Sebastian Stan has got a new movie out where he plays a man with neurofibromatosis, a skin condition which causes non-cancerous tumours to grow on nerve tissue.
In the film, Stan’s character Edward eventually gets facial reconstructive surgery to remove the tumours, but he then becomes obsessed with an actor called Oswald (Adam Pearson) who gets a job portraying him in a play.
The film just recently released and has been garnering positive reviews from critics, with it currently enjoying a 90 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Stan and A Different Man co-star Adam Pearson recently appeared on This Morning to promote the movie.
While on there, he said that the movie’s makeup artist Mike Marino had once been double booked for one of the days of filming, which meant Stan got his facial prosthetics applied hours earlier.
That meant he was able to walk around in public for a while, saying: “It was extremely isolating. I was very scared. You stand out obviously, and there’s a powerless feeling to it, at least that was my experience.”
“It really pointed out that we still have to normalise this idea of being different.”
Adam Pearson and Sebastian Stan star in A Different Man (A24)
Elsewhere in the interview, Stan said the new movie was ‘really special’ as well as being ‘unpredictable and a lot of fun’.
Pearson, who previously appeared alongside Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin, said: “There’s no suspense or jump scare, or any of the old tropes that we normally see around disfigurement, like villainy, victimhood or false heroism.
“He’s just a guy that charms his way through life.”
During a press conference for the movie Stan said: “I think ultimately it’s just interesting to hear this point, because I feel to some extent that’s one of the things the film is saying, you know, is that we have these preconceived ideas.
“We’re not really educated on how to really understand this experience.
Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson’s new movie is out now (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty)
“So I can’t really speak to that, one of the things I love about the movie is that he’s offering you a way to kind of look at it.
“Hopefully if you can have the same objective point of view while you’re experiencing the film, then maybe you can pick apart the initial instincts that you have, and maybe those aren’t always the right ones.”
Pearson added: “This was the hook that we gave to Sebastian – You don’t know what it’s like to have a disfigurement, but you do know what it’s like to not have privacy and to have your life constantly invaded. You become public property.”
The Austin Powers actress, 58, said it felt ‘liberating’ to work so closely alongside her only child, Damian, on his directorial debut which is due to be released later this week.
She is starring in upcoming thriller Strictly Confidential, alongside the likes of CBBC star Georgia Lock, Lauren McQueen, Freddie Thorp, Genevieve Gaunt, Pear Chiravara and Max Parker.
The film follows the journey of a ‘haunted’ young woman who finds herself ‘drawn into a world of seduction, duplicity and betrayal’ as she desperately tries to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her best friend’s suicide.
Take a look at the trailer here:
The seduction part really comes into play during a scene with Pear, as she offers Liz’s character a drink before giving her a super passionate snog and sliding off her clothes.
Needless to say, you’ll have to watch Strictly Confidential to see how that turns out.
Seen as though you’ve got a few days of breathing room until it releases on demand and in select US cinemas on 5 April, why don’t you sit and stew on the fact that Liz’s son Damian is the person who both wrote and directed the raunchy scene?
That’s right, the 21-year-old was the one guiding his mother and her co-star on where to put their hands and how to nuzzle into each other’s cleavage.
It’s an unorthodox approach to family bonding, but very Hollywood all the same.
Lionsgate
Although a lot of movie lovers reckon the mother-and-son shooting a sex scene together is pretty weird, both Liz and Damian think there’s nothing wrong with it.
The Bedazzled star previously told Access: “The things that his script needed me to do weren’t necessarily things I’d always done in movies many times.
“But having him there meant that I felt safe and looked-after, and I knew in (post production) he’d look after me.
“So actually it’s kind of liberating to work with your family. I may do it again.”
Her son shares the exact same sentiment as his movie star mum and even went as far to say the whole thing felt ‘normal’.
The aspiring filmmaker – who counts Hugh Grant, David Beckham, Elton John and Denis Leary as his godparents – revealed that he also is the person behind the camera when Liz is posing for sexy bikini shots to upload to social media.
Isa Foltin/Getty Images for Marcel Remus
Speaking to The Times, Damian explained: “I hate to say that it [filming the sex scene] felt totally normal. I don’t know what that says about us.
“It’s business. We don’t think about it for any more than point, press, done, post,” he added while discussing snapping pictures of his mum in swimwear.
“I was speaking to a lot of my friends who are also second-generation of parents in the industry,” Damian continued.
“They say exactly the same thing: that things to outsiders that may seem totally strange and extraordinary, for us we’ll just have grown up with in everyday life.”
How the other half live, eh?
But all in all, it sounds like Liz and Damian had an absolute blast being on set together, although he did acknowledge that the ‘power dynamic’ between stars and directors can be ‘complicated at the best of times’.
He told People: “It was a joy to come to work and tackle each day together.
“We only had 18 days to shoot the whole film, so our twin-like telepathy was invaluable throughout.”
The man behind The Godfather films as well as Apocalypse Now and Bram Stoker’s Dracula was so convinced by his own vision that he self-funded the $120 million American epic film, FOX News reports.
Starring Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Shia Labeouf, Jon Voight and much more, the movie came out this weekend – but viewers aren’t sure what to make of it.
Megalopolis follows an architect (Driver) as he comes head-to-head with a corrupt mayor (Giancarlo Esposito) over the building of a metropolis named ‘New Rome’ following a major disaster.
The reaction to the film was as mixed as it can be, with some calling it an epic masterpiece and others deeming it a mess and ‘one of the worst films they’ve ever seen’.
This has led to a split down the middle 50 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
One particular detail that has already seen fans reacting, however, is the bizarre lines present in the movie.
Aubrey Plaza in Megalopolis (Lionsgate)
In an official discussion of the film on the subreddit r/movies, the top comment compared Megalopolis perhaps unflatteringly to other films of Coppola’s.
It read: “‘I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.’ – The Godfather, 1972
‘The horror…the horror.’ – Apocalypse Now, 1979
‘Whaddaya think of this boner I got?’ – Megalopolis, 2024.”
This is, actually – genuinely – an actual line in the film.
Meanwhile, another post in the replies to this was: “Wait until you hear ‘You’re anal as hell, Cesar. I, on the other hand, am oral as hell’.”
Adam Driver stars in the film as an architect (Lionsgate)
One commenter said: “I’m sad that I can’t tell if you’re f*cking with me” to be informed – it is indeed in the film.
Another pointed to a line of Driver’s, saying: “’Back to da cluuuub’ will never leave me. Adam Driver… oh man.”
Again. An actual line.
Another comment in the thread slammed the film, calling it ‘an enormous turd of a movie’, adding: “That was so so bad.
“Pretty wild that Aubrey Plaza is in one of the best movies of 2024 and one of the worst.”
Film fans over on Reddit weren’t impressed (Lionsgate Films)
One went as far as to say: “I can honestly say this was the worst movie I have ever seen in a theater. I was baffled the whole time at everything.
“The awful acting that is 50 percent ADR lines that don’t fit, to the just heinous problematic and ridiculous characters
“1/10 or 10/10 I can’t decide”.
Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com, however, loved the film, saying: “Megalopolis is exactly what movies can and should be—unflinchingly earnest.”
Meanwhile, Vulture’s Bilge Ebriri said it might be ‘the craziest thing I’ve ever seen’, adding: “And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy every single bats**t second of it.”
The actor recently arrived in San Sebastian where he’s premiering his second directorial feature, Modi – Three Days on the Wing of Madness, which follows a few days in the life of Italian artist, Amedeo Modigliani.
Set in the middle of World War Two, the film stars Riccardo Scamarcio, Antonia Desplat, Al Pacino and Stephen Graham.
And while speaking at a press conference at the San Sebastian Film Festival,
Depp compared his bumpy life to that of the artist’s.
Depp is in the country for his film’s premiere. (Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)
“Each [character] has their story because I’m sure we can say that I’ve been through number of things here and there.
“Maybe yours didn’t turn into a soap opera. I mean, literally, televised,” he said.
“But we all go through what we go through. So, to see these people on the verge of earning their stripes… There’s something beautiful to me about those days living in a tiny studio apartment just off Hollywood Boulevard in a dangerous neighbourhood. They were tough. They were rough, ugly; they were weird, all kinds of stuff, but they were beautiful.”
And it has, of course, got to be said that the notable, big ‘televised’ bit of Depp’s life in recent years has to be his trial with ex-wife, Heard.
Heard was sued by the Pirates of the Caribbean star for defamation back in 2022 before she then countersued and accused him of fronting a ‘smear campaign’ against her.
After the days in court were shown on TVs globally, Depp ended up being awarded $15 million (£12 million), later capped at $10.35 million (£8.27 million) by the court.
Heard spends a lot less time in the public eye. (Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images)
A separate verdict also saw Heard receive $2 million (£1.6 million) in damages.
Following that ‘soap opera’ of a court case, Heard retreated from the public eye and moved over to Spain with her daughter.
And while trying to move on with her life and find a level of privacy, local media reports she was asked about Depp’s arrival in the country.
She reportedly responded: “I’m living here in Madrid, I love Spain.
“I’m very lucky to be here, and regarding my past, I don’t feel like thinking or talking about it, because I’m happy and in peace.”
A source told PEOPLE in November 2022 that Heard ‘is able to just be a mum’, while she’s there.
“She spends every day with her girl. They stroll around, visit parks and enjoy family time. Amber is a great mom.”
Jenna Ortega has caused a stir online thanks to her latest movie role, which sees her on-screen character hooking up with her (much older) teacher, played by Martin Freeman.
Miller’s Game sees the 21-year-old Wednesday star playing student Cairo Sweet who ends up embroiled in a relationship with her teacher Jonathan Miller – played by 52-year-old Freeman.
The official synopsis for the movie directed by Jade Halley Bartlett reads: “A talented young writer (Ortega) embarks on a creative odyssey when her teacher (Freeman) assigns a project that entangles them both in an increasingly complex web.
“As lines blur and their lives intertwine, professor and protégé must confront their darkest selves while straining to preserve their individual sense of purpose and the things they hold most dear.”
Some folks have admitted to feeling slightly uncomfortable after seeing some of the steamy scenes play out in the trailer for the new flick – due in part to the large age difference between the two actors.
Lionsgate
But this isn’t the first time Ortega has performed a sex scene with an older star – at aged 19 she appeared in the slasher movie X where she took part in a sex scene with rapper Kid Cudi, who was 37 at the time.
X centres on a group of young adults who go off to Texas to film an adult movie, so as you can imagine there flick has more than its fair share of racy scenes – but was filmed under the guidance of intimacy coordinator Tandi Wright.
In a 2022 interview with Indiewire, Ortega said that Wright was ‘the sweetest, kindest intimacy coordinator in the world’.
While X co-star Brittany Snow said: “I think in the past couple of years, it’s been a prerequisite to any scene that you feel is intimate in any way, even when I’ve kissed someone in a scene, I feel like it should be taken seriously, because I think it needs to be treated mechanically and like a dance. It has to be professional, and the actors have to feel comfortable.
A24
“This is a professional situation. Tandi was so fantastic to work with and made us feel, not only comfortable in terms of our own skin, but comfortable within our characters and really allowing us the space to be who we were supposed to be in that moment, and not thinking about the physicality and the vulnerability of it all.”
Ortega, a former Disney star, revealed that she found the script ‘super enticing’, sharing: “I was really eager to do something that I had never done before and put myself in an environment that was so different from anything I’ve ever filmed.”
