Backstage With… The stars and director of new live-action The Little Mermaid

Published

12 months ago

May 27, 2023

admin

The Little Mermaid – the cartoon feature-film based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story about a mermaid desperate for life on land – was credited with kicking off Disney’s renaissance in 1989, a period when the company returned to making successful animated movies following something of a slump.

Half set underwater, with big musical numbers and aquatic creatures mixed in with mythical ones as well as those on land, making a live-action version was no mean feat.

The casting of the lead character Ariel had to be right – not only did the actress have to convincingly act as a mermaid, but they would also need to perform beloved songs and spend much of the movie without a voice at all.

Enter popstar Halle Bailey – who with her sister Chloe is one of half of the pop duo Chloe x Halle – was the first person to audition for the role and ultimately the only one to win it.

But her casting led to a racist backlash, with those behind it seemingly ready to believe in mermaids, but only if they are white.

Javier Bardem, who plays Ariel’s father King Triton, is dismissive of anyone who disagrees with Bailey’s casting.

“I don’t think we need to give any voice to that,” he told Sky News’s Backstage podcast.

“Seeing it, she’s so technically superior, she’s such an amazing actress, her voice is just ridiculous, but I think what makes her so incredibly watchable and you feel like you’re always with her is her kindness as a human,” agreed Melissa McCarthy, who plays the sea witch Ursula.

“There’s just a little bit of magic in her and I think you feel that, you can’t deny it and I can’t imagine any other human or fish playing Ariel.”

Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts

For director Rob Marshall it was frustrating to see Bailey being judged before anyone had seen her in the role.

“When we cast her there was no agenda, we weren’t looking for a woman of colour, we saw every ethnicity for the role – we just wanted to find the best Ariel,” he told Backstage.

“That was all we cared about and she was the one, it was just so clear, and so I thought these people are so small-minded, to me it feels archaic we’re even discussing skin colour in this era – it’s like from another century.”

“I thought, you know what, just come see the film, in my head I was like, you will see that she’s Ariel, there’s no question about that, and I’m excited for people to see her.”

For the other actors playing roles that loom large in many people’s childhoods was a balance between paying tribute to what came before and refreshing and modernising for the new movie.

The original Ursula was said to be inspired by the US drag queen Divine and McCarthy says she was definitely inspired by drag for her own performance.

“I’ve always been a big fan of drag since high school – it’s such an incredible art form and it’s been around forever and there’s something to that kind of unapologetic, bigger than life, I’m right in your face, I shall not apologise,” she said.

“But also it’s a front for things, so yes, it’s a homage to a certain type of woman, but you’re also kind of poking fun at that type of woman.

“It’s a balancing act and there’s always a drag queen in my heart for all my parts.”

For Hamilton star Daveed Diggs who plays King Triton’s advisor – a crab called Sebastian, he was aware that he didn’t want to simply do an impression of the character’s original voice actor Samuel E Wright.

“I was super worried about it until the day we started,” he admitted.

“And then it was very clear that Rob [Marshall] was creating an atmosphere where he really wanted us to bring new things to it and the whole team like Alan [Menken – who did the film’s music] too, every time we were doing anything, it was like, really find what works for you.”

He added: “Everybody attached to this thing is such a fan of the original, so all of that was coming into it, we were getting all that for free, all of the like reverence for this film that we all love, and then they really pushed us to also figure out what our version is.”

Making The Little Mermaid was a huge undertaking with the actors put on specially devised rigs in order to make them look as though they were moving underwater.

And rather than the voice cast of characters such as Sebastian or the fish Flounder being locked away in a booth far from set, they were also present during filming.

For Bardem having Diggs in the room as well as models of the character made a big difference in his performance.

He said: “There were puppeteers and also there were toys. Toys! I was playing with toys!

“But Daveed was there too, to say the lines, so you will play the scene with the actor who’s playing Sebastian, which is amazing.

“The scene will evolve and we’ll go to different places because you have two actors playing it rather than following just one voice.”

The Little Mermaid is out in cinemas in the UK.

Entertainment

Chris Pratt pays tribute after ‘friend and former stunt double’ Tony McFarr dies unexpectedly

Published

10 hours ago

May 17, 2024

admin

Chris Pratt pays tribute after 'friend and former stunt double' Tony McFarr dies unexpectedly

Hollywood star Chris Pratt has paid tribute to his friend and former stunt double Tony McFarr – who has died unexpectedly aged 47.

McFarr was Pratt‘s stunt double on some of his biggest films – including Guardians Of The Galaxy and Jurassic World.

The stuntman’s mother Donna said he died at his home near Orlando, Florida, on 13 May.

A cause of death has not been reported.

However, his mother told the celebrity news website TMZ that he was healthy and his death was “unexpected and shocking”.

Pratt shared a heartfelt tribute to McFarr in an Instagram story, writing: “Devastated to hear about the loss of my friend and former stunt double Tony McFarr.

“We did several movies together. We golfed, drank whiskey, smoked cigars, and spent endless hours on set. I’ll never forget his toughness.

“I remember he took a nasty shot to the head (in the title sequence of ‘Guardians 2’) and got several staples in his head came right back to work ready to go again. He was an absolute stud.

“He was always a gentleman and professional.

“He’ll be missed. My prayers go out to his friends and family, especially his daughter.”

McFarr first doubled for Pratt on the 2015 film Jurassic World and followed that up with 2017’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 and 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

He also performed Pratt’s stunts in the 2016 drama Passengers, which co-starred Jennifer Lawrence.

Entertainment

Kings Of Leon’s Caleb Followill on ‘scary’ AI, sponsoring a darts player, and taking on Taylor Swift

Published

20 hours ago

May 17, 2024

admin

Kings Of Leon's Caleb Followill on 'scary' AI, sponsoring a darts player, and taking on Taylor Swift

“When you first start out, it’s you versus the world,” says Kings Of Leon’s frontman, Caleb Followill, speaking from his home in Nashville, Tennessee.

He remembers the comparisons – “the Southern Strokes, I think someone called us Y’all 2, like U2, which was funny” – and how each one added to the fire in their bellies to make their own name.

Now, with the release of their ninth album, Can We Please Have Fun (not a question), 25 years after the band was formed by Caleb and his brothers, Nathan and Jared, and cousin Matthew, Kings Of Leon have definitely done that.

“I feel like at this point, the thing we’re trying to do is something that inspires the next generation,” says Followill. “It’s kind of hard because people don’t really look to the grown-ups for answers. So we listen to the kids, we get inspired by what they’re doing.”

Earlier this week, according to the Official Charts, things were looking good for Can We Please Have Fun to become the band’s seventh UK number one album, with only one teeny thing standing in their way – Taylor Swift, another artist who cut her teeth in Nashville. After topping the charts, The Tortured Poets Society is currently sitting at number two; but this is Taylor Swift, and she’s been known to climb back before.

Followill laughs. “At this point, I think everyone’s just trying to go for number two. Which, you know, that’s great too. But I love Taylor. I’m so happy for her and her success.”

Topping the charts once again would be a “kind of validation”, he says. “That’s also kind of a notch on the belt that you can show your family one day – hey, we had a number one.” Or several number ones, even. “But we don’t make records so they’ll be number one. We’ve been beat out by a lot of music that didn’t necessarily last as long as our music has.”

‘It hasn’t been the most fun the last handful of years’

It’s been 21 years since their debut, Youth And Young Manhood, and hits including Molly’s Chambers and California Waiting, which saw them embraced by the UK way before their homeland took notice.

The band have previously talked about the tolls and pressures of fame, of sibling fights, and going through the motions. Now, Followill says there is “renewed passion and this kind of fire in us that we haven’t had necessarily, in the last handful of years”.

Can We Please Have Fun, both in title and content, definitely feels like a Kings Of Leon with a new lease of life. There were other options for its name – Actual Daydream, Moving Spectacle, Suicide Machine among them, says Followill, flicking through a notebook to remind himself – but they would all have painted a different picture.

“It hasn’t been the most fun the last handful of years”, he says. “Not being in this band necessarily, just life has been kind of heavy. There’s been a lot of seriousness. I feel like maybe it’s always been that way. It just feels much more nowadays because it’s in our face with our phones and our computers.”

Their last album, 2021’s When You See Yourself, saw the band moving into the world of NFTs, a form of cryptocurrency used to hold assets such as art and music, which exploded that year. They were billed as the first music artists ever to release an album in this way; for a band rooted in good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll, it seemed a surprise move.

‘It doesn’t take AI to sound like us’

Followill admits they “never truly” understood it. “Apparently it was something that was happening and maybe is still happening, I don’t know. I know it got us into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was cool. We were the first band to ever sell our music as an NFT, might be the only one, I don’t know.

“But we weren’t trying to push some new type of technology on people… it was just something that looked like that was kind of where things were headed. So, you know, why not be on the forefront of it?”

Since then, AI has become a huge issue affecting the music industry, with stars including Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj recently calling for more protection. Followill describes himself as “kind of an old man” when it comes to his knowledge. “I am scared of it though, I think, maybe, a little bit,” he says. “I’ve seen some stuff that makes makes me a little nervous.”

He grins. “As far as music, it doesn’t take AI to sound like us, my god. We’re still learning how to play, so our skill level is still very much achievable by just human beings. It’s not going to take aliens or artificial intelligence.”

After When You See Yourself, they parted ways with their long-term record label. Rather than being a negative experience, “we felt like we were free for the first time since the very beginning”, says Followill.

On Can We Please Have Fun, they worked with producer mastermind Kid Harpoon, renowned for his collaborations with artists including Miley Cyrus, Harry Styles, Calvin Harris and Florence + The Machine. Despite being industry veterans, Kings Of Leon were keen to impress.

“We had to record a little bit and then he would duck away for a couple of weeks to do some stuff he already had scheduled. But that was a pretty eye-opening experience because he would go away and then it was like, all right, let’s get a bunch of stuff that’s going to make him impressed when he gets back.”

Strip clubs to stadiums

Last week, they performed at a ranch in Nashville to mark the album’s release – “a real barn, no air conditioning, there was a peacock in the rafters screaming the whole time, a dog in the room”, is how Followill describes it.

It’s not the strangest setting they’ve ever found themselves in. That title would probably go to their first ever UK gig, in High Wycombe, at a pub that also doubled up as a lap-dancing venue.

“I remember we were backstage for soundcheck and we kept commenting on the potent smell of lotion,” Followill recalls. “It smelled like floral lotion everywhere.” After drawing small crowds in the US, that first UK show “was insanity, with probably only 100 people, but we had been playing in America to five people. So it was this crazy thing”.

The band went on to fill arenas and stadiums, headlining Glastonbury in 2008. They play London’s Hyde Park – “which always feels like a homecoming” – once again this summer. Last year, they played at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground; a stage that at one time might also have been added to their unlikely venues list, but following its Hollywood takeover is now a huge celebrity draw.

It felt like the whole town was there to see them, Followill says. “We were playing the show… but I feel like it was almost they were supporting just whatever was going to be happening at the club that night.

“The kind of fairytale story of Wrexham and what’s happened, it’s worldwide. Americans don’t necessarily know what it means with the different leagues and how you can get relegated and all that stuff. But we do know what an underdog story is and how special it is when you see someone work their way up.”

With celebrity football buy-outs becoming all the rage – Will Ferrell being among the latest, investing in Leeds – would Kings Of Leon ever consider it?

“We don’t have that kind of money,” says Followill. “Maybe darts. Can you sponsor a darts player?”

They can add darts to the list of ambitions Kings Of Leon still have to tick off. Followill says there are “a lot of big lofty things I probably won’t say” because at one point they felt “ridiculous”; now, so many years in and still going, maybe less so.

The singer says he doesn’t look back on what the band has achieved “as much as I could or should, at times”. He sees reflection as something that comes when there is no longer “a lot left in the tank… and I feel like I still have a lot”.

But the reminders are all around. “My daughter came downstairs in a Kings Of Leon T-shirt… and it’s an old T-shirt too. It’s like, wow.” These moments, he says, are “like a splash of water in the face… it definitely has surpassed anything we ever dreamed of”.

And seeing crowds singing his songs back at him never gets old.

“It’s more than just singing. Sometimes you look at people and they’re not just singing the song… it means so much to them, it’s like they are screaming it back at you. Whenever that happens, that is always just confirmation that you’re doing what you’re meant to be doing.”

Kings Of Leon’s Can We Please Have Fun is out now. The band play BST Hyde Park on 30 June

Entertainment

Reality TV stars charged over promoting unauthorised investment scheme on Instagram

Published

20 hours ago

May 17, 2024

admin

Reality TV stars charged over promoting unauthorised investment scheme on Instagram

A group of social media influencers have been charged in relation to promoting an unauthorised investment scheme.

The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) original cast member Lauren Goodger, 37, former Love Island star Biggs Chris, 32, and Celebrity Big Brother winner Scott Timlin, 36, also known as Scotty T, are among seven TV personalities alleged to have been paid to promote the scheme to their combined 4.5 million Instagram followers.

The others charged by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) include former Love Islanders Rebecca Gormley, 26, Jamie Clayton, 32, and Eva Zapico, 25 and TOWIE member Yazmin Oukhellou, 30.

The UK’s financial watchdog brought the charges in a crackdown on “finfluencers” who use their online platforms to offer advice and information on various financial topics.

It alleges that between 19 May 2018 and 13 April 2021 Emmanuel Nwanze, 30, and Holly Thompson, 33, used an Instagram account to provide advice on buying and selling investments known as contracts for difference (CFDs) when they were not authorised to do so.

The watchdog said CFDs are high-risk investments used to bet on the price of an asset, in this case the price of foreign currencies.

It previously warned that 80% of customers lose money when investing in CDFs.

Mr Nwanze has been charged with running the scheme. He faces one count of breaching the general prohibition of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and one count of unauthorised communications of financial promotions.

Ms Thompson, Mr Chris, Mr Clayton, Ms Goodger, Ms Gormley, Ms Oukhellou, Mr Timlin and Ms Zapico each face one count of unauthorised communications of financial promotions.