The Goonies star Martha Plimpton on 80s nostalgia, Ke Huy Quan’s Oscar hopes and playing a criminal mama
Martha Plimpton has played a host of roles across film, TV and stage throughout five decades, but for many she’ll always be associated with the role she played as a 14-year-old – Stef Steinbrenner in The Goonies.
One of the most beloved films of the 1980s, many of the young teens who starred in it – including Plimpton – defied the curse of the child star and continued their screen success as adults.
Plimpton (R) starred with Ke Huy Quan (3rd R) in 1985 film The Goonies
And in a twist of fate, one of the original Goonies – Ke Huy Quan, who found it harder than most to get work due to a paucity of parts for Asian-American actors – is now taking Hollywood by storm after being cast in multi-Oscar nominated Everything Everywhere All At Once.
The film is the most nominated at this year’s Oscars. So far he’s won a Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice and SAG award, and will potentially add an Academy Award to his haul on Sunday.
It’s a Hollywood comeback Plimpton couldn’t be happier to see. She tells Sky News: “I’m especially excited for Ke [Huy Quan]… My gosh, he’s just the dearest human being and the sweetest man and that he’s experiencing this wave of appreciation and love from all over… it’s just really lovely. I’m really excited and happy for him.”
Visibly proud of her co-star, she admits she’s unlikely to be watching the ceremony live – it’s available exclusively in the UK from 11pm on Sky News and Sky Showcase – but says she’ll be rooting for him nevertheless.
Oscars aside, Plimpton is in fact here to talk about her latest project – A Town Called Malice – a very different prospect, which sees her play Mint Ma, the matriarch of a South London crime family – the Lords – who have re-located to the Costa del Sol in a bid to improve their lot.
Described by its creator Nick Love as a “neon Western”, it’s also a love letter to the 80s, filled with all the bright fashion, big hairstyles and memorable music you’d expect from the era.
Plimpton credits the crime drama’s “camp quality” as part of the attraction – indeed there are moments in the show when the characters break into song and dance.
A Town Called Malice. Pic: Sky Max
The New York-born star worked with a dialect coach to nail her English accent, which is impeccable throughout. Partly, no doubt, due to the fact she now lives in the UK.
She explains: “I love my Sunday roast and I love the culture, I love the people. I think the British people are extraordinary and have a great sense of humour and a wonderful self-deprecating nature to them that is really just lovely and charming.
“Despite this country’s problems, which, believe me, I’m familiar with, especially coming from the United States… I think that there’s something to the English character that makes dealing with those problems sort of charming, hilarious, and funny.”
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It’s no surprise, then, that she jumped at the chance to play a British character, albeit one on the wrong side of the law.
“I loved the idea of this woman from South London – her stealth and her commitment to her family,” she says.
“And I love the idea of playing a mum to all of these gorgeous young men and being a part of this crazy crime family.”
In the show, her youngest son Gene and his girlfriend Cindy are on the run from police following a hit and run.
Spain offers them safe haven thanks to a breakdown in an extradition treaty with the UK, but matters only become more complicated once on the Costa del crime.
Plimpton says it’s a theme rich with dramatic possibilities: “Our fascination with crime probably has some primal reasons for it that I’m not qualified to list, but it’s the excitement and it’s the unpredictability. And people who live life on the edges of society, on the outer edge of what we all consider acceptable.”
And setting it in the 1980s adds a colour and energy to the show that only that era could.
A Town Called Malice. Pic: Sky Max
She calls her costumes – including terry towelling swimming costumes, tight white jeans and lots of shoulder pads – “absolutely phenomenal”.
And as for the soundtrack which accompanies each episode, she says: “I’m already immersed in eighties music, those were my teen years. So, I’m pretty familiar with that musical era, and I’m not ashamed to say I still listen to it quite regularly.
“I think we always cling to the music that we grew up with and that connects with us as young people. It’s not necessarily nostalgia for me, it’s an ever-present reality.”
While she agrees the 80s was a great time to grow up as a teen, she admits: “It was also a difficult time to be a teenager. The world was changing spectacularly during that time. It was a scary time, we were terrified of nuclear annihilation.
“The AIDS crisis began in the late seventies, early eighties. It was the beginning of Reaganomics and Thatcherism, which was a huge shift in both of our countries away from a sort of post-war idea of collective responsibility and moving into an era of greed and personal enrichment philosophy that’s unfortunately stayed with us. But it was a very, very interesting time to be a young person.”
But she’s optimistic about today’s youth: “There’s a wonderful quality to the young people now that I think is really extraordinary. Their willingness to be accepting, their openness to new stories, new realities, their eagerness to challenge the status quo and be responsible for their own futures is extraordinary and impressive.”
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Now 52, Plimpton herself has been working since she was just a child. Starting off in a Calvin Klein advert, before moving on to film, as a teenager she played opposite her then boyfriend River Phoenix in Oscar-nominated Running On Empty and Keanu Reeves in Parenthood. Both movies were Oscar-nominated.
More films, plus theatre followed, and TV shows including Raising Hope, and The Good Wife, with the latter earning her an Emmy.
On her enduring career, Plimpton says: “I’ve been doing this since I was a kid. And, you know, I’ve been very fortunate. I mean, there have been periods of downtime and dry spells like there are in any person’s career or work life. But, yes, I’ve been very lucky to generally have made it without having to get a civilian gig.”
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She’s previously spoken about the UK’s “appreciation” of its older actresses, in contrast to the US which she says has been “really slow” on the uptake.
However, she says America’s getting better at showcasing its more mature female talent, citing the growing number of streaming services “telling a lot more stories. A lot of different stories. A lot of stories we traditionally haven’t been exposed to”.
And of course, one of those stories has to be the multi-verse madness that is Everything Everywhere All At Once, which has propelled her former Goonies co-star Quan back into the spotlight.
Ke Huy Quan. Pic: Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
Looking back on The Goonies – the movie which changed both their lives – she says its success has been a happy surprise: “I’m certainly impressed by the fact that it’s really taken such a hold in popular culture. And I don’t think any of us expected that it necessarily would when it came out. I mean, we all had an extraordinary time filming it. And, you know, I guess ultimately it did change all of our lives, really. It’s just wonderful.”
While she hasn’t stayed in touch with Quan, now 51, Plimpton says: “I do follow him on Instagram and I see all of his adorable selfies and it’s really sweet.”
Along with the rest of us, Plimpton will be cheering Quan on come Sunday night, hoping his unexpected showbiz return has a happy ending worthy of Hollywood.
A Town Called Malice is available on Sky Max and streaming service NOW from 16 March.
You can watch the Academy Awards on Sunday 12 March from 11pm exclusively on Sky News and Sky Showcase. And for everything you need to know ahead of the ceremony, don’t miss our special Backstage podcast available on Friday morning, plus a winners’ special episode from Monday morning.
Entertainment
Gary Lineker says ‘right time’ to leave Match Of The Day as he hints of changes to show’s format
Gary Lineker has said it is “the right time” to leave Match Of The Day and hinted the BBC could change the format of the Premier League highlights show.
The 63-year-old will step down as host at the end of the season and described his time on the show as an “absolute joy and privilege”.
Speaking on his podcast, The Rest Is Football, he said: “It has been an absolute joy and privilege to present such an iconic show for the BBC.
“But all things have to come to an end.”
Lineker went on to say the broadcaster enters a new three-year deal to host top-flight highlights, and that to stay on for another 12 months “would be a bit weird”.
“I think the next contract they’re looking to do Match Of The Day slightly differently, so I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.
“I bowed out in my football career when I felt it was the right time. I feel this is now the right time.”
Lineker refused to speculate who would be taking his place, as rumours grew around Mark Chapman, the regular Match Of The Day 2 presenter, Football Focus host Alex Scott, and BBC sports coverage presenter Gabby Logan.
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“Obviously I don’t know who it’ll be, and I would never tell publicly my preference, I don’t think that’d be the right thing to do – but whoever it is, I would say be yourself,” he said.
“I had to fill the ginormous shoes of certain Des Lynam.
“…I would say just be yourself and enjoy it, it’s a wonderful programme to be a part of. It was brilliant before I took over, and it will be brilliant after I leave.”
Lineker pictured with former MOTD host Des Lynam in 2009. Pic: PA
Lineker has hosted Match Of The Day since 1999 and will have presented the show for more than a quarter of a century when he leaves in May 2025.
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He will continue with the MOTD Top Ten podcast alongside his podcast, which also features BBC pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.
The former England striker has been the BBC’s highest-paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years and was estimated to have earned £1.35m in the year 2023/24.
The BBC said future plans for Match Of The Day would be “announced in due course”.
Coach tickets to Glastonbury 2025 were sold out in half an hour, organisers have said, as they roll out a new booking system for festivalgoers.
They were the first group of tickets to be sold for the world-famous festival in Somerset, which is set to take place between 25 and 29 June.
This year, fans navigated a new system to buy the tickets as they were “randomly assigned a place in a queue” instead of having to refresh the holding page once they went live.
The organisers said in a post on X: “The Glastonbury 2025 tickets + coach travel which were on sale this evening have now all been sold.
“Our thanks to everyone who bought one.”
They added that National Express services would be available to bring festivalgoers from across the country to Glastonbury.
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Standard tickets will go on sale on Sunday at 9am. Last year they were sold out within an hour.
See Tickets said in a post on X that “confirmation emails are going out now to everyone who got @Glastonbury coach tickets this evening”.
Tickets for the annual event at Worthy Farm in Somerset cost £373.50 plus a £5 booking fee, and are sold exclusively through the See Tickets website, with no third-party sellers involved.
The new ticket system has changed the way people join the booking system.
Organisers previously warned hopefuls to log in “at least a few minutes” before the sale opened today and to avoid refreshing the page.
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Festivalgoers were also told not to attempt to game the system by using multiple devices.
The sale follows chaos earlier this year when tickets for the Oasis reunion went on sale, seeing a multitude of disappointed fans as well as those who felt cheated after being charged hundreds of pounds more for their tickets than was originally advertised.
Anyone wishing to buy tickets for Glastonbury must have registered by 11 November, a rule in place to avoid touting.
Entertainment
Christmas adverts – the 10 most-anticipated ads as the festive battle for customers commences
With just under six weeks to go to Christmas Day, the countdown has officially begun, with all the big brands rolling out their seasonal adverts.
Becoming something of an institution over recent years, many see the festive ads as the starting pistol for their Christmas preparation/panic, despite us only being halfway through November.
And with an estimated £10.5bn spent on this year’s Xmas ads, it’s not just about inducing a fuzzy warm feeling in viewers, but also about encouraging them to put their hand in their pocket.
As we brace ourselves for festive fun, we take a swift look at this year’s bevvy of commercial offerings, as the annual battle of the Christmas adverts begins.
John Lewis
A girl called Sally falls into a clothes rack reminiscent of CS Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, but instead of finding Narnia, she ends up in John Lewis.
Pic: PA
Through family flashbacks we lean how much she loves her older sister, whose gift she has carelessly left it to the last minute to buy. Spoiler alert – as one would expect in an advert for a retailer, she finds a pressie.
With the retailer famous for its use of cover versions in their Christmas ads, this one is the origin story for a new cover, with a concurrent competition on TikTok to find an aspiring artist to rerecord a version, which will be featured on the Christmas Day airing and released by record label BMG too.
Waitrose
Marketed as a whodunnit – this big-budget production has a host of celebrity cameos, an intricate storyline and not one but two parts.
Pic: Waitrose
Comedian Joe Wilkinson, Fleabag star Sian Clifford and Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen all have a role in the ensemble, revolving around hunting down the thief of a “chilled desert”.
Being Christmas, when tensions are traditionally high, everyone has reason to have scoffed it. The culprit won’t be revealed until the second part of the ad is released, but in the meantime, activity at Kings Cross Station, in stores and on social media is set to keep the investigation very much alive.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s goes big for its advert, calling on a beloved Roald Dahl character – the BFG, or Big Friendly Giant – to travel the country with a supermarket worker called Sophie (who pleasingly is a real store employee) in the search for the perfect festive treats.
Pic: Sainsbury’s
A CGI BFG procures salmon, sprouts and cheese before a bit of magic helps him whip it all up into a feast, which he then gifts to an unsuspecting family through the window.
The first ones to release their ad earlier this month, the dulcet tones of national treasure Stephen Fry wrap the action, with a call to arms to stock up in readiness for Christmas.
M&S
Another national treasure – Dawn French – is back for this one, playing both herself and a festive fairy, who gives both French and her home a make-over ready for a Christmas soiree.
Pic: PA
French, whose multi-Christmas-dinner eating antics on The Vicar Of Dibley put her into the Xmas annals, is transformed into “the quintessential hostess” with a bit of help from her little friend.
Banking on the idea that you can never have enough of a good thing, there are six instalments of the advert running between now and the New Year. Who doesn’t like a second – or sixth – helping.
Lidl
This one pulls on the heartstrings, with a little girl inspired to give a gift to a boy who appears not to have any, after an old lady gives her some magic bells.
Pic: Lidl
Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom Hooper (he directed The King’s Speech), a CGI racoon and giant gingerbread man add a little action to events around the dinner table.
But the take home message is to think about giving as well as receiving, with the return of the retailer’s toy banks scheme set up at supermarkets with the aim of donating over 100,000 toys, to ensure no child experiences a giftless Christmas.
Aldi
Kevin the Carrot is back for a ninth year running, this time trying to save the Christmas spirit from a bunch of hard-boiled humbug villains.
Pic: Aldi
With the ad narrated by actor Jim Broadbent, our plucky hero braves an oven, a Mission Impossible-inspired ventilation system and Bond-esque snow jet-ski dash across the mountains, all to save Christmas.
Helped by his wife Katie, he of course pulls it off. A fan favourite, soft toys of the root vegetable are sold in stores, and this year cuddly humbugs are on sale too.
Morrisons
It’s a song and dance number from Morrisons, courtesy of their singing oven gloves performing Bugsy Malone’s You Give A Little Love.
Pic: Morrisons
A choir of 26 Morrisons employees gave voice to the gloves, recording their rendition of the song at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London.
Like Lidl, the retailer pulled out the directing big guns, hiring The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey to oversee proceedings.
Asda
Bagging the prize for the most gnome puns in one advert, Asda sees a flash mob of gnomes preparing the store for Christmas.
Pic: Asda
The resulting advert isn’t as irritating as it sounds on paper, thanks to nice performances by the two human characters in the ad – Maggie and Bill.
And as we know, Christmas is all about the merchandise, so the supermarkets are of course selling special Xmas versions of their garden gnomes to accompany their already 50-strong gnome range. Who knew?
Tesco
Tesco reminds us of those members of the family who are no longer here to join us on the big day, with a man carrying on his late grandmother’s festive tradition of baking gingerbread.
Pic: Tesco
He becomes obsessed with the spicy treat, as it infiltrates every part of his day from his haircut to a trip to see the Christmas lights.
He eventually gets together with his grandad to bake a gingerbread house, revealing it to the family at lunch, thus keeping the tradition alive.
Greggs
And in the most unlikely festive cameo of the year, Greggs has enlisted Nigella Lawson to star in its first Christmas ad.
Pic: PA
Rapturously endorsing their festive bakes, Lawson has her hands full of pasties, and her table full of take-away coffees, as she promotes the bakery’s festive-themed fare.
Whether or not you believe the 64-year-old TV chef really tucks into their sausage rolls in real life – the attention-grabbing collaboration looks like a wise move for the chain, whose sales have jumped in recent weeks as it continues its UK expansion.
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