Movies

Natalie Portman acted like "your average everyday Jewish mother" on the set of 'Jane Got a Gun' to make sure everyone was OK.
The 34-year-old actress plays gunslinger Jane Hammond in the western revenge film and she admits her maternal instinct took over during filming because the movie was beset with so many obstacles to overcome.
Natalie co-produced the project as well as star, and made it her job to look out for everyone on set.
The Oscar winner - who is married to Benjamin Millepied, with whom she has four-year-old son Aleph with - told the New York Post newspaper: "There were so many obstacles. We lost the director early on. Actors changed. We suffered financial and legal challenges. We endured so many replacements. There were delays. The weather was unforgiving. Sandstorms. Rains in April.
"That's why I, just basically your average everyday Jewish mother, would go around asking everyone, 'You OK? You all right?' "
Natalie - who was born in Jerusalem, Israel, but was raised in the US from the age of three - had little knowledge of America's Wild West before accepting the role but she read a lot of books so she was totally prepared to accurately portray Jan, who has to battle a murderous gang to protect herself and her family.
She explained: "I knew nothing. I was sent a script. I'd never read anything like this feminist story about a woman in those old days, making her way in the unforgiving, tough Wild West. Toting a rifle,
husband riddled with bullets, shooting bad guys, baking bread, washing children, surviving. I did research. I took a crash course. I studied books. Read diaries ... I have a child. I know what it's like to care for a baby. But to do that with the civilization's surrounding toughness, to make that journey and survive it. That's the story."
'Jane Got a Gun' also stars Joel Edgerton, Noah Emmerich and
Ewan McGregor and is in cinemas now.

Gwendoline Christie says she will return for 'Star Wars: Episode VIII'.
The 'Game of Thrones' actress played new character Captain Phasma in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' and has confirmed she will reprise the role in the next installment of the science-fiction franchise.
She said: "I will be in the next Star Wars movie. I think that's an exclusive, actually."
And speaking about her bid for the role in episode seven, she said: "I was very overexcited. I made no secret of the fact that I really campaigned for the part for a long time. And then I was delighted when J.J. Abrams wanted to have me in the film and then wanted to cast me in this role that had originally been designed for a man."
Filming on 'Star Wars: Episode VIII' has started however Disney announced last month that the film - which was originally scheduled for release in summer 2017 - has been pushed back to be released in December 15 2017.
Nearly all of the main cast from the previous film return for the Rian Johnson directed installment.
Mark Hamill's character Luke Skywalker is set to have a prominent role in the sequel, while Daisy Ridley is returning as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, and Adam Driver will be donning his black mask and hood again as villain Kylo Ren.

Ryan Reynolds worries he's too old to play a superhero.
The 38-year-old actor plays Deadpool in the upcoming comic book adaptation but admitted working out for the role was physically gruelling, as he put his back out on the first day of training.
He said: "On the first day I put my back out. I was lying on the floor at 6am, the gym was empty, I didn't even have my phone.
"I crawled, I couldn't move so I literally crawled on all fours, two blocks home."
Ryan previously played the character of Deadpool in 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' and played the titular superhero in 2011 movie 'Green Lantern' but revealed that getting in to shape for 'Deadpool' was tough.
He told the Observer magazine: "The last time I trained for a film like this was five years ago. It's a big difference. Now I mean... you start to wonder if you even still have abs under there."
Meanwhile, director Tim Miller recently said he can't imagine anyone else taking on the role other than Ryan.
He said: "I just never saw anyone else apart from Ryan. In real life, he pretty much is Deadpool. I couldn't think of anyone else who had the combination of good looks, athleticism, dramatic chops - because he's a great dramatic actor - and, more importantly, comedy on top. He's got that same smart, offbeat sense of humour. He's f**king raunchy."

Cate Blanchett was "awestruck" when she met Robert Redford.
The Oscar-winning actress was intimidated by her 'Truth' co-star because of his legendary reputation, but she was pleased he was able to put her at ease immediately.
She said: "I didn't know what to call him. I was more than a bit - well you know - awestruck, trying to be cool.
"You meet him for the first time and he comes in mid-conversation, like he's already known you for two-and-a-half years, 'It's great to see you again!' So he puts everyone at ease immediately."
And Cate was incredibly impressed with how easy he made the acting process seem.
She told Empire magazine: "As an actor he's so disarmingly natural that we'd all be sitting around talking around a scene and he'd start saying something and I'd think, 'We've had this conversation' and then realise he was running lines.
"There was just this organic ramp from conversation into performance, it was seamless.
"But you know, it's daunting working with him because he's had such an enormous impact on American culture and continues to do so in so many ways.
"His body of work as an actor is just so remarkable. These days he picks and chooses his roles and I was really pleased he picked and chose this one."

Russell Crowe warned Douglas Booth that working with him would be the most "interesting" thing he ever did.
The 23-year-old actor ran into trouble with his 'Noah' co-star because he spent so much time on the set of the blockbuster texting his then-girlfriend, but following the telling off, he now leaves his phone in his trailer.
Douglas said: "I was on set in New York and always on my phone texting and I remember Russell coming up to me and saying, 'You're never going to be doing anything more interesting than working with me and [director] Darren Aronofsky. What are you doing on your phone?'
"And he was completely right. Now my phone doesn't come on to set so I stay present in every moment."
Douglas - who previously dated actress Vanessa Kirby and has also been linked with Taylor Swift, Emma Watson and Cara Delevingne - has just finished filming 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' with Lily James, Matt Smith, Suki Waterhouse and Sam Riley and found working on the comedy a "pleasure".
He told Britain's Marie Claire magazine: "Some movies are a slog to get through.
"Sometimes you think, Why are we all here? Slogging these long hours, going through hell, but you do it because you're making something wonderful and you're immensely proud at the end.
"We all hung out and had a wonderful time. It was a pleasure to go to work every day."

Rachel McAdams felt "very privileged" to appear in 'Spotlight'.
The 37-year-old actress portrays investigative journalist Sacha Pfeiffer in the true-life drama and enjoyed spending time with the "incredibly awesome" writer as part of her research.
She said: "Sacha is just an incredibly awesome person. She works so hard and really cares about telling the story right, no matter what it takes.
"I feel very privileged to play her.
"I spent a lot of time with Sacha and her husband. They walked me around Boston, we had dinners together, they were on set and very much part of the project.
"I am so indebted to them. But all the reporters were incredibly generous and available."
The film chronicles how a group of Boston Globe reporters exposed a child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and Rachel thinks it was an important story to tell on the big screen.
She told Britain's HELLO! magazine: "It's easy to forget these events and it's important we never do.
"Investigative reporting really is a dying art.
"These stories take years to bring together. They're not glamorous, they're just hard work."

Julianne Moore won't work outside of school hours.
The 55-year-old actress - who has son Caleb, 18, and daughter Liv, 13, with husband Bart Freundlich - insists her movies are shot in New York so she is close to home and won't respond to correspondence or arrange meetings for times when her kids are around.
She said: "At night I won't answer work emails, or the phone, unless there's an emergency.
"If I have to read scripts or have a meeting or do an interview, I do it during the school day. I don't think I've ever given an interview after 3pm in my entire life.
"Even socially - I'll try to see my friends within the school hours, just because I want to be home when my kids are home. I want to have dinner with them."
The 'Freeheld' actress admits it can be "difficult" to find great roles, but insists it has nothing to do with her age.
She told Britain's Marie Claire magazine: "I have been getting this question since I was 30. It's always a hard one to answer.
"It's very difficult to find parts, no matter how old you are, no matter where you are and whether you are a man or a woman.
"The movie industry is not in the business of finding good roles for actors or actresses, it is in the business of creating films that will make as much money as possible."

Ridley Scott has confirmed Noomi Rapace will not appear in 'Alien: Covenant'.
The 36-year-old actress played scientist Elizabeth Shaw in 2012's 'Prometheus' - which also starred Idris Elba, Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce - and although her character was the only human being to survive the doomed intergalactic expedition, the film's director has ruled out a return for Shaw.
When asked whether the Swedish beauty would reprise her role, Ridley declared "no" and added to the Daily Mail newspaper: "We're still casting the main roles."
Ridley has revealed that much of the sci-fi film's structure and plot - another prequel to his 1979 space horror classic 'Alien' - is laid out on "very detailed storyboards".
The 78-year-old British filmmaker is adamant he can make 'Covenant' a big hit because he's "always" enjoyed great success at the box office.
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, the acclaimed director - whose other credits include 'The Martian', 'Blade Runner', for which he is working on a sequel, and 'Gladiator' - said: "You prove how reliable you are. Which I am, I always have been - it's part of my thing ... You want big films and stories to keep people going to the cinema. It's up to us to keep the bar raised. That's the trick. I've always done that.
He continued: "It is brain surgery! It is bloody brain surgery! You're putting together a whole group of people, you're trying to budget as accurately as you can and, at the end of it, you've got to sell a lot of tickets. That's more complex than banking - but a few of us manage to pull it off."
'Alien: Covenant' is slated for release in 2017.

Ice Cube "knocked out a couple of stuntmen" while shooting 'Ride Along 2'.
The 46-year-old rapper-and-actor can currently be seen in the comedy action movie with Kevin Hart, and his co-star has revealed Ice's fight scenes sometimes resulted in actual injuries to the stun guys on set.
During a joint interview for music discovery website SBTV, Kevin said: "He has definitely 100 per cent hurt people shooting this movie. He's knocked out a couple of stunt men from time to time which has been very funny. Not funny on their behalf."
However, Ice was quick to defend himself, adding: "You've gotta choreograph these fight scenes in like a day, so sometimes one might zig when they should have zagged and then they get tagged."
In one scene Kevin - who plays security guard Ben Barber - surprised Ice by unexpectedly wearing a kimono, which left him in hysterics in front of the cameras.
The former N.W.A star said: "Kevin always gonna bring the heat and then if you add something funny like a kimono or a linen suit, that's like given a kid a loaded gun, it's too much to play with ... The last thing you want to do is to give (Kevin) those tools and then restrict them because you're not gonna get the magic out of it."