Marc Malkin-Senior: Last News

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorLaverne Cox will be honored as advocate of the year at the upcoming 2022 Webby Awards.The actor and producer will be recognized by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS) for her LGBTQ advocacy work.“Laverne Cox understands the true power of showing up by example,” Webby Awards president Claire Graves told Variety exclusively on Tuesday morning. “She is a clear, consistent and powerful voice advocating in defense of Black trans lives, and we are so proud to recognize her as the 2022 Webby Advocate of the Year, selected by a committee chaired by the NAACP and IADAS.”Hosted by comedian Roy Wood Jr., the Webby Awards will take place May 16 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorForget about Happy Meals — let’s talk about happy filmmakers.“Encanto” star Stephanie Beatriz has teamed up with McDonald’s for Spotlight Dorado, a short film contest for Latino talent.“McDonald’s has a long history of fostering community. Not only do they essentially feed the community, but they also are trying to sort of put a spotlight on and empower and amplify Latino voices,” Beatriz tells me. “Spotlight Dorado is going to be a multi-year platform that does that.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorIn the wake of reports that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade, writer and producer Gloria Calderón Kellett is getting to work.While she said she is unable to incorporate women’s reproductive rights issues into storylines for Season 2 of her Amazon anthology series “With Love” because the scripts are locked, she says, “In my other stuff, will it be in there? Yeah! Especially women of color, especially poor women.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor“Black Site” director Sophia Banks is hoping her new $10 million action thriller “Black Site” is the little movie that could.“We’re not trying to be an $80 million action movie but we want to make this genre accessible for people,” Banks tells me. “It OK to shoot an indie action movie. As long as you take people on a good ride, then that’s all we want.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorCategory is…children’s books!“RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Nina West is set to release her first book for kids, “The You Kind of Kind.”“It is a dream come true to be able to release my very first children’s book and share a message that is so needed right now,” West tells me. “’The Kind You Kind of Kind’ celebrates loving yourself for who you are and giving the gift of kindness to the world! I am so excited for kids of all ages to be inspired by acts of kindness- to not only be better to themselves, but inspire the entire world to act in kindness.”West’s friend Dolly Parton even provided a statement to Variety about the book. “Well, to quote some lines in a song I wrote, I always say: whatever you are, be that.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorWelcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”Searchlight Pictures’ “Fire Island” doesn’t come out until June, but Matt Rogers, who plays Luke in the queer rom- com, has high hopes that it launches a big gay franchise.Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang star as friends who head to the iconic LGBTQ vacation locale ready to have the best summer of their lives. “‘Provincetown’ should be the sequel,” Rogers told me at the premiere of his Showtime show “I Love That for You.” “Let’s do ‘Palm Springs.’ Let’s do ‘Puerto Vallarta.’ This is going to be the ‘Fast & Furious for queers!”Then Rogers, who co-hosts the “Las Culturistas” podcast with Yang, cracks, “I’m the Michelle Rodriguez of the bunch, baby.” As I was the first to report, “Fire Island” will world premiere on June 2 at NewFest Pride in NYC.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorRoyalty took the stand on Saturday night to advocate for LGBTQ+ equality.Golda Rosheuvel, the openly gay actor who plays the illustrious Queen Charlotte on “Bridgerton,” was presented the Equality Award at this year’s Human Rights Campaign gala in New York.“Being authentic and true to who I am has been something that I’ve championed in my own life, so to be able to get up there tonight and speak my journey is really important,” Rosheuvel told Variety before accepting her award. “That one person who’s struggling might hear it and be confident enough to step [up] in their own life.”The “Bridgerton” star later went on to tell the crowd, “nobody should have to choose between being publicly out and being a successful actor.” Rosheuvel recently opened up to Marc Malkin on the “Just for Variety” podcast about how a lesbian director once advised her to stay in the closet.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorSearchlight Pictures’ queer romantic comedy “Fire Island” will have its world premiere on June 2 during NewFest’s NewFest Pride series.“We are thrilled to kick off our annual Pride month event with the world premiere of Andrew Ahn’s ‘Fire Island,’” NewFest executive director David Hatkoff said in statement on Thursday morning. “This joyful film captures the sexy, romantic, celebratory energy of the iconic NY gay enclave, and we can’t wait to celebrate with the film’s cast and creative team with a blow-out, prideful event in the heart of NYC.”Set in Fire Island, New York’s popular gay getaway Pines neighborhood and inspired by Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” the film stars Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang as best friends who are determined to have the ultimate summer adventure.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorWhen openly gay “Bridgerton” star Golda Rosheuvel —who plays the wigtastic gossip-loving Queen Charlotte on the Netflix series — was starting her acting career, she was told by a lesbian director that she should stay in the closet.“We were talking about being out and proud and representation and whether I should say I was gay in interviews,” Rosheuvel tells me on this week’s episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. “And it was an absolute no: ‘You absolutely shouldn’t do that. It could or it would ruin your career as an actor.’ I would rather lose a job than not be true to who I am.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorWelcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”Andrew Garfield is ready to take a break. The actor has been going nonstop for the past year or so with “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” and “Tick, Tick … Boom!” Now, he can be seen in “Under the Banner of Heaven,” FX’s limited series adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s 2003 true-crime book of the same name.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor“Love, Victor” is headed to Disney+, after all.The coming-of-age series, based on the queer teen romantic drama “Love, Simon,” was originally developed for the streamer, but was pushed to Hulu after executives worried that certain issues on the show, including teen sexuality and alcohol use, weren’t a right fit for Disney+.Now, the third and final season, as well as Seasons 1 and 2, will be available on Disney+ as well as on Hulu beginning on June 15.“We are proud of ‘Love, Victor’ and are excited to bring it to the widest possible audience on June 15 by making the full series available on both Disney+ and Hulu to celebrate the final season and LGBTQIA+ Pride Month,” Hulu president Joe Earley said in a statement on Tuesday. “In addition to highlighting this groundbreaking series, this will give subscribers a chance to sample more content that is available across our streaming services as we have done with titles like the Academy Award-winning ‘Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),’ ‘Man in the Arena: Tom Brady’ and ‘black-ish.’” The 10-episode premiere season, focusing on Victor (Michael Cimino), a new student at Creekwood High School juggling home life and questions about his sexual orientation, debuted on Hulu in June 2020.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorRumors were swirling last week in Washington, D.C. that James Corden was shooting something for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when he was spotted with camera crews at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.Now I can exclusively reveal that the talk show host shot a “Take a Break” segment, inspired by his “The Late Late Show” series of the same name, that will open the annual so-called “nerd prom.”“They shot in the Briefing Room, the Oval Office and the Navy Mess,” veteran awards show producer Bob Bain, who makes his debut producing the dinner this year, tells me.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorRyan Reynolds will receive the 36th American Cinematheque Award.The ceremony and tribute to the actor will take place Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills.“Ryan Reynolds is a Renaissance Man 2.0 for our times,” American Cinematheque board chair Rick Nicita said in a statement Tuesday morning.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorBusy Philipps is in New York’s Soho neighborhood at The Saucery, a weekend-long pop-up from Rao’s Homemade. While the Italian food company is selling its products at the brick-and-mortar marketplace, 100% of the proceeds go to non-profit Jersey Cares. “I love that Rao’s gives back,” the “Girl5eva” star says.I caught up with Philipps over Zoom to talk matzoh pizza, wanting to sing with Mandy Moore on “Girl5eva” and how the Peacock series can’t help but remind her of some uncomfortable and “really weird” auditions during her teen years in Hollywood.This is your second collaboration with Rao’s?Yeah, I love partnering with brands that I personally use, have purchased and continue to purchase.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorWelcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”Anya Taylor-Joy is hoping to shave her head for her starring role in “Furiosa,” George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel. “She wants to, but George doesn’t want her to,” the movie’s costume designer, Jenny Beavan, tells me.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorZendaya opened up about some of her toughest work playing a drug addict in “Euphoria,” particularly in Season 2 when her character Rue seemed to hit rock bottom.“One of the greatest honors about being able to play her is every story that I have now gained when people come to me and they share their stories of sobriety. It’s so beautiful to me every single time, and I think I take on those stories with me and they become part of who each time I play her,” the Emmy winner said on Wednesday night at an FYC Emmy event for the HBO series at the Academy Museum.Choking back tears, Zendaya continued, “I get very emotional about I  because I care about her a lot because she represents a lot of people that need a lot of love.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorMichelle Pfeiffer didn’t know much about Betty Ford before she signed on to play her in the new Showtime anthology series “The First Lady.”“I really only knew about, of course, the Betty Ford Center, which is I think what she’s the most famous for,” Pfeiffer told me at the show’s premiere on Thursday at the DGA building in Los Angeles. “And I knew that she came out and was open and transparent about her own issues with substance abuse and alcoholism, which was very, very taboo at the time.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorLeslie Grace is home in the U.S. after spending months overseas shooting “Batgirl,” the upcoming HBO Max film adaptation of the iconic crime fighter. She takes on the role of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the film, co-directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, with a cast that includes J.K.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorKaley Cuoco has had enough of working with herself.In Season 2 of “The Flight Attendant,” she returns to the HBO Max series as Cassie Bowden. Newly sober, she’s still a flight attendant, but has a side job working for the CIA. Throughout the season, Cassie encounters numerous clones of herself.“Our team had many meetings with the team behind ‘Orphan Black’ because we did the same sort of thing,” Cuoco told me on Tuesday night at “The Flight Attendant” premiere at the Pacific Design Center.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorThe LA Family Housing Awards will return as an in-person gala after being held as a virtual event for the past two years.The awards, which raise awareness and funds to end homelessness throughout Los Angeles County, will be presented on Thursday, April 21 at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. The program will feature performances by Ben Platt and Ellie Goulding.The evening, co-chaired by Blair Rich, Karen Brodkin and Zeeda Deniele, will honor Interscope vice chairman Steve Berman, his wife Frances and their children Lucie and Liliana.“After two long years apart, LA Family Housing’s 2022 Awards is all about coming together for a good cause and celebrating our incredible community of supporters who amplify our work and message every day,” LA Family president and CEO Stephanie Klasky-Gamer said in a statement on Tuesday morning.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorJoJo Siwa may have been nominated for a Kids’ Choice Award on Saturday, but the “Dance Moms” alum says Nickelodeon didn’t invite her to the big show.“A lot of you have been asking me why I’m not at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards tonight, and the answer is very simple — I wasn’t invited,” Siwa said Saturday in a video posted on her Instagram. “I’m not sure why, but I just didn’t get an invite.”In a caption, she wrote, “I don’t want anyone to think it was my choice not to go….