Our two favorite British worlds are colliding soon!
In the purest news of the day, the Sun reports that Kate Middleton and Mary Berry will appear together on a holiday special. The Duchess of Cambridge and The Great British Bake Off’s beloved judge alumna will join forces for a BBC1 seasonal special, in which they’ll work together to make a Christmas feast for charity workers.
The program is reportedly being called “The Mary Berry Royal Christmas Show.” Middleton and Berry apparently have already bonded over their shared love of charity work, and the show will put their friendship on TV for an important meal. The Mirror suggests that the feast might be hosted at “royal venue,” and that Berry will be in charge of the food, while Middleton will help out. “They will bring seasonal goodwill to their guests and to the millions of viewers watching. Expect a properly uplifting Christmas treat,” the Mirror‘s source added. There’s no premiere date quite yet so fans will just have to keep an eye out.
Middleton seems to be more comfortable with TV and film projects these days; back in September, sources said she took a meeting with Love Actually director Richard Curtis to discuss a potential collaboration on something involving mental health. It’s still not totally clear what they’re cooking up, but it all seems to reinforce the idea that Middleton has been taking charge more, doing things she likes, and focusing on causes that are important to her. A People story pointed out that in addition to confidently steering work on parenthood and child development, she’s allegedly writing her own speeches and showing more of her personality while meeting with U.K. organizers. Even the Queen is said to be quite proud of her lately!
“She is now more open with what she wants to say, and funnily enough, she is more relaxed as well,” a family source told People. It looks like this TV moment with Mary Berry is going to offer another chance for Middleton to get personal—and a delightful opportunity for all of us to see this adorable friendship keep unfolding.
Bohemian Rhapsody follows Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury and his rise to worldwide stardom through the songs that made the “band of misfits” a household name. But there’s a lesser-known story in the film too, one about Mercury’s one-time fiancé and “soulmate” Mary Austin. Mercury was queer, yes, but Austin was unquestionably the love of his life. To this day, she’s reportedly the only person who knows where Mercury’s cremated remains are buried; she also still owns the London mansion he gifted her.
While many will watch Bohemian Rhapsody for its mesmerizing music and performances—and there’s plenty of that—I was fascinated by the deep dive into Mercury and Austin’s decades-long friendship and love. Rami Malek, who plays Mercury, even calls Austin the heart of the movie. “There’s a part of me that feels we would not have the Freddie Mercury we have today without Mary, and vice versa,” he tells Glamour.com. “That relationship was so vital to him—and to her. They were soulmates.”
PHOTO: Alex Bailey
Mercury met Austin early in his career, and—as the film shows—she urged the rocker to embrace his sexuality and larger-than-life persona. “It was just such a relief to read [their dialogue in the script],” Lucy Boynton, who plays Austin, says. She’s referring to a scene that shows Austin encouraging Mercury to embrace his desire to wear feminine clothing. “We’re in a place now where we’re trying to be more forward thinking about the fluidity of existence, so to read this and know it was just how Freddie and Mary were [is so wonderful].”
While producer Graham King considers Austin to be Mercury’s muse, Malek doesn’t see her that way. “She’s so much more than that,” he explains. “To inspire someone, to give them someone they can depend on, relate to, and share the most intimate secrets with is something they did for one another. Between the two of them, they could be their most authentic selves. That’s a bond you rarely have in life.”
Case in point: Even after Mercury finally came out to Austin, ending their romantic relationship, she remained a huge part of his life. “Her strength was the biggest lesson for me,” Boynton says. “When you love someone absolutely and want them to be their truest self—even though that means losing them in some capacity—that is the most important thing. The fact that she was able to be so cognizant of that and put her feelings of loss over the love of her life, but then manage it so they were able to stay in each other’s lives in such close capacity…that strength is very admirable.”
PHOTO: Alex Bailey
King echoes this, saying, “Freddie and Mary were so above their time. Part of the reason why I wanted to make this film was I wanted to show a young audience how Freddie lived his life. I remember showing my youngest daughter, who was 21 at the time, an early cut of the film. She said, ‘Dad, any kid 12 and up who is confused on their sexuality, confused at their life, will look at this movie as a guidance.’ That to me was the best compliment I could get about the Freddie/Mary and Freddie story. That’s what we looked to create.”
Boynton agrees. “I think [their relationship] shows us that love is a color spectrum,” she says. “As soon as we stop trying to put boxes and labels to every relationship and dynamic, we’ll be so much more liberated and at peace. That’s one of the biggest takeaways. If you stop trying to restrict yourself by defining yourself and love in other people’s terms, it’s the most liberating thing.”
The real Mary Austin, now in her late 60s, has remained out of the public eye, but King says she did read the script for Bohemian Rhapsody. “She is very private, and we want to respect her as much as possible,” he says. “[The biggest thing for me was] having that sympathetic view with Freddie and Mary.”
That privacy is why Boynton has never met Austin, but she hopes she eventually sees the film. “It’s such an incredibly powerful story to tell that reminds people to be your absolute self, as Freddie so seemingly effortlessly did,” she explains. “I think now more than ever that’s something we can afford to have drilled back into us.”
It’s also why King was intent on Bohemian Rhapsody receiving a PG-13 rating instead of R. “I want a young audience to discover who Freddie Mercury was,” he says. “I want people to walk out with the feeling that one can go through so much adversity in their life, but go out on top. The end becomes a real celebration of his life and what he went through, beginning with an immigrant kid who was bullied and then makes it against all odds.”
PHOTO: Alex Bailey
“He’s a revolutionary,” Malek adds. “He’s this extremely complicated human being. Our deficits are not necessarily deficits at all. What this story will hopefully do is allow people to be more of their authentic self. Perhaps I got a drop or two of that from this [experience] as well.”
The first full-length trailer for Mary Poppins Returns, Disney’s highly-anticipated reboot starring Emily Blunt, is here, and it’s good. Very good.
This new film centers on the Banks “kids,” who are now grown up with children of their own. It’s up to Mary to remind them that life can still be full of magic (even as adults), and she does so with plenty of singing and dancing. Chicago director Rob Marshall is at the helm of Mary Poppins Returns, and Hamilton maestro Lin-Manuel Miranda appears as Jack the Lamplighter, which means the musical moments in this movie will be ridiculously on-point. In fact, the trailer doesn’t skimp on revealing many of the film’s big-ticket dance sequences, which, like the original, combine live action with animation. There’s an underwater sequence that looks absolutely breathtaking and dancing penguins appear to remind us that this is, indeed, a magical Disney production.
Watch the trailer, below.
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The movie is clearly a star vehicle for Emily Blunt, but she has plenty of help from some very familiar faces, including Meryl Streep, who stars as Mary’s cousin Topsy, Colin Firth as a banker, and Angela Lansbury as the Balloon Woman. Even Dick Van Dyke is back to reprise his role from the original, and as the trailer suggests, he hasn’t lost a step. It looks like we’re in for a properly over-the-top, feel-good musical this winter that will most likely garner some awards season buzz. We can’t wait.
Mary Poppins Returns flies into theatres December 19.
According to all available statistics, the film industry is especially brutal to the careers of women, who are routinely in the minority when it comes to landing jobs behind the camera. The challenges faced by women of color are even greater. But after a year of change in the cultural conversation around how women are treated in Hollywood and other industries, there are at least a few bright spots to be found in this morning’s Oscar nominations.
For starters, Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, making Gerwig the first female director to land a Best Director nomination for her directorial debut. The indie darling was already an established screenwriter, with credits on projects in which she also starred, like Frances Ha and Mistress America. But Lady Bird represented her first solo foray behind the camera (she previously co-directed 2008’s Nights and Weekends with Joe Swanberg). In addition to breaking this particular barrier, Gerwig is now in the teeny tiny club of five women ever nominated for the prize. She joins a handful of other luminaries like Jane Campion and Sofia Coppola. (The club really ought to have included Dee Rees and Patty Jenkins this year, sigh.) Best Director has been won by a woman only once, in 2010 when Kathryn Bigelow took home the Oscar for The Hurt Locker.
Another crack in the glass ceiling comes from Rachel Morrison, who just became the first and only women ever nominated for Best Cinematography, for her work on Dee Rees’s Mudbound. Yes, you read that right, after 90 years, there is finally one woman nominated in this category. Also nominated for her work in Mudbound is Mary J. Blige, who just became the first women ever to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress for a performance in a film directed by a woman of color, as well as the first woman to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song in the same year.
Here’s hoping these incredibly talented women go home with some hardware next month.
After three years of being asked to guest star on Fuller House, the sequel to the show that launched their acting careers, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are still saying “no thanks” to series creator Jeff Franklin’s requests for them to make a brief appearance on the revived sitcom.
Michelle Tanner’s absence has been alluded to many times in the first two seasons—and now Franklin is confirming that the youngest Tanner daughter will not return for season three either. “Personally, I’ve given up asking them,” he told TVLine. “The door is open, but I’m not going to be calling them anymore to invite them. They just don’t seem interested in coming. It’s been three years of invitations, so they know the door is open. It’s up to them to decide if they want to come play or not.”
To be fair, the World’s Most Famous Twins have said repeatedly that they’re done with acting. Ashley has not appeared onscreen since 2004’s New York Minute. And the last film Mary Kate did was 2011’s Beastly. In a 2013 interview with WWD, Mary Kate went so far as to say, “I don’t think it ever felt like we were actresses,” chalking up the roles that they took when they were younger as being part of “building a brand.”
And as we all know, they’ve since pivoted said brand to delve into the fashion industry, launching two wildly successful lines: The Row and Elizabeth and James. The Row, founded in 2006, has been especially successful, winning three CFDA awards: Accessories Designer of the Year in 2014 and Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2012 and 2015. Given their many triumphs as designers, it’s no wonder they don’t want to revisit the past. Also, they’re clearly busy: award-winning clothes don’t design themselves.
The third season of Fuller House debuted on September 22—a date that also happens to be the 30th anniversary of the premiere of Full House. Watch the trailer below or stream the whole season now on Netflix.
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Since there won’t be a Michelle cameo, we’ll leave you with this:
