It’s almost 12 years to the day that a Taliban gunman shot schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in the head as she travelled home from an exam on a school bus packed with fellow pupils.
Now one of Pakistan’s best-known public figures, the activist, Oxford graduate and youngest Nobel laureate in history is releasing her first feature.
Image: Malala addresses the United Nations on her 16th birthday. Pic: Reuters
The 27-year-old tells Sky News: “I’m pretty new to Hollywood, but it’s been an incredible journey for me so far.”
An outspoken critic of Muslim under-representation in Hollywood films, Yousafzai founded her production company Extracurricular in 2021 in partnership with Apple TV + in a bid to “shake things up”.
She says: “There are so many passionate women and artists from different diverse backgrounds, including Muslim communities and people of colour and they have incredible stories.
“I hope to work with more incredible artists and directors out there in the many years ahead to help us bring more perspectives and more voices and reflections from people who don’t often get a chance.”
A 2022 study showed that Muslims are 25% of the population, but only 1% of characters in popular TV series.
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As for whether it’s getting better, Yousafzai says: “There are incredible Muslim artists who are really changing the narrative, and I do hope that more of them will get a chance to tell their story and just bring more diversity to how stories are told.”
She says the documentary she’s just released – The Last Of The Sea Women, about a group of female divers in their 60s, 70s and 80s – is “an amazing beginning” to her new adventure as a Hollywood executive.
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Extracurricular has previously said it would consider producing a fictionalised account of her attempted assassination but signalled they first need to find a “surprising way in” to the story.
And Yousafzai is full of surprises.
Image: (R-L): Lee Hee Soon, Malala Yousafzai, Sue Kim and Jang Soon Duk. Pic: Apple TV +
Malala Made Me Do It
Earlier this year, she made her acting debut in the second season of Channel 4’s reverential and hugely popular comedy We Are Lady Parts.
Her episode even featured a spoof song inspired by her activism – Malala Made Me Do It.
Yousafzai’s passionate advocacy for access to education for women and girls in countries where it is restricted is now stepping into a new realm – entertainment.
Her deal with Apple will cover dramas, comedies, documentaries, animation and children’s series.
Future productions include a movie adaptation of Elaine Hsieh Chou’s book Disorientation, and a scripted series based on Asha Lemmie’s coming-of-age novel Fifty Words For Rain, about a woman’s search for acceptance in post-World War Two Japan.
The Last Of The Sea Women tells the story of the Haenyeo, a “badass girl gang” of grandmothers living on South Korea‘s Jeju Island who dive to the ocean floor without oxygen to gather food for their community.
Earning a reputation as real-life mermaids, despite diving for centuries, their traditions are now under threat.
In a bid to save their way of life, they are now teaching younger women, who being from Generation Z, are sharing their stories on TikTok.
Image: Haenyeo divers of South Korea’s Jeju Island. Pic: Apple TV+
Elderly Asian women ‘as heroes’
The film’s director Sue Kim – who calls working with Malala “the joy and pleasure of my life” – says she was excited to showcase an underrepresented group in her work.
“It’s rare to see women portrayed as the sole heroes in the film. Two Asian women are not often portrayed as the soul heroes in the film. And then elderly Asian women.
“It’s three demographics where I do think there’s a bit of a gap of representation and portrayal in the heroic world. And that was something I was excited to show in the film.”
Yousafzai says of the Haenyeo: “When I look to them, I personally, as a woman, feel that there’s no limit to what I can do.”
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She goes on: “We would be in a very good place if we were under the leadership of the Haenyeo, for sure…
“We need women in leadership. We need a society where women can get equal opportunities. And a woman should never be told that she cannot be in a certain role.”
Previously nominated for an Oscar for the documentary short Stranger At The Gate, Yousafzai is optimistic The Last Of The Sea Women could be part of the next awards conversation too.
“Why not? I think it deserves all the applause and the credit.”
The Last Of The Sea Women is streaming now on Apple TV +
Actor Gina Carano has settled her lawsuit with Disney and Lucasfilm after claiming she was wrongfully dismissed from The Mandalorian for expressing her political opinions.
Carano was fired in February 2021 after starring as Rebel ranger Cara Dune in two series of the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian.
At the time, production company Lucasfilm said in a statement that her “social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable”.
But late on Thursday, she posted on X: “I have come to an agreement with Disney/Lucasfilm which I believe is the best outcome for all parties involved.”
She added that she “hopes this brings some healing to the force”.
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The details of the financial settlement have not been disclosed.
When filing her lawsuit at the Californian District Court last year, she had sought $75,000 (£59,000) in damages.
She also thanked Elon Musk for financing the lawsuit, despite the two having never met.
“I want to extend my deepest most heartfelt gratitude to Elon Musk, a man I’ve never met, who did this Good Samaritan deed for me in funding my lawsuit,” she wrote in her post. “Thank you Mr. Musk and X for backing my case and asking for nothing in return.”
The X owner is an ardent advocate of free speech and has funded similar legal battles previously.
Image: Carano as Cara Dune.’The Mandalorian’. Pic: Lucasfilm/Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock
Carano signed off: “I am excited to flip the page and move onto the next chapter.
“My desires remain in the arts, which is where I hope you will join me. Yes, I’m smiling. From my heart to yours, Gina.”
In response to the settlement, Lucasfilm said in a statement: “Ms Carano was always well respected by her directors, co-stars, and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect.
“With this lawsuit concluded, we look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future.”
In legal documents, Carano’s team claimed both Disney and Lucasfilm had “targeted, harassed, publicly humiliated, defamed, and went to great lengths to destroy Carano’s career”.
She also alleged she was treated differently to her male colleagues. Neither company commented on these claims.
Image: Pic: Lucasfilm/Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock
Lawyer Gene Schaerr, managing partner at Schaerr Jaffe, said at the time: “Disney bullied Ms Carano, trying to force her to conform to their views about cultural and political issues, and when that bullying failed, they fired her.
“Punishing employees for their speech on political or social issues is illegal under California law.”
Carano, who began her career as a mixed martial arts fighter, has starred in other Hollywood franchises, including Fast & Furious 6 as Riley Hicks, and Deadpool, in which she played Angel Dust.
Eddie Murphy has told Sky News he doesn’t ever expect to win awards – but will happily accept an honorary Oscar when he’s 90.
Murphy is one of the biggest stars in comedy after starting out on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in 1980 and starring in a number of big franchises from Beverly Hills Cop to Shrek.
His latest project is heist comedy The Pickup, centred on two security van drivers. Keke Palmer and Pete Davidson star alongside him.
Image: Pete Davidson, Eddie Murphy and Keke Palmer in The Pickup. Pic: Amazon MGM Studios
Murphy says award recognition was never something that shaped the projects he chose.
“The movies are timeless, and they’re special, so for years and years those movies play and the movies have commercial success.
“So you make a lot of money and people love it, so you don’t even think about ‘I didn’t win a trophy!’ The response from the people and that the movie has legs, that’s the trophy.
“You know what I’ve earned over these years? One day, they’ll give me one of those honorary Oscars. When I’m really old. And I’ll say thank you so much for this wonderful honour. I’ll be old like that and I’ll have no teeth. I’m cool with getting my honorary Oscar when I’m 90.”
Murphy, 64, has only been nominated once – for Dreamgirls in 2007, when Alan Arkin won the best supporting actor Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine.
Murphy’s co-star Palmer says she considers Murphy an icon in the industry, and The Nutty Professor was a true display of his artistry.
Image: Eddie Murphy as Sherman Klump in The Nutty Professor. Pic: Reuters
“I feel like recognition and [being] underrated and all this stuff, it annoys me a little bit because I think impact is really the greatest thing, like how people were moved by your work, which can’t really be measured by an award or really anything,” Palmer says.
“It’s very hard to make people laugh, and so when I think about it like The Nutty Professor, Eddie was doing everything, and I swear that the family members were real people.
“He didn’t camp it to the point where they weren’t realistic. His roles had integrity, even when he was in full costume. And I do think that’s something that should change in our industry. Comedy, it should be looked at just as prestigious as when you see somebody cry, because it’s that hard to make somebody laugh.”
Image: Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson in The Pickup. Pic: Amazon MGM Studios
Recalling his time on the 90s comedy, Murphy says he’s still in disbelief of what they achieved in making the film with him playing seven characters – Professor Sherman Klump, Buddy Love, Lance Perkins, Young Papa Klump, Granny Klump, Ernie Klump and Mama Klump.
“You can only shoot one character a day. And the rest of the time you’re shooting, I’m talking to tennis balls where the people were sitting.
“So to this day when I watch it, I’m like, wow, that’s a trip. But we were able to mix all that stuff up and different voices and make it feel so that you don’t even feel like when you’re watching it, someone have to tell you, hey, you know, those are all one person.”
The film won best makeup at the 1997 Academy Awards.
Security guards buddy comedy
Palmer says their new project, The Pickup, is responsible for one of the most memorable moments of her life when she mistook Murphy’s acting for real praise.
“First of all, Eddie gives me this big speech before I do the monologue, where he’s like, ‘this is not playing around. This is a pivotal point in the movie’.
“I’m crying in the scene, and then it comes to the end, and Eddie’s [clapping] like, and I’m literally like, ‘oh my gosh, thank you so much’. And he’s like, ‘I’m acting’. When I tell you, it was so crazy, yeah. That’s like one of my most memorable moments in life.”
Image: Keke Palmer and Pete Davidson star in The Pickup
Davidson is excited to see how the UK puts its own stamp on SNL, the show where both he and Murphy got their start on-screen.
“It’s a smart idea to have SNL over there because it’s not that it’s a different brand of comedy, but it is a little bit. A lot of the biggest stuff that’s in the States is stuff that we stole from you guys, like The Office or literally anything Ricky Gervais does.
“This is the first time I’ve ever heard anything American going to the UK, so I think it’s great. I think it’s great to have two opposite sorts of takes on things, but both be funny. That just shows you how broad comedy can be, you know?
Dean Cain has been branded the “worst superman ever” as he announced he will join the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “ASAP”.
The 59-year-old, who was cast as Superman in the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, announced he had joined the team amid the federal agency’s unprecedented immigration raids.
He told Fox News on Wednesday his recruitment video on Instagram had gone viral and since then, “I have spoken with some of the officials over at ICE and I will be sworn in as an ICE agent ASAP”.
“You can defend your homeland and get great benefits,” he said in the Instagram post where he appealed for his followers to join ICE.
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Speaking with the Superman theme song in the background, he said “hundreds of thousands of criminals” had been arrested since US President Donald Trump took office.
He then told his followers they would get a series of benefits if they joined ICE, including a $50,000 (£37,407) signing bonus and student loan repayment.
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Who is being targeted in Trump’s immigration raids?
“If you want to help save America ICE is arresting the worst of the worst and removing them from America’s streets,” he said, before adding: “I voted for that.”
ICE agents are under pressure from the White House to boost their deportation numbers in line with Mr Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
Cain’s post on Instagram received some backlash, with one user commenting: “Worst superman ever”.
Another said: “Shame on you Dean – that’s the most un-Superman thing you could possibly advocate.”
One fan turned against him and said: “Until I saw this I was such a fan. What a sad human being you must be.”