Moana is back — older, wiser, and dreaming bigger!
…So why couldn’t Disney also dream up a bigger sequel?
Selena Gomez has two words to describe Emilia Pérez: “audaciously beautiful.”
Witches and wigs and wisdom, oh my! We sat down with Joe Locke, who plays Teen on Agatha All Along, to discuss witchcraft lore, learning on the set, and costumes from the show.
Back in March, we were invited to Pixar Animation Studios, where the team was hard at work on the final touches of Inside Out 2. Visiting the studio on my very first press trip, I was assigned to the “Anxiety” group (how fitting!), joining other journalists for an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the making of the highly anticipated sequel.
At the SVA Theater in New York City on May 13, the purple carpet was rolled out for director John Krasinski and the cast of ‘IF‘ to celebrate the movie before sharing it with the world.
© 2024 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
If Inside Out sent you on an emotional rollercoaster, then the sequel is guaranteed to throw you for a loop.
Leading up to the film’s summer release, we visited Pixar Animation Studios to discuss Inside Out 2 with director Kelsey Mann and producer Mark Nielsen, who also worked on Inside Out.
The day before, we were treated to an early sneak peek of the first thirty minutes of the sequel. As a longtime Pixar enthusiast, I was thrilled—though perhaps not as excited as Mann was to push the big red button.
Kelsey Mann, who saw Inside Out as an audience member in 2015 while working on Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur, described his reaction to the first film’s ending as he pointed to Mark Nielsen. “You guys set up [the puberty button] on the console and I’m like, ‘I want that thing to go off. If you don’t set off, I’m gonna be upset!”
He finally gets the chance to do just that as the director of Inside Out 2. He went on to explain that he also set out to cause more chaos than just a blaring puberty alarm.
“[The first movie] ends in a great way where she’s like, ‘we’ve got new friends, a great new house, after all, she’s 12, what could happen?’” he says, “She has such confidence in herself and I wanted to crush that.”
Mann also detailed how they explored challenging Joy’s traditional ideas of who Riley is in this new phase of her life. “That’s where the new emotions come in,” he said, “because they’re like, ‘we understand this teenage world and we know how to play this game better than you do. So you know what? We need you to step aside because we need to take over.”
Once again, filmgoers will see some push and pull at the controls in this new story—just in a different way. “Joy, in the beginning of [Inside Out] learned that lesson that all emotions are valuable, she learned to let Sadness go to the console.” Mark Nielsen says, “And now in this film, she’s like, ‘maybe not ALL of them.’”
© 2024 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
The new movie features new additions to the cast, including Maya Hawke (Anxiety), Ayo Edebiri (Envy), Paul Walter Hauser (Embarrassment), and Adèle Exarchopoulos (Ennui). During a press conference session earlier that day, Mark Nielsen had nothing but praise for what they brought to the film. “They’re all very funny,” he said, “Some of them are actual straight-up comedians.”
“[Envy] wasn’t as developed as some of the other emotions,” Mann jumped in to say, “Ayo really helped flesh out who that character was in a positive way.”
Nielsen was also wowed by Maya Hawke’s performance as Anxiety, describing her as the “fastest talker I’ve ever met.”
“She brought an element of humanity to the character,” Mann added.
During those first thirty minutes of the film, we didn’t get the chance to become well-acquainted with Embarrassment, but Mark Nielsen gave us an idea of what to expect from the character.
“Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment was amazing—what a gem of a human being,” he said, “We met with him beforehand to talk about the role. On the script, it doesn’t look like much because he’s too scared to talk and barely has any lines, but he’s a really important character in the film. It’s actually a really big role, which is a beautiful relationship he ends up having with Sadness.”
You can check out our interview with Kelsey Mann and Mark Nielsen at Pixar Animation Studios in the video below. “Inside Out 2” will be hitting theaters on June 14th, 2024!
On Monday, April 17, we were invited to join in on the festivities at the New York City premiere of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer—and were encouraged to indulge in concoctions provided by Johnnie Walker.
Our evening of merrymaking started at the AMC Lincoln Square, where we were greeted with free popcorn and a soft drink—but that was only the first surprise of the evening. Cheers began to fill the room as Jerry Bruckheimer, Henry Cavill, Eiza González, and Hero Fiennes Tiffin walked down the theater aisles to introduce the film.
“As much as this movie is a lot of fun,” Cavill tells the audience, “it also highlights the importance of what these warriors did.”
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is fictionalized account—with many creative liberties—of Operation Postmaster during World War II. With tactics deemed “ungentlemanly” by Winston Churchill, a team of operatives embarked on a dangerous mission—and contributed to changing the course of the war.
“These types of female characters are inspiring, are what I think what embodies the 21st century woman,” Eiza González shared into the microphone, “I felt honored myself to be Marjorie Stewart.”
After the screening, guests were invited to attend the premiere after-party at the Ascent Lounge in Columbus Circle—presented by Johnnie Walker.
Jerry Bruckheimer joined the cast of the film for the festivities as a DJ spun tracks to set the vibe. Bartenders made splendid use of Johnnie Walker Blue Label with movie-inspired cocktails including The Strategist (the brand’s take on the trendy Espresso Martini) and The Saboteur (a twist on an Old Fashioned.)
Henry Cavill, Babs Olusanmokun, and Cary Elwes also mingled with guests and posed for selfies. Henry Golding even stopped by the bar to enjoy The Saboteur for himself.
How ungentlemanly indeed.
“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” directed by Guy Ritchie and featuring an all-star cast, sweeps into theaters on Friday, April 19.
“Julia Mazza?”
I was eating lunch in a room off of the main atrium when I heard my name called by a member of Disney’s publicity team.
On Thursday, February 1st, celebrities assembled at the 8th annual Blue Jacket Fashion Show, sponsored by Zero Prostate Cancer, Johnson & Johnson, and the Fashion Group Foundation. Models for the night included actors, news hosts, current and former athletes, reporters and journalists—even two Tony winners.
(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Blue Jacket Fashion Show)
The Blue Carpet Fashion show was founded by fashion designer Frederick Anderson as a platform to openly discuss prostate cancer. Throughout the day on Thursday, the Blue Jacket Initiative took to the streets to set up free testing and provide educational materials on prostate cancer across New York City. The organization is also raising funds for future prostate cancer testing resources and to support patients in need.
The event’s festivities began with a “blue carpet,” where the models of the night gave previews of what they would be wearing for the evening. Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award winning actor and singer Billy Porter was only on the blue carpet for mere seconds before rushing backstage to fetch his favorite piece of the outfit. He returned a moment later, accessorized with a Thom Brown bag.
Other special guests for the evening also assembled on the blue carpet, including journalist and talk show host Tamron Hall and actress Holly Robinson Peete.
All of the models for the evening soon took to the runway to strut their stuff in their blue ensembles. Every model who participated, and the designers who dressed them, were as followed:
Billy Porter, dressed by Thom Browne
J. Harrison Ghee, dressed by Terry Singh
Rodney Peete, dressed by The Privilege
Marcus Samuelsson, dressed by The Privilege
Wilson Cruz, dressed by Arjona Collection
Luis Miranda, Jr., dressed by Talya Bendel x HAAS
Don Lemon, dressed by The Privilege
Nigel Barker, dressed by Ben Sherman
Alex Lundqvist, dressed by Stephen F
Young Paris, dressed by Arjona Collection
Eric West, dressed by AARC55
Les Trent (Inside Edition), dressed by Don Morphy
James Aguiar (Modern Luxury), dressed by jameAstyle X Fleur’d
Carlos Greer (Page Six & Extra TV), dressed by AKNVAS
Frank DiLella (NY1), dressed by Bruno Magli
Louis Finley (NY1), dressed by Levi’s
Jeremy Helligar (People Magazine), dressed by Elie Balleh
John Dias (WCBS-TV), dressed by Gustavo Moscoso
John Hill (Sirius XM), dressed by Don Morphy
Ty Hunter, dressed by Tommy Hilfiger
Brian Ceballo, dressed by POTRO
Don Hood, dressed by Magpies & Peacocks
Ty-Ron Mayes, dressed by BARABAS
Omar Hernandez, dressed by Gustavo Moscoso
Kris Bennett, dressed by Burkindy x Jahnkoy
Erik Bottcher (NYC Council Member), dressed by Carlos Campos
Dr. Brad Schaeffer, dressed by Elie Balleh
Phillip Bloch, dressed by AKNVAS
Mike Woods (Fox5 New York), dressed by SOU KUU (by THE NORTH FACE)
Richard Thomas (TAO Hospitality Group), dressed by Gustavo Moscoso
Dr. Ash Tewari (Johnson & Johnson spokesperson), dressed by Elie Balleh
Tyrone Brewer (President, U.S. Oncology, Johnson & Johnson), dressed by J.Mclaughlin
Robert Ginyard (Prostate Cancer Survivor and Zero Prostate Cancer spokesperson), dressed by J.Mclaughlin
To learn more about the Blue Jacket Fashion Show, and to place a donation to help their patient support and awareness efforts, you can visit their website here.