Unveiling the Future of Medicine: From Xenon’s Potential in Alzheimer’s to New Hope for Crohn’s Disease

The relentless quest for breakthroughs in the realms of medicine and public health never ceases to amaze—much like the recent developments we are on the cusp of witnessing. This month, promising strides have been reported from multiple fronts in the battle against some of the most demanding health challenges. From neuroprotection against Alzheimer’s to revolutionary treatments for Crohn’s disease, the landscape of medical innovation is shifting in ways that could redefine patient care.

Let us pause at the intriguing intersection of monoatomic elements and neurodegenerative disorders. It appears that Xenon gas—an inert noble gas with a history of anesthetic use—has now caught the scientific community’s attention for its potential neuroprotective effects. Research from Mass General Brigham, in collaboration with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, suggests that inhaling this gas could play a significant role in suppressing neuroinflammation, reducing brain atrophy, and fostering protective neuronal states. Phase 1 trials are imminent, with healthy volunteers prepared to breathe in the future of Alzheimer’s treatment.

Doctor Oleg Butovsky, a senior researcher involved in the study, highlights the significance of this development by stating, “It is very novel discovery showing that simply inhaling an inert gas can have such a profound neuroprotective effect.” The implications of such a method—avoiding the complexities of traversing the blood-brain barrier—could herald a new era in treatment strategies.

Meanwhile, the world of royalty also saw recent stirrings—though not of the medical kind. The Prince of Wales, Prince William, found himself grounded due to poor weather conditions, forcing a postponement of a planned visit to regiments in Wattisham, Suffolk. A statement from Kensington Palace expressed his regret and intention to reschedule, reminding us how even the most carefully laid plans are at the mercy of the elements. As it stands, the royal itinerary remains as variable as the British weather. On a brighter note, his wife Catherine’s announcement of her cancer remission injected an optimistic hue into the royal picture. Her words of gratitude and reflections on her journey through treatment were heartfelt, offering a personal glimpse into their private struggles and triumphs.

Shifting gears to pharmaceutical advancements, Eli Lilly and Company has attained another milestone—a green light from the U.S. FDA for Omvoh (mirikizumab-mrkz), a novel therapy for Crohn’s disease. This approval illuminates the path for patients grappling with this inflammatory bowel disease, promising better management of symptoms and potentially long-term disease control. The therapy, targeting the IL-23p19 protein, has showcased positive results in clinical trials, with a substantial portion of patients attaining clinical remission and significant intestinal healing. As Daniel Skovronsky, Lilly’s chief scientific officer, remarked, “More patients now have a treatment option that may provide long-term disease control… reflecting Lilly’s ongoing commitment to elevate care and improve outcomes for patients.” As the company seeks global regulatory approval, the hope is for this therapy to become a cornerstone of treatment worldwide.

These stories, each significant in their right, speak to a world in motion—a tapestry of progress and persistence that underscores human resilience and ingenuity. From noble gases to noble intentions, it’s a testament to the unwavering human spirit venturing into the unknown, exploring the possibilities of what might be, and forever pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

Beloved Sitcom Star Betty White May Not Have Been as Sweet as She Seemed

All in the Family’s Sally Struthers is recalling a not-so-fond memory of beloved Golden Girl Betty White. During the January 13 episode of the Let’s Talk About That! With Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti podcast, Struthers recalled an incident where White “fat-shamed her.” Noting that she knows precisely how beloved White was (as is), she shared what happened when the two were collaborating on the pilot for a game show.

“I have to say, now that she’s gone, I wanna talk about Betty White for just a moment. And I know everybody loves her. They loved her so much. They signed petitions to get her to guest host ‘Saturday Night Live.’ I know all that. I didn’t have such a great experience with her — very passive-aggressive woman.

She asked her housekeeper to bring in a plate of whatever to us while we were all sitting and talking about what was working about the game show and what wasn’t. Then the plate was set in the middle and it was cookies, I think.”

That’s when Struthers reached for a cookie, and White spoke up…

“She said in front of everyone, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you dear, you don’t need a cookie.’ Totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the people in the room. And I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s not nice.’”

Sally Struthers’ Bad Experiences on ‘All in the Family’ Close

White, best known for her work on shows like The Golden Girls, Hot in Cleveland, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and movies like The Proposal, died on December 31, 2021, just weeks shy of celebrating her 100th birthday. Upon her passing, fans and celebrities mourned, recounting their favorite White experiences and her funniest moments. Among the most highlighted were memorable quips made by White’s sweet, naive, and sometimes bizarre Golden Girl Rose Nylund.

Struthers, who lived close to The Golden Girls house in Brentwood, CA., shared her experience with another legendary series star: Bea Arthur. Arthur and Struthers had previously collaborated on All in the Family, where Arthur guest starred as Maude, before starring in her spin-off, Maude. Remembering Arthur, Struthers recalled how Arthur would “put all sorts of expletives in her lines to shock” the stone-faced producers and network execs. She fondly remembered Arthur as “filthier than a drunken sailor.”

Related Betty White Fans Outraged as Her Home Is Demolished Barely One Year After Her Death

A shared Instagram photograph of Betty White’s demolished Los Angeles home triggered a reaction amongst her fans.

Posts

For her role as Gloria in the acclaimed classic sitcom All in the Family, Struthers earned two Emmy Awards. While speaking with Saperstein and Belloti, she discussed her weight being brought up by All in the Family creator Norman Lear when he explained why he cast her. Lear felt that “Archie was a lot to swallow for the American audiences with his bigotry and his social slurs,” so they thought that they could “soften him up if he had a soft spot in his heart for his daughter.” She recalled Lear telling her:

“So, we hired you because, just like Carroll O’Connor, you have blue eyes and a fat face.”

Arthur, White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty led the enduring The Golden Girls for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992. White, Getty, and McClanahan reprised their roles for the short-lived spin-off The Golden Palace. Struthers went on to join a different beloved group of girls, the Gilmore Girls, where she portrayed Lorelai’s quirky neighbor Babette during the show’s seven-season run, later returning for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Struthers most recently appeared in the Ted Danson-led A Man on the Inside. White’s legacy, meanwhile, will live on when the US Postal Service releases her postage stamp this March.

The Golden Girls Sitcom Where to Watch stream rent buy

Not available

Not available

Not available

*Availability in US Release Date September 14, 1985 Network NBC

Conan O’Brien Will Receive the Mark Twain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Comedy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Comedian and host Conan O’Brien was named the newest recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for lifetime achievement in comedy on Thursday.

O’Brien, 61, has carved out an improbable decadeslong career arc, moving from goofy television interloper to comedic elder statesman. Along the way, he survived one of the most public failures in the history of television on “The Tonight Show” — only to launch a successful, and sustained, next act.

His travel series “Conan O’Brien Must Go” sparked popular and critical acclaim, with a second season coming. In March, O’Brien will host the Academy Awards three weeks before his own Mark Twain ceremony in Washington.

Deborah Rutter, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in a statement called O’Brien “a master of invention and reinvention, consistently pushing the envelope in search of new comedic heights.”

O’Brien offered his own tongue-in-cheek assessment, saying in the Kennedy Center statement that he would be “the first winner of the Mark Twain Prize recognized not for humor, but for my work as a riverboat pilot.” He will be honored on March 23 in a special ceremony in which he will receive a bronze bust of Twain, the iconic American writer and satirist whose real name was Samuel Clemens.

Mark Twain recipients are honored with a night of testimonials and video tributes, often featuring previous award winners. The ceremony will stream on Netflix at a later date yet to be announced.

O’Brien leaped into the spotlight from near-total obscurity in 1993, when he was chosen to replace the legendary David Letterman as host of “Late Night” despite no significant on-camera experience. The former Harvard Lampoon editor had spent the previous years as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” and “The Simpsons,” appearing on camera only as an occasional background extra in “SNL” skits.

Bringing a skittish, awkward energy that contrasted with Letterman’s deadpan persona, O’Brien constantly made fun of his own gangly appearance and inappropriateness for the job. He went on to host “Late Night” for 16 years, longer than any other host.

In 2009, O’Brien’s career and persona took a turn. He became the man who publicly gained and lost his dream job while America watched.

O’Brien was tapped to replace Jay Leno as host of “The Tonight Show” despite public warnings from his own guests that Leno wasn’t ready to cede the throne. After seven months of declining ratings, NBC executives brought Leno back for a new show that would bump “The Tonight Show” back. O’Brien refused to accept the move, leading to a public spat that ended with a multimillion-dollar payout for O’Brien and his staff to exit the network in early 2010.

The aftermath split the comedy world, with Leno cast as the villain and O’Brien as the victim who was set up to fail.

In an emotional goodbye on his final “Tonight Show,” O’Brien described himself as lucky and refused to sound bitter.

“Every comedian dreams of hosting ‘The Tonight Show,’ and for seven months I got to do it,” he said. “I did it my way with people I love, and I don’t regret one second.”

He ended with a sort of generational rallying cry.

“All I ask is this one thing, particularly of young people that watch: Please do not be cynical,” O’Brien said, his voice cracking. “Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get, but if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

O’Brien reemerged later in 2010 with a new talk show on the cable station TBS. Despite the channel’s lower profile, the show ran for 11 years while he launched parallel ventures like the podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” and the travel show “Conan Without Borders,” a precursor to his current show.

Other comedians receiving the lifetime achievement award include both Letterman and Leno, along with George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett and Dave Chappelle. Bill Cosby, the 2009 recipient, had his Mark Twain Prize rescinded in 2019 amid multiple allegations of sexual assault.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

‘Conclave’ leads race for British BAFTA awards, one more than ‘Emilia Perez’

LONDON (AP) — Papal thriller ” Conclave,” which stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal overseeing the election of a new pope, leads the race — just — for the British Academy Film Awards, with nominations in 12 categories, one more than the genre-busting trans musical ” Emilia Perez.”

But with the wildfires in Los Angeles over the past week fresh in the minds of everyone in the movie industry, Wednesday’s announcement of the latest BAFTA nominations was understandably subdued.

“We are very much thinking of our colleagues, friends, community over there,” BAFTA chair Sara Putt told The Associated Press. “It’s devastating what’s going on.”

She wouldn’t be drawn on whether the fires may impact the BAFTA ceremony, which is due to take place on Feb. 16.

“The ceremony is a month away, it would be inappropriate and far too early to say anything about that,” Putt said.

The five films nominated for the prestigious best film award were “Conclave,” “Emilia Perez,” the 215-minute postwar epic ” The Brutalist,” the Palme d’Or-winning comedy/drama ” Anora ” and the Bob Dylan biopic ” A Complete Unknown.”

“The Brutalist” ended up with nine nominations, including leading actor for Adrien Brody, who faces stiff competition from Fiennes and Timothee Chalamet, who plays the young Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.”

The other actors nominated are Hugh Grant for his creepy role in the horror film ” Heretic,” Colman Domingo in real-life prison drama ” Sing Sing ” and Sebastian Stan for his portrayal of a real estate mogul — a certain Donald Trump — in ” The Apprentice.”

“Anora,” the sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two” and “Wicked” each received seven nominations. “A Complete Unknown” received six nominations, as did “Kneecap,” the Irish-language hip-hop drama.

The prizes — officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards — are Britain’s equivalent of Hollywood’s Academy Awards and will be watched closely for hints of who may win at the Oscars on March 3.

Putt lauded the variety in the list of nominations, noting that six different genres were represented on the best film list.

“There’s some really exciting stories in there and just a real glorious range of film-making this year,” she said.

She also highlighted that 14 of the 24 nominations in the acting categories were first-timers, and that whoever wins the best actress award will be a first-time BAFTA winner.

Demi Moore is in with a chance for that, having been nominated for lead actress for her role in the body horror film ” The Substance.”

Other notable female nominations for best supporting actress were Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande for their roles in “Emilia Perez” and the musical “Wicked.”

Like other major movie awards, Britain’s film academy has introduced changes in recent years to increase diversity. In 2020, no women were nominated as best director for the seventh year running and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting performer categories were white.

The voting process was rejigged to add a longlist round in the selection before the final nominees are voted on by the academy’s 8,000-strong membership of industry professionals.

‘All in the Family’ star Sally Struthers says Betty White once ‘fat-shamed’ her

‘Golden Girls’ writer Stan Zimmerman told Fox News Digital about the dynamics on set when the cameras stopped rolling and why he thinks Betty White would make jokes about Estelle Getty.

“All in the Family” star Sally Struthers is opening up about an experience with the late Betty White that was “not nice.”

During a recent appearance on the “Let’s Talk About That! With Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti” podcast, the 77-year-old actress recalled her time working on the popular American sitcom, before the topic changed to Bea Arthur and then White.

The actress shared that “now that (White is) gone,” she’s going to speak up about her negative experience with the TV legend. White died in December 2021 at the age of 99, just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday.

“I know everybody loves her. They loved her so much,” Struthers said on the podcast. “They signed petitions to get her to guest host ‘Saturday Night Live.’ I know all that. I didn’t have such a great experience with her.”

‘ALL IN THE FAMLIY’ STAR SALLY STRUTHERS RECALLS CLOSE BOND WITH CARROLL O’CONNOR: ‘I GAINED A FATHER AGAIN’

She explained that she found White to be a “very passive-aggressive woman,” recalling the time she met with White at her home to discuss the pilot of a new game show they were working on.

While they were working, Struthers recalled White asking “her housekeeper to bring in a plate” of snacks for everyone to enjoy while determining “what was working about the game show and what wasn’t.”

“Then the plate was set in the middle, and it was cookies, I think,” Struthers said. “So, I reached for a cookie, and she said in front of everyone, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, dear. You don’t need a cookie.’ Totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the people in the room. And I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s not nice.’”

This wasn’t the first time someone commented on Struthers’ weight. Earlier in the podcast, she recalled a moment she shared with “All in the Family” creator Norman Lear after he told her she wasn’t the funniest person who auditioned to play Gloria Stivic on the sitcom.

When she asked Lear why she was cast if he didn’t think she was the best person for the role, he told her that when deciding on who would play Gloria, he and the producers thought it would be better for the longevity of the show if the character was “more like a mama’s girl or a daddy’s little girl” type.

“We thought Archie was a lot to swallow for the American audiences with his bigotry and his social slurs,” she recalled Lear telling her. “So, we thought we could soften him up if he had a soft spot in his heart for his daughter, and she could be daddy’s little girl. So, we hired you because, just like Carroll O’Connor, you have blue eyes and a fat face.”

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

“So I reached for a cookie, and she said in front of everyone, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you dear. You don’t need a cookie.’ Totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the people in the room. And I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s not nice.’”

— Sally Struthers

Struthers won two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Gloria and played the character for nine seasons on CBS, from 1971 to 1979.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

While the “Gilmore Girls” actress found it difficult to get along with White, she was good friends with another “Golden Girls” star, Bea Arthur, sharing that the two of them would often run into each other while shopping in Brentwood, and Arthur would “would trash everyone we ever knew.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

The two first met when Arthur guest starred on “All in the Family” as Maude, the cousin of Jean Stapleton’s Edith Bunker. Struthers laughed as she recalled Arthur being “filthier than a drunken sailor” and making everyone crack up during rehearsal, saying she “put all sorts of expletives in her lines to shock these men.”

“Bea Arthur comes in, and she’s a force of nature,” Struthers shared. Arthur’s performance as Maude impressed Lear and other network executives so much, it led them to think, “We should give her her own show.”

“And then we get ‘Maude,” Struthers said, referencing Arthur’s hit show that ran on CBS for six seasons. “So, that’s how ‘Maude’ happened, and because of ‘Maude,’ that’s how she got ‘Golden Girls.’”

‘Severance’ Season 2 Is the Best Show on TV

Expectations can destroy a good TV show. For most new series, the first season is all about grabbing attention, introducing a group of characters people actually want to spend time with, and telling a good story. If that debut season succeeds? Well, the weight of success settles in. Things slow down. The temptation to run it all back and simply repeat what worked before. True Detective, anyone?

That said, you can understand why Severance fans worried that season 2 would return after a three-year break, only to just to serve audiences more in-office shenanigans and lob mystery after mystery with few answers. If this is the first review of Severance season 2 you’ve read, let me be the first to tell you: Not only is that not the case, but the Apple TV+ series makes a strong case for itself as the best show on TV. Hell, I would’ve waited another three years if I knew that season 2 was this damn good.

Before we discuss the new episodes, let’s rewind. After a successful first season, it was clear that Severance’s work-life balance separation technology was as thematically rich as George Orwell’s thoughtcrimes, Isaac Asimov’s rules of robotics, Philip K. Dick’s A.I. replicants, and the Wachowskis’s simulated realities. After all, Not to mention, the season 1 finale saw the best TV twist since The Good Place cast found out they were living in the Bad Place. Judging by the few episodes released to the press ahead of Severance’s return on January 17, it makes sense why the Apple TV+ workplace drama took so long to make it back onto our screens. Quality! At this point in the streaming wars, it’s a lost art. Severance understands that.

When season 2 opens, we’re told that it’s only been five months since the incident in the season 1 finale. Mark S. (Scott) chooses to believe this — although you can’t exactly trust Lumon — and he finds himself situated with an all-new team. Bob Balaban heads, this is your moment. The newcomers are short-lived, however, as Mark quickly works to uncover what happened to his original team and how to get them back in the office. If you recall from the finale, Helly R. (Britt Lower) found out that she is the daughter of Lumon CEO Jame Eagan. Irving (John Turturro) lost his Innie’s romance with Burt (Christopher Walken), and Dylan (Zach Cherry) learned that his Outie has a wife waiting for him at home. It’s not exactly easy coming back to work once you’re hit with news like this. But for the Outies, it’s as if nothing happened at all.

Though I will tell you that — much like many employers in the post-pandemic workplace — season 2 whips out new corporate-speak and unsettling offerings to foster better mental health at the office. It’s painfully poignant — more so than season 1, even. Season 2, in a way that I will also not reveal, also has very Severance-y thoughts about what it means to mourn the loss of a coworker after layoffs. And Lumon grinds further and further upon the will of its workforce, the series finds more opportunity to build upon its characters and not just out. Meaning: as life experience stacks on top of Innies who are technically only weeks old, season 2 sees the likes of Mark, Dylan, and Helly actually start to build an inner life.

Before I tell you exactly how Adam Scott elevates Mark into an all-time TV character in season 2, I much touch on how cool it is that Ben Stiller is a director and executive producer on Severance, working alongside creator Dan Erickson. We really don’t appreciate this as much as we should. Commend a comedian for being funny all day — Stiller’s contemporaries, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, and Adam Sandler are all hilarious actors — but directors? At this level of ingenuity? I’m looking at Meet the Fockers’ Gaylord Focker as if he’s Terry Gilliam directing Brazil.

As for Adam Scott? Mark S. will go down as the former Parks & Recreation actor’s defining role. Even in a show as packed with amazing performances as Severance, Scott’s sense of dread and confusion captures the anxiety — and more often than not, fear — of the modern-day corporate drone. He’s also granted an amazing foil in deputy manager Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman), who deftly plays with and subverts the character’s season 1 persona over the course of the new episodes.

Meanwhile, Helly R. (Britt Lower) is forced to reckon with the fact that her Outie is one of the Egans perpetrating her Innie’s hellish existence. Not many actors other than Scott are given the opportunity to showcase both sides of the coin, but season 2 offers a lot for Lower to chew on inside and outside of the office. Irving (John Turturro) and Burt’s (Christopher Walken) fleeting romance is given one of the most deliciously uncomfortable scenes in the series yet. Plus, Dylan’s (Zach Cherry) season 2 arc — he seeks to learn more about his Outie — is especially strong.

For those who are still wondering about the big reveals, some questions are answered — and some are some are not. The delightfully scary new employee Miss Huang (Sarah Block) and a manic Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) will likely open even more mysteries. But I can promise that season 2 is so entertaining and forthcoming about its intent to one day deliver answers that whatever theory you’ve conjured up is likely true. (Or just as good.)

Severance isn’t True Detective or Yellowjackets. Erickson and Stiller aren’t obsessed with slowly unraveling the mystery while patting themselves on the back for making it nearly impossible to figure out. Even with all of its similarly twisting hallways and occasionally frustrating ambiguity, Severance holds on to the core idea of any good sci-fi story: any attempt to remove our humanity only strengthens our desire to preserve it.

Country Star Orville Peck Sets Broadway Debut in “Cabaret. “Will He Unmask?

The famously masked singer will star as the Emcee in the revival, alongside Grammy winner Eva Noblezada

Broadway’s Tony Award-winning revival of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club has a new Emcee, and it looks to be a role that’ll be very revealing for the star playing him.

On Wednesday, Jan. 15, producers announced that queer country star Orville Peck will step into the shoes of the leading character in director Rebecca Frecknall’s production of the landmark 1966 musical, currently running at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City.

It’s a milestone moment for the South African-born, Canadian-raised singer, who makes his Broadway debut in the production. And it just might be a milestone moment for fans of Peck’s, too.

In his professional performance career, the deep-voiced crooner has famously concealed his face a different mask each time he performed, a move he said he started as a nod to the troupe of the country outlaw. And though the Emcee wears many masks himself in Cabaret, they’re more metaphorical, begging many to wonder whether Peck will ditch his trademark anonymity when he takes the stage by showing his face.

Related: Orville Peck ‘Refused’ to Give Up Despite People ‘Laughing in My Face’ for Being Openly Gay Artist (Exclusive)

Fans will have to wait until this Spring to see it for sure. The 37-year-old begins performances on Monday, March 21. His limited 16-week engagement wraps on Sunday, July 20.

Joining him in the production will be Grammy winning theater star Eva Noblezada, currently treading the boards in The Great Gatsby. She’ll play Sally Bowles, the fictional English singer who performs at the Emcee’s Kit Kat Club.

Adam Lambert and Auli’i Cravalho, who are currently in the roles, will play their final performances in the production on Saturday, March 29.

Related: Adam Lambert Covers Cabaret’s ‘I Don’t Care Much’ in New Music Video: ‘There’s a Timelessness to This Song’ (Exclusive)

Prior to launching his wildly successful musical career, Peck studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and worked in classical theater on London’s West End.

“The Emcee has been my dream role since I was a teenager,” said Peck, in a statement released Wednesday. “The nature of the character allows for complete freedom of individual expression. It can be portrayed through such a vast range of emotions, perspectives, and performance styles. That kind of freedom is every actor’s dream.”

“I truly cannot believe I’m getting to make my Broadway debut in one of my favorite shows and in probably my favorite role in all of musical theater,” he added. “I grew up in the theater. I was a working actor and a dancer for many years before I started making music. I did the hustle, and the struggle, for a long time, trying to make things happen for myself. But it taught me so much of who I am as a performer and a person, so it feels very full circle to be making a return to it at this point in my career.”

Related: See Adam Lambert and Auli’i Cravalho Prepare for Broadway’s Cabaret in First-Look Rehearsal Photos (Exclusive)

Noblezada, who wraps her run as ‘Daisy Buchanan’ in The Great Gatsby on Jan. 30., also expressed her excitement about the role.

“While studying musical theater in school, Cabaret always stood out,” the 28-year-old, two-time Tony nominee said. “I was, and am, amazed by the lineage of theater royalty who have been in the show. And Sally Bowles to me is simply… fascinating. She is like a totally conscious child who is also completely unhinged. Almost clownish. But real and raw and in your face. And that character amidst and against that backdrop of such an evil reality is painfully surreal.”

“I am totally psyched to start learning more,” she said. “And I am ready to be as submissive as possible to the iconic world that is Cabaret.”

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club originally opened on April 2024, with Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin.

Based on John Van Druten’s 1951 play I Am a Camera, which in turn was adapted from the 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood, the musical follows fictional American writer Clifford Bradshaw as he moves to Berlin amid the rise of the Nazi party. His observations about the eccentric characters that populate the Kit Kat Club provide the groundwork for both the musical and his future novel.

The musical has long been a success both on the stage and screen, first hitting Broadway in 1966. before being turned into the 1972 film of the same name starring Oscar-winner Liza Minnelli as Sally. It was revived on Broadway in 1998 and in 2014, both with Alan Cumming as the Emcee.

A score, by Kander & Ebb, is made up of a string of songs that have become musical theater mainstays, like “Willkommen,” “Don’t Tell Mamma,” “Mein Herr,” “Two Ladies,” “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” “Money,” “Maybe This Time” and, of course, “Cabaret.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The production also stars two-time Tony Award winner and 2024 Tony Award nominee Bebe Neuwirth, Calvin Leon Smith as ‘Clifford Bradshaw,’ 2024 Tony Award nominee Steven Skybell as ‘Herr Schultz;’ Henry Gottfried as ‘Ernst Ludwig,’ and Michelle Aravena as ‘Fritzie/Kost.’

Other stars in the cast include Gabi Campo as ‘Frenchie,’ Ayla Ciccone-Burton as ‘Helga,’ Colin Cunliffe as ‘Hans,’ Kayla Jenerson as ‘Rosie,’ Marty Lauter as ‘Victor,’ Loren Lester as ‘Herman/Max,’ David Merino as ‘Lulu,’ Julian Ramos as ‘Bobby,’ MiMi Scardulla as ‘Texas,’ and Paige Smallwood. Maya Bowles, Hannah Florence, Pedro Garza, Christian Kidd, Corinne Munsch, Chloé Nadon-Enriquez, and Karl Skyler Urban are swings.

Severance” Cast Draws Huge Crowd in Grand Central Station to Promote Season 2

“Severance” Cast Draws Huge Crowd in Grand Central Station to Promote Season 2

Charna Flam

January 15, 2025 at 6:58 AM

Severance is sharing an exclusive peek into their severed office.

The acclaimed Apple TV+ series deployed an unlikely marketing tactic ahead of its second season — which premieres on Friday, Jan. 17. The series cast Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman and Patricia Arquette all gathered as their respective characters Mark Scout, Helly Riggs, Dylan George, Seth Milchick and Harmony Cobel at Grand Central Station on Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Several social media users posted videos of the installment and documented the cast portraying their characters in their makeshift office space in the center of the train station.

AppleTV+ also shared a series of photos of the event to the streaming platform’s official Instagram and TikTok accounts.

Along with the cast appearing at the N.Y.C. station, series director and executive producer Ben Stiller supported the event. There, the Emmy winner, 59, took photos and videos of the cast in the enclosed office space as onlookers watched.

Several fans commented on the setup; one wrote: “THIS is amazing marketing.” Another added, “kinda insane they got the real actors to do this.” One user commented, “Top tier marketing. Someone is getting a promotion. No. Not the Severance characters.”

Related: Severance Season 2: All About the Sci-Fi Thriller Starring Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette

The workplace thriller follows a group of employees who have undergone “severance,” a procedure that separates their work personas (or “innies”) from who they are in the real world (known as their “outies”).

Scott stars as Mark, a Lumon worker who agrees to severance as a way to cope with the death of his wife. But after the mysterious disappearance of his best friend and former Lumon employee Petey, he teams up with new hire Helly (Lower) and other coworkers Dylan and Irving (John Turturro) to uncover the company’s web of conspiracies.

Related: Severance Season 2 Trailer: Lumon Is ‘Tightening the Leash’ on Its Innies as They Seek the Truth About Their Mysterious Employer

The series also stars Dichen Lachman, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus and Christopher Walken.

The series was renewed for a second season days before the season 1 finale. Since then, several stars were announced as new cast members, including Gwendoline Christie, Alia Shawkat, Bob Balaban, Merritt Wever, Robby Benson, Stefano Carannante, John Noble and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson.

Scott, 51, previously credited Stiller’s role in the casting process, telling PEOPLE in April 2024, “One of Ben Stiller’s superpowers, I think, is casting and finding the right people for roles. He’s really, really good at it.” Adding, “Our core cast is unbelievable already, but we have some just great people coming in for season two, that I can’t wait for everyone to see.”

The series was created and written by Dan Erickson, and became an instant success among viewers and critics after its April 2022 premiere. It received 14 nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022, and won two awards for main title design and musical score.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Severance season 2 premieres on Jan. 17 on Apple TV+. The remaining nine episodes will air every Friday through March 21.

Read the original article on People

Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Demi Moore Nominated for BAFTA Film Awards

Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, and Demi Moore are among the nominees for the 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards, set for Feb. 16 in London. The awards ceremony will stream in the U.S. on BritBox.

The Best Film nominees include Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, and Emilia Pérez, while Emilia Pérez was also nominated for Film Not in the English language. Erivo was nominated for Leading Actress for her role in Wicked and Moore for The Substance alongside Mikey Madison for Anora, Saoirse Ronan for The Outrun, Karla Sofía Gascón for Emilia Pérez, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths.

Chalamet earned a nod for Leading Actor for his performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown and Edward Norton was also nominated for Supporting Actor for co-starring as Pete Seeger. Additionally, James Mangold and Jay Cocks got a nod for Adapted Screenplay, although Mangold was snubbed from the Director category.

Other actors nominated in the Leading Actor category include The Brutalist’s Adrian Brody, Sing Sing’s Colman Domingo, Conclave’s Ralph Fiennes, Heretic’s Hugh Grant, and The Apprentice’s Sebastian Stan. Emilia Pérez cast members Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña were recognized in the Supporting Actress category.

The nominations included a few surprises, including Jamie Lee Curtis, who was nominated for Supporting Actress for The Last Showgirl, and Denis Villeneuve, who earned a nod for Director for Dune: Part Two. Notably, today marks the first time many of the acting nominees have been up for a BAFTA Film Award.

“There’s a lot of variety, but also a lot of first time nominees,” Sara Putt, chair of BAFTA, tells Rolling Stone. “Out of the 24 performance nominees, 14 of them are first time nominees, including global stars like Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez. They are huge stars in their own right, but never been BAFTA nominated before. That’s really exciting. In the Leading Actress category, whoever wins will be a first time BAFTA recipient. None of the nominees have actually won a BAFTA before. In Leading Actor, you’ve got a fantastic array of talent and you’ve got Hugh Grant there, who last won for Four Weddings and a Funeral.”

Although the Oscars have delayed the announcement of their nominations due to the ongoing fires in Los Angeles, BAFTA decided to go ahead while keeping Hollywood in their thoughts.

“Our thoughts are with the community out there,” Putt says. “It’s absolutely devastating what’s occurred. BAFTA is actually quite a small and very tight-knit international organization and the team here at BAFTA have been in constant communication with the team in LA. First and foremost, we’re just concerned for people’s safety and making sure that everybody is okay in these terrible circumstances.”

The nominees for the EE Rising Star Award were previously announced and include Marisa Abela, Jharrel Jerome, David Jonsson, Mikey Madison, and Nabhaan Rizwan. The category is the only award voted for by the British public. Chalamet was nominated for the award in 2017, while Erivo got a nod in 2018.

The BAFTA Film Awards ceremony, hosted by David Tennant, will be held at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London. It will air on the BBC in the U.K. and on BritBox in North America. See the full list of nominees here.

‘Wolf Man’ Review: Universal’s Latest Monster Reboot Is a Dark and Toothless January Mess

What if a man… were also a wolf? It’s a question that’s compelled filmmakers for more than 100 years, inspiring a monster movie classic (George Waggner’s “The Wolf Man”), a handful of enduring cult hits (“An American Werewolf in London,” “Ginger Snaps,” etc.), and an endless series of howlingly bad Hollywood misfires from otherwise reliable directors. Mike Nichols’ “Wolf” was seductively bizarre enough to work on its own terms, but Joe Johnston’s “The Wolfman” — a $150 million Benicio del Toro vehicle that confirmed Universal’s desperation to update its oldest horror IP — was neutered by corporate interference in similar fashion to how Miramax had declawed Wes Craven’s “Cursed” a few years earlier. And of course, the “Dark Universe” mega-franchise that was meant to revive so many of Lon Chaney Jr.’s most immortal roles imploded before the rise of its first full moon.

In that light, perhaps the most impressive thing about Leigh Whannell’s new “Wolf Man” is that — despite being unburdened by the budget and world-building of its predecessors — this deeply un-fun creature feature somehow manages to be every bit as dysfunctional as its studio’s other recent attempts to make lycanthropy great again. Worse, it’s dysfunctional in so many of the same ways: Murky, witless, and plagued by laughable special effects (the prosthetics are crafted with obvious skill, but the hyper-realism of their design can’t help but curdle into comedy after the film abandons its emotional core).

That’s a dagger to the heart of a reboot so eager to do something different with its material; so eager to replicate how successfully Whannell re-imagined “The Invisible Man” for the 21st century by marrying timeless fears to modern sensitivities. Working from a script he co-wrote with his wife Corbett Tuck, the director asks the defining question of its sub-genre with a radical new emphasis (one less focused on the animal inside of us than the humanity that keeps it at bay), only to arrive at an all too familiar answer. What if a man were also a wolf? It would look very dumb.

And yet, you don’t have to use the Wolf Vision™ that Wannell frequently showcases throughout the film to see that his take on the classic monster had the potential to be something a bit smarter. The pieces are there, even if “Wolf Man” doesn’t have any real interest in playing with them.

Like the vast majority of modern studio horror movies, “Wolf Man” is effectively just a trauma metaphor stretched into three acts. The first of them holds all of the story’s promise, as a tense prologue introduces us to a pre-teen kid named Blake, whose military-like father (Sam Jaeger, all menacing toxic machismo) is hell-bent upon teaching his son how to survive the world on his own. I can’t explain why Blake’s dad insists on raising his son in a rural pocket of Nowhere, Oregon, where the locals have been stalked by a man-eating creature of some kind, especially since he’s so preoccupied with keeping his only child safe from harm. But determined parents aren’t necessarily good ones.

Indeed, that becomes a running theme in a movie that never has enough room to stretch its legs. When the story picks up 30 years later, it finds that Blake (Christopher Abbott), now a neurotic father himself, is so terrified of his daughter getting hurt that it seems to affect his decision-making. Case in point: When Blake receives a letter stating that his missing father has been declared legally deceased, his first thought is to ditch San Francisco, load young Ginger (Matilda Firth) and his journalist wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) into a U-Haul van, and force them to spend the summer in the same house that scared him to death as a kid. In the same off-the-grid stretch of Oregon hillside (New Zealand) that inspired his dad to make panicked CB radio calls every night before he finally disappeared into the woods. As a parent, few things are worse than the thought of your own child being afraid of you. For whatever reason, Blake is drawn to discover what those things might be. Spoiler alert: One of them is a wolf man.

It’s a curious but appreciably intimate way to set up the stakes of a not-so-classic monster movie, as Whannell grounds the horror to come in an eternal crisis that previous generations of men were expected to resolve on less emotional terms. How do we square our animal instinct for safety and providing… with our impetus to love? How do we balance keeping our children alive without betraying the part of ourselves — and each other — that has evolved beyond the most basic demands of survival?

As an unemployed writer who’s adopted a conventionally maternal role in his family (to the chagrin of his wife, whose professional ambitions have put her at a distance from their daughter), Blake feels like something of a dickless beta male at the start of this movie. I shudder to imagine the reactionary YouTube commentaries that will be inspired by the scene where he happily wears his daughter’s lipstick.

When Blake gets bitten by a werewolf on the road to his dad’s farmhouse (a werewolf that only he will be able to stop from eating Charlotte and Ginger), it triggers a civil war between the angels of his nature. A civil war whose progress is measured in back hair, bad skin, and some newly heightened senses. “Hills Fever” is a hell of a drug! Holed up inside his childhood home and desperate to keep his people safe until sunrise, Blake doesn’t just have to fend off the beast outside, he also has to tame the beast within. (For her part, Charlotte’s only job is to be punished for pursuing her career, and then rewarded for reclaiming a more conservative maternal role.)

It’s a cleverly intimate premise that’s very much in line with Whannell’s approach to “The Invisible Man” (which would have made a fitting title for “Wolf Man” as well), and one that Abbott is game to explore. Pivoting a werewolf movie away from the id in favor of the superego is sort of like making a vampire movie about the moral victory of being vegan, but Abbott is the kind of actor who brings his own mottled truth to each moment, and his early scenes with Garner are layered with a level of lived-in honesty that is almost unheard of in recent studio horror. Abbott’s seeming allergy to emotional fakeness is by far the greatest asset that “Wolf Man” has, but — as those brave few of us who saw “Kraven the Hunter” might recall — it can also be a major liability to any film that loses faith in itself. And as “Wolf Man” abandons its nuances in favor of becoming a dim, cramped, and tedious siege movie about a growly creature of some kind trying to eat the people inside a rotted farmhouse, the reality of Abbott’s performance is consumed by the ridiculousness of watching him turn into a wet dog.

Blake’s inner turmoil is reflected in the film’s (lack of) tension between intergenerational trauma and cheap suspense, which is less a tug-of-war than an unconditional surrender. The darkened farm house is a dull location for the nightmare that “Wolf Man” visits upon it, and the monster at its door never feels like much of a real threat. For one thing, it’s too stupid to simply break in through a window. For another, it becomes less frightening with every step of Blake’s own transformation, as our hero’s appearance prepares us to deal with the terror outside. New hair in weird places, problems with his teeth, a growing inability to understand his wife… steel yourselves for the unimaginable horror of a man nearing 40!

Tempting as it is to applaud Whannell for eschewing bad CGI or ersatz Rick Baker effects, the ultra-grounded approach is a poor fit for a movie that feels like it’s been cut to the bone, leaving us with little more than some very expected plot developments and a handful of extremely uninspired duels between werewolves. “Wolf Man” is a soft-hearted story that’s been squeezed into the shape of a lean-and-mean January programmer, and while Whannell manages to eke a few decent moments from that situation (a pitch-black barn encounter is almost satisfying enough to make up for an underwhelming greenhouse setpiece that fails to generate any suspense), most of the jolts lack the same thought that went into the film’s disregarded story, and the occasional bits of R-rated gore aren’t sick enough to make up the balance. If anything, the scene where Blake starts to gnaw his own arm off is the most relatable part of the movie.

A semi-feral drama about parental fears that isn’t remotely scary enough to catalyze those concerns into the action it puts on screen, “Wolf Man” runs away from its potential with its tail between its legs. “There is nothing here worth dying for,” reads the “no trespassing” sign on the childhood home where Blake inexplicably returns with his wife and daughter. There’s nothing here worth watching for either.

Universal Pictures will release “Wolf Man” in theaters on Friday, January 17.