Asteroid City: The stars of Wes Anderson’s new comedy on working with the esteemed director
Wes Anderson has gathered such a huge celebrity cast for his latest movie that it’s perhaps apt that Asteroid City is set around a stargazer convention – while the characters stare at the skies, the viewers are kept entranced by a different kind of star.
Among the vast cast are A-listers Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston… Known for his highly stylised movies, Anderson seems to have no issue attracting talent to work with him.
Set in the American southwest in 1955, this film saw a small functioning town built in Spain to serve as the titular Asteroid City, with the cast and crew living and working there throughout the production.
Shot while COVID protocols were in place, it also served as a bubble.
Speaking to Sky News’ Backstage Podcast, cast-members talked about their experiences working with Anderson on Asteroid City, which itself is a play within a TV special.
Bryan Cranston on playing the narrator of the TV special about the play Asteroid City:
“I started really looking and doing some research on the more famous newscasters of the fifties – Edward R Murrow and Walter Cronkite and things like that, and I settled in on someone who kept coming back to me and I was influenced by Ted Koppel, and I sort of love the way he delivered the news.
“And I also feel that those men fall in love with their own voices… So that sort of came to me that we would do it in this sort of registry and without any emotion and without any opinion on what I was saying, so that the actors in the group can supply that – I was just there to monitor and feed in exposition.
“So, I just figured out this is my role, this is what my job is and then, you know, Wes takes a look at it and shapes it and basically says: ‘Faster, faster, faster, faster’. And you do it faster, faster, faster!”
Pic: Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features
Jeffrey Wright on Anderson’s fast-paced script:
“He’s the conductor and he’s setting the rhythm and the tempo and that’s what he wants.
“I think he has a thing for early cinema, 40s, 50s style of stylised dialogue that no one really spoke in the world – it was just this dialect that existed in storytelling, and I kind of love that stuff, too, I love, melodrama and the old forms.
“It’s just a different take on telling the story, it doesn’t mean because it’s antique that it’s not effective – we’ve changed but I think there’s still something that can be moving about those styles, and it’s also a way of accepting that this is a performance – we understand it’s not real, it’s not a documentary and I think Wes likes to celebrate performance in that way.”
Pic: Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features
Scarlett Johansson on the preparation needed to play an actor who herself is playing a character who is preparing for a part:
“There were so many layers of the performance – I’m playing an actor who’s playing an actor who’s preparing something.
Scarlett Johansson in Asteroid City. Pic: Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features
“I had a lot of questions for Wes, and we talked a lot about all these different – like, What’s this play? What’s this movie that [Johansson’s character] Midge Campbell is preparing? Who is Midge Campbell? I think it was good to figure that stuff out.
“The prep was maybe more involved with this film because it had so many different layers – if I go into doing something, I try to come in with something to hang my hat on, so I have something to offer in the beginning and then it hopefully will evolve from there, but this needed a bit of thinking on it and discussion with Wes and a lot of questions and stuff like that.”
Pic: Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features
Jason Schwartzman on working on the film and with Scarlett Johansson:
“It was so fun. It was so interesting. I loved it.
“It wasn’t hard, I’ll tell you, because I felt like I was acting with – the movie was like, done, [Johansson]’s so amazing.”
Pic: Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features
Maya Hawke on the ‘impossible task’ she found herself trying:
“Getting to try something impossible is kind of freeing, you know? Versus having to sort of try to master – being asked to do something simple where you’re like, ‘Oh, no, I’m going to mess this up’.
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‘These people are all so intimidating’
“I felt that the impossible task that was asked of me was, you know, these people are all so intimidating and so talented, and to enter that environment as a new person, as a young person, as a person without that much experience, and to come in with confidence and to not worry that I was going to ruin the film, which very quickly I realised was actually impossible once I got there, because Wes is so masterful in the orchestra conduction of everything that you couldn’t ruin it if you tried your hardest.”
Rupert Friend on living and working together while making Asteroid City:
“One of the things that Wes not only encourages but really engenders is this spirit of community and what it means is that whether you are the main focus of a scene or not is completely immaterial.
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“You want to be there to support your colleagues, whether you’re in the deep, deep background out of focus, as many of us were, or you’re front and centre – that becomes immaterial, so you’re speaking about the egalitarian nature of it.
“I don’t know of a more genuine ensemble than what I saw on set and on the screen for this movie, I mean, any of these people could be the star and everyone gave it to everyone else.”
Asteroid City is out in cinemas now, hear more about it on the latest episode of Backstage – the film and TV podcast from Sky News.
Entertainment
‘We watched Gavin And Stacey on repeat’: Richard E Grant goes on ’emotional’ tour in memory of his late wife
Prosecutors and defence lawyers have rested their cases in the sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, bringing more than six weeks of testimony against the hip-hop mogul to a close.
The high-profile trial has heard from more than 30 witnesses, including the rapper’s ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, as well as former employees of his company Bad Boy Entertainment, male escorts, law enforcement officers and hotel staff.
But one person jurors won’t hear from is Combs himself.
Confirming this to Judge Arun Subramanian, the rapper said he had discussed the issue of testifying “thoroughly” with his team and made the decision not to give evidence. He also thanked the judge and told him he was doing an “excellent job”.
Cassie Ventura was heavily pregnant when she testified at the start of the trial. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
After the prosecution rested, the defence team moved for the judge to acquit the 55-year-old – a fairly standard move – saying attorneys for the government had not provided evidence to prove any of the charges filed.
They then presented a brief case themselves, submitting more text messages as evidence to show Combs and his girlfriends were in loving, consensual relationships, and making a few stipulations about testimony, but calling no witnesses. This lasted for less than an hour.
They have previously conceded Combs has been violent in the past, something he is “not proud” of, but said this did not make him a sex trafficker.
Combs has remained in jail without bail since he was arrested in New York in September last year.
Throughout the trial, defence lawyers have made their case for exoneration through their questioning of witnesses called by the prosecution, including several who gave evidence reluctantly or after they were granted immunity to testify.
Prosecutors argue Combs coerced and forced Cassie and another former girlfriend, who testified under the pseudonym Jane, into “freak off” sex sessions with male escorts, and used his business empire to facilitate these, as well as drug use, and cover up bad behaviour.
Jurors have seen several clips of explicit footage. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
During the first week of the trial, Cassie, 38, spent four days giving evidence. Heavily pregnant at the time, she told jurors she felt pressured to take part in hundreds of “freak offs” with male sex workers as Combs watched.
She told the court they became so frequent during their relationship, which began in 2007 and ended in 2018, that they were “like a job”, and she had barely any time for her own career.
The singer and musician gave birth two weeks after her testimony, her friend and former stylist confirmed as he gave evidence himself in court.
Jane testified for six days about similar sexual performances, which Combs referred to as “hotel nights”, “wild king nights” or “debauchery” with her, the court heard. Like Cassie, she said she felt coerced into engaging in them because she loved the music star and wanted to please him.
Jane dated Combs on and off from early 2021 to his arrest in 2024.
Jurors have been shown several recordings of these sex sessions, lasting more than 40 minutes in total. The footage was shown on monitors and jurors used headphones, keeping it private from the media and members of the public in court.
In her opening statement, defence lawyer Teny Geragos called the videos “powerful evidence that the sexual conduct in this case was consensual and not based on coercion”.
Read more:
Everything you need to know about the trial
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
What we learned from Cassie’s testimony
The trial also heard from Mia, another alleged victim who testified under a pseudonym. Mia was a former employee of Combs, who told the court he sexually assaulted her on several occasions in the years she worked for him.
She had never told anyone about the alleged abuse until the investigation into Combs, she said, telling the court she was ashamed. “I was going to die with this,” she said, becoming tearful on the stand. “I didn’t want anyone to know ever.”
The trial has been eventful, with one juror dismissed and replaced by an alternate after it emerged he had given conflicting evidence about where he lives. The judge said he had “serious concerns” that not being truthful about this could potentially mean he wanted to be on the jury for a particular reason.
And at one point, Combs was warned by the judge for nodding enthusiastically toward jurors during a section of cross-examination by his lawyers. The judge said he could be excluded from the trial if it happened again.
Court is not in session on Wednesday. The trial continues on Thursday, when closing statements from the legal teams will begin.
Former Sky News presenter Dermot Murnaghan has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The 67-year-old announced his diagnosis on social media, saying it was one of stage four “advanced” cancer.
He said he was “fortunate to have a simply outstanding medical team” looking after him that was “administering the best possible care with expertise, compassion and sensitivity”.
“I’m responding positively to their excellent treatment, and feeling well,” he added.
“I’m blessed to be fortified by the monumental love and support of my wife, family and close friends.
“Needless to say, my message to all men over 50, in high risk groups, or displaying symptoms, is get yourself tested and campaign for routine prostate screening by the NHS.
“Early detection is crucial. And be aware, this disease can sometimes progress rapidly without obvious symptoms.”
Murnaghan also presented on BBC News and ITV News
Murnaghan said he would be taking part in Sir Chris Hoy’s charity bike ride in Glasgow in September, which aims to “shine a spotlight” on stage four cancer.
Sir Chris was himself diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in September 2023.
Advanced prostate cancer is when the cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body, according to Macmillan Cancer Support.
Murnaghan is a familiar face to Sky News viewers as one of its main presenters from 2007 until 2023.
In September 2022, he announced the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II on the channel.
Read more from Sky News:
Bride ‘shot dead on wedding day in France’
GPs can now prescribe weight loss jabs on NHS
Before joining Sky, he presented ITV’s News At Ten and the BBC Ten O’Clock News – now known as BBC News At Ten – as well as Channel 4 News.
Murnaghan also presented quiz show Eggheads on BBC Two for 11 years.
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