viewers who watched immediately -- myself included -- were left wondering how life could possibly go on without another season to follow, and Hulu has graciously already answered those desperate pleas for more. We definitely can't knock the timing of this Season 3 renewal, since Hulu was clearly making some strategic decisions with that announcement. Of course, I would have cheered for more of The Path's quasi-religious twists and turns no matter when the announcement came.

Understandably, creator Jessica Goldberg likely hasn't done much writing for Season 3 just yet (though the ideas are presumably numerous), so there aren't any meaty details about what fans can expect. One notable detail, however, is that Season 3 will get 13 episodes to further the Meyerists' complications, implying Hulu's execs liked how things played out with Season 2 getting that three-ep bump up from the premiere season. Sure, it means another year of even more of that douche Russell, but there's always the chance that he could die!

The Path serves as Aaron Paul's Breaking Bad follow-up, Michelle Monaghan's True Detective follow-up and Hugh Dancy's Hannibal follow-up, and it somehow stands up next to all three of those acclaimed shows. The drama centers on a community of seemingly charitable and good-natured people called the Meyerist movement, which has a whole host of seedy incidents in its decades-long history. Season 1 followed the fracture of the relationships between Eddie and Sarah Lane (Paul and Monaghan) and Cal Roberts (Dancy) as the movement's much ballyhooed leader falls ill, while Season 2 explores the consequences of everyone's earlier decisions. And not to get spoilery, but Season 2 ended in such a way that will only lead to more dark and ill-formed decisions from Cal and his dedicated flock.

Just as a reminder, if you didn't realize it already, you can currently catch the entirety of Season 1 and Season 2 of The Path streaming on Hulu right now. And for everything else currently set to debut or return to the small screen in the near future, head to our midseason premiere schedule and our summer TV guide.

In the upcoming movie Pixels, a show-stopping face off between Adam Sandler and his band of Arcaders and the film’s big bad boss, in the form of Donkey Kong, is the set piece to beat. As I found out while sitting down with the cast, as well as director Chris Columbus, I learned more about just how this sequence was brought to life. Check out the exclusive video below for more info.

The most interesting thing about Chris Columbus’ decision to build the entire Donkey Kong set, ladders and all, is that it helps to enhance the reality of the world Pixels inhabits. Up until that point in the film, we’ve seen these characters interact with our world, but to really drive the point home we get to see members of the human race cross over to the other side. The result is a spectacular set piece that Columbus admits could have almost been a completely digital fabrication. He said:

Considering Chris Columbus comes from the last decades of filmmaking that relied on practical effects, while seeing the exponential evolution of digital effects, it’s no surprise that his approach was a more hands-on strategy. His decision pays off, as when I saw the members of the Pixels cast running around, wielding hammers, and hanging off of steel girders, it was actually believable. This not only helps sell the reality of the sequence to the viewer, but it also helped sell the cast on the moment they were trying to convey, as other members of the cast confirmed.

In addition to confirming that filming the Donkey Kong scene was as massive an endeavor as it looked, Kevin James and Michelle Monaghan gave some insight into what the set was like during the shoot, as well as massive praise to Chris Columbus for his direction of such an effects heavy sequence. James said:

Monaghan added:

The tennis balls Michelle Monaghan references are, of course, the traditional placeholders for effects that will be added digitally in post production, so hearing her make the connection of the massive Donkey Kong being represented by a respectively tiny tennis ball was funny as well as informative. Though James took the cake, as a gag about him replacing his whole family with tennis balls as practice was peppered into the production notes distributed to the press.

So how did the final sequence turn out? Well, besides seeing it for yourself when Pixels opens, you can take Josh Gad’s word for how awesome the sequence was, as he visited the set and got an eyeful of action. He said:

If words still aren’t enough to sell you, then you can take a look at a video that Columbus himself shared on Instagram during the sound mixing process a couple of months ago.

The amount of craft and skill that went into the production of Pixels will surprise even those who are still skeptical of the film, because for a movie that seemed like an easy write off when it was announced, it's an entertaining ride. We’ll discuss this further in our full review, but for now we’ll say that at the very least Pixels impresses with a hell of a Donkey Kong showdown as its finale.

Pixels opens this Friday in theaters nationwide, but you won’t have to wait that long for more Pixels action as we’ve got more from this weekend’s media event, as well as a review of the film and its 3D treatment, forthcoming.

Whether you’re a casual gamer, or someone who goes hard in the paint on a daily basis through the Playstation Network, there are always two games that every person who ever held a controller will remember. Those two beacons are the one you’re really good at and the one that you suck at, and the cast and director of Pixels recount the ones that stumped them in our exclusive video below.

Pixels makes a big deal about the games that Adam Sandler’s character, Sam Brenner, was really good at, and the ones that he was terrible at. After all, his character did participate in an Arcade Championship during his childhood years, so the eventual outcome of that event makes him think long and hard over the years about his rather unfortunate lack of Donkey Kong skills. In real life, though, Sandler was stymied by another one of the film’s boss characters. He said:

The one game Adam Sandler credits himself with being a champion at is Pong, and he went on to recall how he was the guy to beat back in his home town. Co-star and compatriot Kevin James has a similarly limited range, and has problems playing anything other than his favorite arcade game. He readily admitted:

For those of you wondering what Superbug is, you’re not alone, as it was a game that didn’t really take off. Still, only a true gamer would champion that one game that stuck with them, no matter how obscure, and the history lesson below is dedicated to James’ undying fandom to this classic game.

Not everyone was focused on classic games though, as Pixels co-star Josh Gad has a more modern nuisance when it comes to gaming mastery. He said:

Though Gad did represent the classics by mentioning the classic Nintendo game Contra as his old school Achilles Heel, it’s the Arkham games that really confound him. This lead him to coin a term "tourist game," which aptly describes any game that confuses the gamer so much that they feel like a tourist in the confines of the play space. The best part about that was that Josh Gad proceeded to expand on how a Ben Affleck film about Batman getting lost in Gotham City would be an interesting idea. Rocksteady Games, if you want to press your luck and bring the Dark Knight back for one more ride, consider yourselves pitched.

Much like Adam Sandler before them, both director Chris Columbus and Michelle Monaghan have found themselves on the losing end of the games that comprise of the film’s various bosses. Monaghan found Centipede especially taxing as it supposedly gave her a lot of anxiety. Looking at how the old school games were programmed, particularly a game like Centipede, where it’s about stopping an enemy before it can advance, it’s no surprise that a bit of urgency and panic would creep into the standard game play. But perhaps the most interesting gaming foe was that of Columbus, who served as the director of Pixels, as well as many of the other 80’s films that this one takes its cues from. His downfall was rather telling when it came to the film’s final battle:

Only someone who had spent all that time trying to defeat the mighty Kong would go all out and build a practical set to simulate the true gaming experience. We’ll have more on that later on in the week, but for now we’ll leave you with a reminder that you can see Pixels in theaters this Friday. And keep your browser tuned to Cinema Blend, as we’ll have more information from the cast of Pixels coming your way.

Starting next week you’ll get the chance to see Adam Sandler battle classic video game characters come to life in Pixels. There are obviously going to be some serious CGI additions, but this new behind the scenes video gives you a feel for what the actors went through pretending that the likes of Pac-Man, Centipede, and Donkey Kong were really on the rampage.

This video is worth a watch for a couple reasons. Shot with a GoPro attached to various camera rigs, it really does put you right there as the cast and crew are filming, which is a perspective not a lot of us have been fortunate enough to have. It’s especially cool as the camera cranes up and follows the cast running down the street, dodging explosions and imaginary Space Invaders.

You also get feel, however brief, for how what it is like for the actors on set, pretending to interact with and react to things that aren’t there but that will be digitally added in after the fact. For example, here you see stars Adam Sandler and Josh Gad armed with big guns, blasting away at who knows what old school arcade character lurking somewhere in the sky above. That has to be a bizarre, somewhat surreal experience

The plot goes, back in 1982, NASA launched a time capsule full of images of life on Earth and relics of our culture at the time in the hopes of establishing peaceful communication with alien life of some kind. Well, the message was received, and horribly misinterpreted, and in Pixels, extraterrestrials attack Earth using various videogames as models. This includes Pac-Man, Arkanoid, Tetris, and many others. Their tech can change forms and turn any matter into more of itself.

As you can imagine, President Will Cooper (Kevin James) is way up shit creek, but fortunately he has an ace up his sleeve. Who better to battle video game-based invaders from space than an old school video game champion, and it just so happens the POTUS is best buds with Sam Brenner (Sandler), one such former champ. Brenner enlists the help of Eddie Plant (Peter Dinklage) and Ludlow Lamonsoff (Josh Gad) to help save the world, which is really what these guys have been practicing for all these years.

Michelle Monaghan plays a military officer who is attached to the team, Jane Krakowski shows up as the First Lady and former romantic partner of Sam, Brian Cox is an Admiral, and Sean Bean shows up as a random officer who will very likely wind up eaten by Pac-Man or crushed by one of Donkey Kong’s barrels. That last part should be fun.

Directed by Chris Columbus (the first two Harry Potter movies), Pixels opens everywhere on July 24.

A few years back, the 2011 French action thriller, Sleepless Night made waves across the pond and everywhere else, thanks to its stripped-down, gritty intensity that seemed to hearken back to a pre-CGI era of film, while adding elements of modernity. Thus, Hollywood swooping in with a remake was inevitable.

However, the cast to this Americanized actioner starring Jamie Foxx is actually coming along impressively. With a recent report from The Hollywood Reporter announcing even more additions, let's take a look at the growing lineup.

Jamie Foxx as "Vincent Downs"

Jamie Foxx stars in writer/director, Frederic Jardin’s intrigue-instilled thriller about a police detective who decides to give into "victimless crime" temptations and steel a big bag of cocaine from some couriers. However, unbeknownst to him, the bag belongs to a powerful drug lord who, in turn, kidnaps the wayward Las Vegas copper’s son, threatening execution should his property not be returned.

However, if this film is anything like the original, the simple act of getting the drugs back will entail destructive encounters with other parties who each have their own agendas for impeding Vincent's errand, as he fights his way across unorthodox locales like a crowded, noisy nightclub and a kitchen.

Michelle Monaghan as "Unnamed Internal Affairs Agent"

Vincent certainly acts like a crooked cop, though his motivations might be touched with a bit of beneficence. It will be the job of Monaghan’s Internal Affairs investigator to determine where he stands.

Having graced a number of big-budget films in the past, like Mission: Impossible III and Eagle Eye, the actress has taken a lower key turn as of late, though she had a notable run last year on HBO’s True Detective. That, however, will change with her role in this summer’s Pixels, which she will follow up with this role in Sleepless Night.

T.I. as "Vincent’s Partner"

The entertainment M.O. "rapper turned actor" is hardly a unique one, however, T.I. seems to be taking a slow-but-steady path in the actor direction. With recurring television roles on Boss and House of Lies, he’ll complement an appearance in the upcoming Marvel property, Ant-Man, with this role in Sleepless Night as the police partner of Jamie Foxx’s embattled protagonist.

Dermot Mulroney as "Unnamed Gangster/Kidnapper"

A venerable mainstay in television and films such as My Best Friend’s Wedding, Zodiac, and About Schmidt, Mulroney makes a magnificent addition to the cast. He will play the iniquitous aforementioned drug dealer who nabs Vincent’s son for his plot-critical ransoming.

Scoot McNairy as "Unnamed Gangster/Kidnapper"

Mulroney’s partner in literal crime will be played by McNairy. While showcasing a long resume, the Texas-born actor only just recently found himself breaking into notable projects such as 12 Years a Slave, Argo, and is a primary cast member on the television series Halt and Catch Fire. He’s also set for an appearance in next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before taking this villainous role in Sleepless Night.

David Harbour as "Unknown"

Sporting one of those faces that most people will know, very few casual moviegoers will likely be able to name Harbour. However, he has, indeed, spent several years being "that guy" in television shows and notable films such as 2014’s The Equalizer, Quantum of Solace, and Brokeback Mountain. Perhaps there is something more memorably identifiable in store for Harbour here than his repertory "that guy" role.

Gabrielle Union as "Unnamed Suporting Role"

The perennial, seemingly un-aging love interest in many a movie going back well into the 1990’s, Union will step into this film for an unspecified supporting role. Remembered for roles in Bad Boys II, Bring It On, and starring in the current BET television series Being Mary Jane, it might be a safe assumption that the vivacious vixen is playing the wife or love interest of Foxx’s Vincent.

That’s the rundown of the cast, thus far. It certainly will be interesting to see how it develops and possibly diverges from the original film, at least in terms of its signature stylistics, minimalism, and its ambitious across-one-day timeframe. The movie will be helmed by a Swedish director by the name of Baran bo Odar, working off a script by Straight Outta Compton and World Trade Center writer Andrea Beloff. While there’s no timeframe regarding a release date, Sleepless Night will reportedly begin shooting on June 15 in Atlanta and Las Vegas. Consequently, 2016 seems a safe bet.

Can someone explain to me why Michelle Monaghan isn't a major star? She held her own against notorious scene-chewers Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kimer in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. She proved she could deliver on action and drama in Gone Baby Gone, Mission Impossible III and Eagle Eye. She's gorgeous and deeply charming, so why is she again and again wasted in thankless love interest roles? It's entirely infuriating.

This is all precursor to say I'm thrilled to hear Monaghan has joined Owen Wilson and Pierce Brosnan for the soon-to-shoot thriller The Coup, which will center on an American family, who has recently moved to Southeast Asia and is caught in the midst of a violent overthrow when wrathful rebels attack the city. However, my heart sank at news that her character is described chiefly as Wilson's wife. Of course, Monaghan is sure to deliver a charismatic and compelling performance, even in what seems to be a supporting role opposite Wilson's sure-to-be wild-eyed and bewildered American man. I just think she deserves more/better.

Anyhow, The Coup will be Wilson's first return to dramatic thrillers since 2001's Behind Enemy Lines, and, really, he couldn't ask for a better scene partner for such a leap than Monaghan. She's been tearing it up in thrillers with aplomb, most recently in the mind-bending, time-traveling outing Source Code. So, she was a shrewd choice for filmmaking brother act Drew and John Erick Dowdle, who co-wrote the drama, which the latter will direct. Together they created the 2008 remake of [Rec], Quarantine, and John went on to helm another claustrophobic horror tale, Devil in 2010. After so much singly-set shoots, Dowdle is likely eager to branch out with The Coup, which will follow these fleeing Americans as they attempt to escape not only the city, but also the slaughter befalling all captured foreigners. In short, it sounds like some intense stuff as well as another chance for Monaghan to shine.

In 2009, Todd Phillips and Zach Galifianakis were part of the year’s biggest comedy, The Hangover. That same year, Robert Downey Jr. added another franchise to his resume, Sherlock Holmes, making his comeback all the more impressive after becoming Iron Man. There are few people in Hollywood living as high and this Friday they all come together for Due Date.

Chronicling a cross country from Atlanta to Los Angeles, Downey Jr. plays an expecting father who is forced into driving with a man-child, wannabe actor and his dog. A classic road comedy set-up, things naturally don’t go smoothly, leading to hilarious situation after situation.

Gathering at a press conference along with actress Michelle Monaghan and writers Alan Freedland, Alan Cohen and Adam Sztykiel, the filmmakers discussed who was the most professional actor on set, the inspirations behind the story and what it was like to spit in a dog’s face.

Michelle, this is the first you've worked with Robert Downey since Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Have you seen each other very often since then and can you talk about why you wanted to do this movie? And Robert, Zach was very funny in Toronto talking about the two alpha males, you and Todd, creating this movie. Can you talk about your character and how it developed for this?

Michelle Monaghan: Obviously I'm very, very excited and jumped at the opportunity to work with Robert again.

RDJ: She did us a favor.

MM: I adore Robert. I had such an amazing experience on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and so this was really exciting and obviously I'm a huge fan of Todd, and Zach is all right [laughs]. So I was very excited, and yes, I do get to see Robert occasionally and it's a nice mug to see him.

RDJ: I got it pretty good. I don't want to offend our spouses but I'd love to have a baby with Michelle.

And can you talk about creating this character?

RDJ: Yeah, preparation for the character. I missed the shot to do it. I should've tried it nine months ago.

Robert, how much fun was it to gut punch that kid and what was it like working with kids in general?

RDJ: I love that we've actually gotten more push-back from spitting in a dog's face than punching a human child. Those are two things, Todd told me to do both of them. On one of them, on the day he said, “You should spit in that dog's face.” I was like, “Yeah.” Anyway, he goes, “I want you to spit in the dog's face.” I said, “That's so definitive,” and he goes, “I know but I think that people like you enough. I don't know if they will. Just spit in its face.” He loves dogs and I actually don't like dogs. So I felt kind of horrible and splendorous doing it. There was a question there somewhere but I'm sure whatever I said was far more entertaining.

Zach, did you have a problem with spitting in the dog's face? That was your dog.

ZG: Ummm…Well…Uhhh…

RDJ: Jesus Christ, answer the question.

ZG: Maybe.

RDJ: Yes or no. That dog made you sick.

ZG: Oh. I didn't like the dog. But I don't think that means it's okay to spit. Robert spit in my face every morning [laughs]. Listen, the dog and I have a certain bond –

Masturbation?

ZG: That's right.

RDJ: That's exactly right.

This movie is about fatherhood in many ways, both becoming one and losing one. Can you talk about fatherhood for a moment?

Todd Phillips: Well, yeah, I think that’s exactly right. I think that while it is a road movie and it is a comedy at it's core it’s a movie about Zach who's going through a drama, Zach's character – Ethan Tremblay – having just lost his father and Robert who's just about to become a father for the first time and kind of why they needed to meet at this moment and why Robert needed to travel with this man-child who was going through this traumatic experience, who, really, is a purely loving creature much like a child would be and just needed some adjustments, I guess.

Why did that story resonate with you and with the rest of you?

RDJ: Don't answer that, Todd.

TP: I refuse to answer that question.

ZG: I'll tell you. No. It's actually very personal, maybe –

TP: No, no. I think it's just an interesting take on it. For me personally it's an interesting movie to make. I tend to make films, I started making movies about college kids. I sort of grow with my movies. They're sort of always about my age range it feels. That's sort of the next step in life, having a kid or what have you and fatherhood. So it just seemed like an interesting thing to mine, both for emotion and then for comedy.

Robert, were you channeling a bit of Todd in this, especially in the look of your character?

RDJ: Well, I'm actually glad that you asked that because I think that every time I feel that I really hit critical mass and I'm in the right place is when I feel like the director and I become a third thing and that's the character. Even though the central subject of the movie is Ethan, the person who you're kind of seeing it through is Peter. Absolutely, and particularly when he said, “There's just a lot of hostility and there's a lot of fear and his kind of attitude and his anger is covering that fear and stuff,” and we like to commiserate. We're genuinely pretty happy guys but we love just getting crabby together. You remember that, don't you? And he is kind of like a hostage child that we've taken that's watching mom and dad, or dad and dad, just hash it out. But you're the first person who's asked that and I think it's absolutely true. I always feel like I'm playing an aspect of the director, particularly when he's auteur. To me it's a way of almost making him a proud parent. I'm a bit of an appendage of some aspect of the director.

The film evokes Planes, Trains and Automobiles in its pairing and its plot. What classic road films were you all thinking of as inspiration and or templates for the film?

TP: I'll go first. I'll just say that the movie that we talked about the most, oddly, was Rain Man. That to me is a road movie and a great road movie and that was a movie that came up a lot as well as Midnight Run. There are comparisons to Midnight Run, but there are comparisons to Planes, Trains and Tommy Boy and other things, but I think the movie that we talked about the most was Rain Main.

RDJ: Michelle was saying Wages of Fear quite a bit, too. Didn't you say something about that?

MM: I did. I did that and Scooby Doo.

RDJ: “I hope you guys don't blow up the studio.”

And the writers?

Alan Freedland: Well, Todd said it right, when Alan and I wrote the movie we were thinking of a lot of road movies but Midnight Run was absolutely one that we thought about. We have two characters who are opposite of each other and they're stuck in a very high pressure situation and are out of their comfort zone and you get to reveal a lot of character in those situations.

Can you talk about how you worked out or developed the scenes together on this and also if it does resonate with audiences would you like to see a franchise out of this or are your franchise dance cards full?

TP: Well, the way that we worked it out is the way that I've done it on all my movies, but this film in particular had an interesting process because Robert has a very producorial brain. He's basically another writer in the room. Zach is really an empty vessel. He just sits and waits [laughs]. No. But Robert and I had lots of spirited discussions every morning about it. We had the pages and he'd go, “Okay, what are we really doing?” Not to discredit the writing process which I was a part of, too…

RDJ: It was a great script which just made me hate it all the more.

TP: Yeah. Robert has an aversion to things that are typed, I've learned. So even if we just rewrote the scene…

RDJ: Well done, by the way, fellas.

TP: If we just we rewrote it on a napkin, even if it was the same scene, he felt better about it. But we took it apart and the great thing about Robert, and I've said this before, he made me a better director and the reason for that is that he's constantly challenging what we're doing everyday in the larger, bigger picture. A lot of times you hear about actors and they're worried about their lines and their thing and Robert thinks of the movie as a whole. He thinks of every character in the movie as the whole and that's what I mean by a producorial kind of approach to it. For me it was an unequaled experience. I've never experienced anything like it. I think that was the process. You witnessed a lot of it.

ZG: Yeah. I think that each morning there was a meeting. I would read the minutes from the last meeting [laughs]. Todd yells. Robert yells back. Let’s get on with the new meeting. No. There was a discussion for at least about an hour each morning it seemed like, sometimes longer –

TP: Sometimes three.

ZG: Yeah, and it really helped it. It really did. As far as the franchise stuff goes we were kind of fantasizing on the last day certainly that I was working – I can't remember – and it was towards the last scene or it was the last scene at the hospital; there was a moment and I don't know if you recall it but Ethan says to Peter, “Call me.”

RDJ: Okay, yeah.

ZG: Then I'm like, “No. Call me tomorrow, whatever I say.” We were fantasizing, like, I've never seen a movie jump genres. So the sequel would be more like a Cape Fear thing. My character is not actually dumb at all. It's just been –

RDJ: An elaborate ruse –

ZG: This whole time and I then stalk Robert's family.

TP: I thought what you were going to say is that it'd be interesting to just pick it up from a minute later. Instead of jumping a month or a year that it's literally from that moment that you left. That would be fun.

ZG: That would be great.

TP: There you go. That's how ideas are made.

Can you talk about the franchise and the process, Robert?

RDJ: Yeah. That's what I need, three franchises so that I can utterly have a personality meltdown in real life, but I would do it with these guys. I have to say, too, that there was something so cathartic, and as we both know from the writers and Michelle peripherally and our involvement in it, I think it was just the most healing project that I've ever worked on. And I've never come up against anyone who is so confident and so thoughtful and so spontaneous that it's not even daunting. He's just in a class by himself and I think that Todd is the best director that I've ever worked with, bar none.

TP: Did you all get that?

ZG: And don't forget about the part before that, which I thought he was talking about you the whole time.

Often modern protagonists get sanded down from focus groups into this kind of vanilla blandness. Was it refreshing to play someone with so many real and yet repellent moments in their arc?

RDJ: Absolutely and I don't know why but it was an invitation for me to get in to touch with everything that annoys me about everyone and all the fear that I have about everything that everyone can relate to. So in a way I felt like I was a conduit to this. It was very pleasant. I don't know why. I'm not a method guy. I can't be bothered to have a method. I just want to be a part of a good movie and I can't stand to be surrounded by morons but we had such a great group of people on this whole thing. It's funny, yeah, because you could say this is a two dimensional commercial comedy. I feel that this is the second greatest story ever told.

The first being?

RDJ: Oh, come on! The Bible.

Can you talk about Juliette Lewis because she's had a great year of cameos. If you did do the Cape Fear thing would she be in it?

TP: She would but I don't think that Zach could fit his finger in her mouth [laughs].

RDJ: You’ve got to hand him the baton there. Do you want a piano?

ZG: At least my father didn't leave me [laughs]. Okay? News is out. That's what the father issue is for. There it is.

TP: I love Juliette Lewis and she's been in three of my movies now, four, and she's one of those people and Michelle is the same way, quite honestly. This movie is about these two guys and the other parts in the film aren't a huge deal, aren't huge pieces and Robert said it best, Michelle did us a favor. She came in and she worked for those days and she brought what she brings and she's amazing and Juliette the same thing. Jamie Foxx. Danny McBride. I like to think that they're actors and they like to play. So if it's a two day part for Juliette or a one day part for Danny McBride you call them up and say, “Hey, I'm doing this great thing with Robert and Zach, would you come down and just fuck around for the day? We're going to have fun.” I think ultimately that's how it works. But Juliette in particular is just stupendous and she's sort of sunshine to me when I look at her and I think that she brings so much to small roles and large roles.

RDJ: I love how riveted she is by your monologue, too. You'd have thought that she was hearing [Lawrence] Olivier bring one on. She was mystified.

With upcoming news, Robert, how do you feel about Iron Man 3 going to Disney?

RDJ: Love it. What's that mean? [laughs]

That it'd be released under Disney's deal with Marvel?

RDJ: Well, you know what, I really loved our relationship with Paramount but to me, the main thing is that I don't care about any of that. They're going to make those moves. I just want to make a great movie and thanks to my tutelage under two guys who know how to play the power – Zach and Todd – I know exactly what to do with Iron Man 3.

TP: Love it.

RDJ: That was almost mad with power [laughs].

Robert and Zach, do either of you guys have friends like the people you portray in the film and what do you think is the definition of friendship?

RDJ: To me friendship means loving tolerance.

ZG: I think that Robert and I formed a friendship on this movie, albeit a very antagonistic but fun relationship. He's really kind of very, very funny and he makes fun of people a lot and for some reason I like to be made fun of even if it has to do with my fingers not fitting in someone's mouth. That's really hilarious.

Can you talk about how Sherlock 2 is going as well as whether or not you'll be in Gravity? Zach, there's a viral video going around the internet of an interview you did with a Dallas Morning talk show guy and it's very reminiscent of 'Between Two Ferns'. Is that real or is that staged?

RDJ: I don't want to waste time talking about other projects. Sherlock 2 is fantastic. We had decided that we were going to do some viral videos to promote the movie and then we could barely hit our ass with both hands just to show up and do the regular press but the idea was that we were going to have this double inner monologue going. We were going to walk in Venice Beach down to the beach and shake hands and then walk away from each other. That would only take an hour shoot and then we were going to lay the most awesome double internal voice-over over it and it would've been – we'll never get to it – the greatest viral video of all time. So just imagine that we had the time to do that and we're happy to comment on that because we'd like to know what it would've been [laughs].

ZG: I don't want to give away the thing because I think sometimes that spoils it.

Which of you would be more likely to breakup horribly in the middle of a take and Todd can you weigh in with a verdict?

RDJ: Let me put it this way, I'm eighty five times more professional than Zach but I was hoping that we'd have some good gag reels so maybe I'd chuckle a little bit more. He might not actually know how funny he is sometimes, too.

TP: Yeah. Zach doesn't really breakup. He'll read his line halfway and [cough] and start over.

RDJ: It’s a ghastly tick. It's my favorite thing about him, to tell you the truth, particularly when we're doing press and it takes him forty five years to answer one question. He's trying to think about what the answer is and then he stutters and then he judges himself...

TP: And then he starts over and that would make Robert laugh.

RDJ: “Sonny stop it… [clearing his throat], Stop it sonny, we're going to be late [clears his throat]…” and the film is rolling and I'm just there, like, “This is an anthropological study. Now what are we supposed to do? When will you be done? That'll be my cue.”

ZG: I know my face is turning red. I don't want you to interpret it as being embarrassed. It's rage [laughs]. The color of my face is rage.

Can you talk about the opportunities that have opened up for you as a result of The Hangover? I saw people in costume as your character from the movie at Halloween last year. Can you talk about that, being an iconic character?

ZG: We were shooting Due Date in Albuquerque last year on Halloween and I went to a Halloween party. I didn't really know anybody. I went with a couple of people from work and I was just dressed like this and there was a guy there dressed as the character from The Hangover. I thought that it would be interesting to walk up to him and say, “Hey. You're dressed as me. I'm the real person.” He goes, “Yeah, right,” and he just walked away [laughs]. So that was a bit freaky. Well, Todd has told me as of late that I've never thanked him for anything and I'm here just to say that I'm probably not going to do it today [laughs]. In all honesty it's strange to have a little bit of…Todd helped me. He took a chance in plucking me out of the standup scene and nobody knows a movie is going to be so big and we just kind of got lucky and I'm thrilled that it happened.

Robert, your character has an awful lot of insight into acting for an architect. Was that part of his background. Thinking about your character in Tropic Thunder you seem to take great joy in poking at the actor's process. Is that true?

RDJ: I think that Todd and I said his neighbor was a casting director. So it's like I tell you that the Guggenheim opened in '59 or whenever it was, '69. You tell me about whatever it is going on, casting a show and everyone wants to be an actor, but everybody knows that everybody thinks that they want to be an actor and has no chops and is going out of it. I think that I'm worried for him and so my fear that this moron that I'm stuck with, I'm actually trying to give him some insight and I'm just mad at him when I give it. But also I mean, and this is a disgusting thing to say, and it speaks to my – it's not as bad now – hugely inflated ego at the time. I felt that it was my duty to teach this guy to fucking act. But he already knew how.

Zach, we all know you as a comedic actor but you have a pretty powerful scene in this film, too. Was it hard to switch gears in that scene?

ZG: No, it's not. It's fun to do. I think that probably, editorially, it might be difficult to put together but I don't know. If you can make people a bit emotional watching a scene and then make them laugh prior to that, I think you don't see it that often. I think that Todd got it right, but the whole thing about that scene, the bathroom scene I guess is what you're talking about; to me it's not so much what Ethan does but it's the look on Robert's face that I think sells that, as Robert told me yesterday [laughs].

TP: It's true. It's not the action. It's the reaction. Robert is watching this all happen and to me, I agree with that. It's just all on Robert's face as he realizes, “Wait a minute, this guy is actually going through trauma and is having a breakdown.” It was very cool to watch.

Do you think your actors, the whole process, did all your actors leave their comfort zone?

TP: I don't know about that. I don't know if Robert leaves his comfort zone because I think that Robert is capable of anything, quite honestly, as an actor and I think that Zach has so much that we haven't even seen yet in Due Date or in his other roles. I don't know that we left our comfort zone. I do think that what Zach just touched on is the key to Due Date which is that the movie takes these tonal shifts that I don't think you see in a ton of comedies. For me it was the fun part of making it, the challenging part of directing it and I think for these guys possibly the challenging part of doing it. You're in a bathroom scene. He has a breakdown. This guy is actually feeling emotional and in the next scene he's masturbating with his dog. The audience, to stay with us and stay on that ride, is what makes the movie connected and work. That's what I'm most proud of with Due Date.

It's a little mysterious when you think about the career of Gerard Butler, an actor who bolted to fame as the bellowing and muscled King Leonidas in 300, but has been more famous in the subsequent years for starring in rom-coms like The Ugly Truth and The Bounty Hunter that squandered pretty much all of that 300 goodwill. Gamer and Law Abiding Citizen would count toward his action movie cred if anyone had seen those movies. Those of you who have been rooting for him to return as a full-fledged action hero may still be hanging on until the 300 prequel (a.k.a. forever), but in an upcoming role Butler will at least be putting those muscles to use.

We've reported previously on the project Machine Gun Preacher, a true-life story which would star Butler as a former drug-dealing biker who wound up on a mission to rescue Sudanese children sold into slavery. Now, according to Deadline Hollywood, the project is officially a go, with Lionsgate snagging the domestic distribution rights and shooting scheduled to start this summer. Michelle Monaghan has signed on to play Butler's wife, a woman who cleaned up her own act and took care of their kids back home while he was overseas playing savior, and Michael Shannon is in talks to play the best friend to kept her company. Marc Forster, most recently of the Bond movie you didn't like that much, is directing.

You may know Michelle Monaghan as the girl from The Heartbreak Kid, or Eagle Eye, or a half a dozen other studio movies in which she's good, but definitely not the main character or the focus of the story. Sadly, that's par for the course for a lot of Hollywood actresses, who frequently get stuck playing the girlfriend or the sidekick without ever getting a chance to show how talented they really are.

But Michelle Monaghan has found a way to get the attention she deserves-- going independent. This weekend she stars in the teeny tiny indie Trucker, the debut feature from writer-director James Mottern, starring Monaghan as long-haul truck driver Diane. She's spent the last 10 years living a carefree life that involves a lot of drinking and a lot of different men, and barely stopping to think about the 11-year-old son (Jimmy Bennett) she's left to be raised by her ex (Benjamin Bratt). But when the ex gets sicks, her son has to come to live with her, and Diane is forced to reckon with the responsibilities and desire for a settled life that she thought she'd long since left behind.

Trucker debuted at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, and spent a long time struggling in the shrinking indie market before finding distribution from Monterey Media. I talked to Monaghan about the process of getting the film made, tapping into her mean side, and how to keep focused when her movie is advertised as being perfect for "awards season." She's a delightful interview, quick to laugh and open up about her career. Check out part of our video conversation below, and look for Trucker starting this Friday.

This afternoon I sat down with Michelle Monaghan, the movie star who is taking a decidedly unglamorous turn in the tiny indie Trucker, coming out this Friday. We'll have plenty from Monaghan about her foray into the indie world later this week, but I also wanted to share what she had to say about her next role in the comedy Due Date, which she starts shooting next month alongside Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis and Jamie Foxx.

First of all, shooting has already begun but Monaghan won't join until next month, meaning we might be seeing some set photos of the road trip segment between Downey Jr. and Galifianakis soon. In the film Monaghan plays Downey Jr.'s wife, about to go into labor and waiting for her husband to come back from across the country. She confirmed that she spends her early scenes, at least, being "hit on" by Foxx, who plays an ex-boyfriend who happens to be around while her husband isn't.

And I asked her if she'd get to join in the fun of the movie, given that director Todd Phillips isn't exactly known for letting his female stars get in on the comedy. "Yeah, I get to have a little fun," Monaghan confirmed. "And I'm mostly excited to get to be wokring with Robert."

I asked how many scenes she and Downey Jr. share, given that they're separate for most of the film, and she merely confirmed that "We're all together at the end." She's being smart and cagey about the plot, but I'm optimistic now about a beefed up comedic role for her in the film, maybe comparable to Heather Graham's part in The Hangover with a few more sight gags (she'll be playing a woman who's 9 months pregnant, after all; there's got to be some jokes in there somewhere).

Check back later for more of our chat with Monaghan, in which we discuss-- among many other things-- the kind of maternal instinct, or lack thereof, that she might wind up bringing to Due Date as well.

Gone Baby Gone did not get any of the attention it deserved. It had a great script and great direction, both of which were handled surprisingly well by Ben Affleck. Its setting of Boston was beautifully captured through gritty realism. In a lot of ways, I thought it was better than Mystic River, Clint Eastwood’s very similar adaptation of another Dennis Lehane novel. Above all else, though, it had a great cast led, in part, by Michelle Monaghan.

Michelle is moving onto comedy now, as Variety reports that she has signed on to star in Todd Phillips’ follow-up to The Hangover, Due Date. Starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifinakis, the movie sounds like something of a road trip flick that follows Downey’s character as he tries to make it home before his wife (Monaghan) delivers their baby. Zach will play Downey’s unlikely partner.

Monaghan has acted mostly in action movies and thrillers, unless you count The Heartbreak Kid and Made of Honor, which I prefer not to. So this will definitely be a new territory for her. But with Todd Phillips being crowned the comeback kid of Rated R comedy along with his his new muse Zach Galifinakis, she shouldn’t have any trouble figuring out the funny.