Early on in “Piece by Piece,” Morgan Neville’s unorthodox doc about one of popular music’s most influential figures, Pharrell Williams says that the best way to express himself is through Legos. “I was given Lego sets as a child, and that was a really amazing platform for me to allow my imagination to flourish and […]

Anderson .Paak strode into the Variety studio at Toronto Film Festival wearing a radiant smile, and before the cameras started rolling he began spinning a pillow on his finger like a basketball. “This is a couch potato trick,” he laughed, as his 13-year-old son Soul Rasheed watched in awe. It’s fitting that .Paak can’t keep […]

Lamorne Morris went against the better wishes of “Saturday Night” director Jason Reitman when meeting with original “Saturday Night Live” cast member Garrett Morris, whom he plays in the upcoming movie about the origins of the famed sketch comedy show. You see, Reitman wasn’t keen on the film’s sprawling ensemble — Gabriel LaBelle plays Lorne […]

When Alfonso Cuarón approached Apple with his idea of turning Renée Knight’s 2015 novel “Disclaimer” into a five-and-a-half-hour psychological thriller, he was very clear about one thing. “I don’t know [how] to do television.” “For me, it’s a bit too late in the game to start learning,” he says, thinking back to that initial pitch […]

For Rachel Morrison’s feature directorial debut “The Fire Inside,” there was a lot of pressure to “get it right” and do justice to the story of boxer Claressa Shields. But greater than the self-induced anxiety was the thrill of moving from behind the camera to the director’s chair, where she could see the project through […]

Director Sean Baker was a fan of Mikey Madison ever since he saw her performance in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” but it was not until he saw the actor in 2022’s “Scream” that he knew she was his Anora. “I was in the theater next to my wife and […]

Selena Gomez wanted her character Mabel, from Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building,” to be the killer in one of the hit comedy series’ seasons. “I did pitch that,” Gomez said during an interview at the Variety Studio, sponsored by J.Crew and SharkNinja, at the Toronto International Film Festival. “I don’t think it’s going to […]

Elton John can feel the love tonight. The “Tiny Dancer” singer confirmed to Variety that he played an influential role in ensuring that his song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” was not deleted from Disney’s “The Lion King.” John saved the song from the cutting room floor, and it went on to win the […]

The Brat Pack may be getting back together. Demi Moore, currently generating Oscar buzz for her daring turn in “The Substance,” revealed that discussions are underway with Sony, the studio behind “St. Elmo’s Fire,” to make a sequel to the seminal 1985 film. “The update is definitely, conversations are happening,” Moore said in an interview […]

Elton John, who’s been recovering from a severe eye infection that left him with “limited vision in one eye,” provided an update on his condition when he stopped by Variety’s studio at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. John was there to tout his new documentary, “Elton John: Never Too Late,” which captures the music […]

In David Gordon Green’s “Nutcrackers,” Ben Stiller is forced to look after his newly orphaned nephews, four long-haired hell-raisers who run wild on their family farm. As Stiller’s character, a lonely city slicker named Michael, works toward finding the boys a foster family, he comes to the realization that he needs them just as much […]

Several years after Donald Trump called Kim Jong Un “Little Rocket Man,” Elton John has weighed in on his hit song being the inspiration for the North Korean dictator’s nickname. “I laughed, I thought that was brilliant,” John told Variety‘s Ramin Setoodeh in an interview at Toronto Film Festival. “I just thought, ‘Good on you, […]

Dakota Johnson was feeling a little jittery while shooting “Loser Baby,” a short film that serves as her directorial debut and will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. But it wasn’t nerves that put her on edge. “I discovered Celsius on day one of filming,” she said at Variety’s Toronto Film Festival studio, sponsored […]

Barry Keoghan didn’t miss a chance to promote his young “Bird” co-star Nykiya Adams during an interview at the Variety Studio, sponsored by J.Crew and SharkNinja, during the Toronto Film Festival. “Didn’t you say Marvel called you?” he joked. “No,” Adams laughs. “But I love Spider-Man, and I’d love to be in something like that,” […]

Ron Howard, the director behind “Hillbilly Elegy” and “A Beautiful Mind,” stressed to Variety the importance of exercising one’s right to vote in this upcoming presidential election in November. The director stopped by Variety’s Toronto Film Festival Studio to promote his upcoming movie “Eden,” along with the cast, including Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, Ana de Armas, and Daniel Brühl. There, […]

At long last, “Severance” Season 2 is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on Jan. 17, 2025, nearly three years after the first season premiered. When the sci-fi workplace thriller returns, it is sure to resolve some of the cliffhangers that left fans buzzing after the Season 1 finale. “I think it’ll be a really […]

In the Sean Ellis film “The Cut,” Orlando Bloom plays a boxer on the brink of a total breakdown as he races against the clock to drop weight before a fight. Under the guidance of a shady coach, played by John Turturro, Bloom will do anything to shed pounds, even as it threatens his life. […]

Tom Hiddleston had to learn to move and groove to play Charles “Chuck” Krantz in “The Life of Chuck,” a feel-good apocalyptic story (yes, those exist!) that premieres on Friday at the Toronto Film Festival. Adapted from Stephen King’s 2020 novella of the same name and directed by “The Haunting of Hill House’s” Mike Flanagan, […]

A few days after Ian McKellen expressed interest in returning as Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s new live-action “Lord of the Rings” movies, his co-star Orlando Bloom is adding his name to the list. When asked by Variety if he was interested in returning to the Tolkien franchise, the Legolas actor said, “Oh, man, those things […]