As actors go you don’t get many more respected than Olivia Colman and Samuel L Jackson.
Both have taken home Oscars in the last few years – Colmanwinning best actress for The Favourite in 2019, and Jacksonreceiving an honorary Academy Award last year.
Now the two have been paired up for new Marvel series Secret Invasion – and it seems they’re as much fans of one another as movie-goers are of them.
Image: Olivia Colman as Special Agent Sonya Falsworth, and Samuel L Jackson (below) as Nick Fury in Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion. Pics: Disney+/Marvel
“I think I might have curtsied to you when I first met you,” Colman tells Jackson while speaking to Sky News’ Backstage podcast.
“Stop it, no you didn’t,” Jackson laughs. “We just looked at each other, started laughing – we knew how much fun it was going to be.
“When you see someone that you admire and all of a sudden you’re in that space with them, you kind of know, okay, this is going to be excellent, you know immediately whether it’s going to be a chore or whether it’s going to be fun.”
The series also stars the likes of Emilia Clarke, Don Cheadle and Martin Freeman – whom Jackson, it turns out, is a big fan of.
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“I didn’t get to work with him, but I went to work that day just to watch him work because I wanted to see it,” Jackson says. “I had to go meet him. I was like, ‘I’m not doing anything with you, but I wanted to meet you so bad’.”
Image: Jackson says he is a big fan of British star Martin Freeman. Pic: Gareth Gatrell/Disney+/Marvel
While Jackson has been playing Nick Fury in the Marvel franchise since he first appeared in a post-credits scene in 2008’s Iron Man, Colman is a newcomer. However, she admits she has been keen to join the cinematic world, or MCU, for some time.
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“After every Marvel release I phone my agent and say I want to be in a Marvel. I don’t know if she had any say in it, but it eventually happened. So, yeah, I’m thrilled.”
Secret Invasion is set in the present MCU as a group of shapeshifters attempt to take over Earth. Colman plays MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth, an old ally of Fury’s – though it’s not clear whose side she’s really on.
Jackson asks her if her character is a villain or a villainous hero.
“I’m a villainous hero, I think,” she says. “Well, I can’t remember quite what happens and I’ve only seen the first two episodes, so maybe I’m not.”
But Jackson’s memory seems clearer.
“You’re a villainous hero and totally, totally, totally gangster. Let’s say that – you are totally gangster and you enjoy it.”
The show is something of a political thriller and certainly seems more mature than some of the previous Marvel series, with admittedly less action.
Jackson says the aim was to do something different.
“This is proper intrigue and it seems like the Disney+ franchise, the things that come through there like Loki and Wandavision – they all have their own distinct personalities. And this is following in that canon I think in terms of it being more intrigue than anything else has been.”
Unreleased Beyonce music – along with footage and show plans – has been stolen from a car in Atlanta, police say.
The vehicle had been rented by the star’s choreographer and a dancer last week.
But on 8 July – just before she was about to begin a four days of performances in the city – the SUV’s back window was smashed, and two suitcases were taken.
Two MacBook laptops, Apple headphones and luxury clothes are also missing – alongside the five thumb drives containing the songs.
An arrest warrant has been issued for a suspect, but their identity has been withheld.
“Light prints” have been detected at the scene, and the robbery was captured on CCTV.
MasterChef presenter John Torode says an allegation he used “racial language” was upheld in a report as part of a review into the behaviour of his former co-presenter Gregg Wallace.
There were also two standalone allegations made against other people.
In a statement posted on his Instagram page, Torode said he was one of those people, but added that he had “no recollection of the incident” and said he “did not believe that it happened”.
He commented: “Following publication of the executive summary of the investigation into Gregg Wallace while working on MasterChef, I am aware of speculation that I am one of the two other individuals against whom an allegation has been upheld.
“For the sake of transparency, I confirm that I am the individual who is alleged to have used racial language on one occasion.
“The allegation is that I did so sometime in 2018 or 2019, in a social situation, and that the person I was speaking with did not believe that it was intended in a malicious way and that I apologised immediately afterwards.
“I have absolutely no recollection of any of this, and I do not believe that it happened.
“However, I want to be clear that I’ve always had the view that any racial language is wholly unacceptable in any environment. I’m shocked and saddened by the allegation as I would never wish to cause anyone any offence.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
An investigation into Gregg Wallace’s “inappropriate behaviour” on MasterChef has found that more than half of the allegations against him have been substantiated, including one of “unwanted physical contact”.
MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK shared a summary of its report into historical allegations of misconduct against the 60-year-old presenter, carried out by independent law firm Lewis Silkin over seven months.
The report also said the number of sustained allegations made Wallace’s return to MasterChef “untenable”.
The investigation heard evidence from 78 witnesses, including 41 complainants.
There were 83 allegations against Wallace, and 45 of them were substantiated. All were related to MasterChef.
While the majority of the substantiated allegations related to inappropriate sexual language and humour, a smaller number of allegations of other inappropriate language and being in a state of undress were also substantiated.
One allegation of unwanted physical contact was substantiated.
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Nearly all the allegations against Wallace were related to behaviour which is said to have occurred between 2005 and 2018, with just one substantiated allegation taking place post-2018.
Additionally, the report summary found that there were also 10 standalone allegations about other people between 2012 and 2018/2019, two of which were substantiated. Those people were not named in the summary.
The investigation found that complaints had previously been raised with the production company between 2005 and 2024.
Image: Gregg Wallace on MasterChef. Pic: BBC/ Shine TV 2024
While the report flagged inadequate reporting procedures prior to 2016, when Endemol merged with Shine ahead of Banijay acquiring Endemol Shine in 2020, it said there were significant improvements to HR processes and training after 2016.
While the investigation said some formal action was taken by the BBC in 2017, it also noted the corporation held no information regarding concerns raised over Wallace centrally, resulting in issues being addressed as a first offence.
Sky News has tried to contact Gregg Wallace for contact today.