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‘Cocaine Bear’: Keri Russell Spills on the Kills, and How the Film Embraces the Ridiculous Gore

Elizabeth Banks’s star-studded dark comedy, Cocaine Bear, is fast approaching. Since it was first announced, the buzz for Pablo Escobear’s big-screen debut has been nonstop. Not only is the premise pretty “crazy, wacky, out-there,” as star Keri Russell describes it, but it also boasts a pretty phenomenal cast. In addition to Russell, the movie stars Isiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, Matthew Rhys, Kristofer Hivju, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, and the late legacy, Ray Liotta.

Inspired by true events that took place in the mid-eighties, Cocaine Bear gives a blow-by-blow account of the unbelievable mishap… only, with a lot more blood. When a drug runner drops an outstanding amount of cocaine on the aptly-called Blood Mountain in Georgia, a 500-pound black bear ingests a brick of it before it can be picked up. Coked up, the bear goes on a rampage, leaving a trail of gore in its wake. Unlike what actually happened, if this bear is going down, he’s taking dug dealers, tourists, and cops down with him.

Before Cocaine Bear’s worldwide release in theaters on February 24, Collider’s Steve Weintraub spoke with Russell about this insane movie. During her interview, Russell shares what ultimately convinced her to do the movie, how her The Americans co-star and husband, Matthew Rhys, got involved, and what about the script appealed the most to her. She also tells us how Banks leaned into the absurdity of the movie, what it was like playing the most normal role amid the chaos, her favorite kills, and shares a little about her upcoming Apple TV+ series, Extrapolation. For all of this and more, check out the interview in the player above, or you can read the full transcript below. Continue reading ‘Cocaine Bear’: Keri Russell Spills on the Kills, and How the Film Embraces the Ridiculous Gore

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Adam Granduciel and Keri Russell Celebrate The War On Drugs’ New Chapter

Most of us will have a War On Drugs moment at some point in our lives. Over five zeitgeist-altering albums—epic in their emotional scope and sonic depth—the Philly-born band has earned a reputation for encapsulating the near-univeral sense of uneasiness and exuberance of coming of age. Formed in 2005, the band has become a cornerstone of contemporary Americana, and has collaborated with the likes of Kurt Vile, Sharon Van Etten, and The National. For Adam Granduciel, the band’s lead guitarist and front man, shepherding The War On Drugs in its various configurations has been the singular focus of the past 15 years. “There was a beautiful aimlessness to that time,” he recalls on a recent Zoom call, “But I wouldn’t want to go back to being 23.” This shift is evident in I Don’t Live Here Anymore, the latest of the band’s five albums, out last week, which embraces a certain rock n’ roll jubilance that was scarce on previous records. The new record offers bite-sized melodies and tighter lyrics where albums like 2008’s Slave Ambient or 2010’s Lost in the Dream thrummed with expansive guitar riffs and stifled, impossible-to-encapsulate feeling. Granduciel attributes his new sound to the birth of his son, Bruce. After more than a decade of touring, fatherhood has had a clarifying effect: “I can write about the same things that I did in my 20s,” says Granduciel, “But I know what I’m singing about.” Below, the musician talks with his new friend and mega-fan, the actor Keri Russell, about his upcoming tour, the art of improvisation, and being 42. Continue reading Adam Granduciel and Keri Russell Celebrate The War On Drugs’ New Chapter

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Remembering Adrienne Shelly, the Feminist Filmmaker Murdered in Her New York City Apartment

Adrienne Shelly was an actress, a director, a mother, a wife, and a friend, and her life was cut terribly, unthinkably, unjustly short on Nov. 1, 2006, when 19-year-old construction worker Diego Pillco broke into her apartment with intent to rob her and, upon being discovered by Shelly, fatally strangled her and then hung her in the bathroom in an attempt to make it appear that she’d committed suicide. Those are the gruesome details of Shelly’s death, and they’re not shied away from in Adrienne, a new documentary premiering on HBO on Dec. 1 following its debut at the DOC NYC festival on Nov. 14. Yet as directed by her husband, Andy Ostroy, this non-fiction remembrance is less about the horrors of Shelly’s final day than about the inspiring brightness of her life—and, also, the tremendous grief wrought by her untimely demise.

Ostroy serves as the on-screen narrator of his late wife’s story in Adrienne, turning the film into both an act of grappling with perversely arbitrary tragedy and a celebration of her many roles. The most public of those was as a rising star, as Shelly made an instant indie-cinema name for herself in Hal Hartley’s The Unbelievable Truth and Trust. Those lead parts were showcases for her vivacious personality and determined toughness, the latter of which shone through despite the fact that she was pretty and petite (standing only 5′ 2″) and thus, easily objectified by film industry chauvinists as a dainty sexpot in need of manly protection. Not content with simply being an actress, however, Shelly—after a series of less-than-fulfilling projects—quickly gravitated to working behind the camera, peaking with 2007’s Waitress, which became a Sundance hit a couple of months after her death.

Waitress has continued to have an amazing life of its own as a popular Broadway musical, and early in Adrienne, Ostroy asks patrons waiting to enter the theater if they know his wife. That they don’t recognize her name (even though it’s on the marquee) is merely another in a long line of pointed jabs suffered by Ostroy, and underscores his own motivation for making this documentary: namely, to maintain her memory and, in doing so, to provide her with the acclaim and respect she deserved. To that end, he presents numerous clips from Shelly’s films and self-directed shorts, behind-the-scenes footage from her productions, photos of her on stage, interview snippets from the 1990s, and never-before-seen home movies, confessional recordings, and scenes from a still-in-the-works documentary she was making in and around NYC about the quest for—and nature of—happiness.

In those archival moments, Adrienne captures the joy that Shelly brought to every professional venture she undertook and the euphoric delight she felt for her daughter Sophie, who was only 3 at the time of her death. Now a teenager, Sophie joins her father in speaking candidly about Shelly’s absence, as do Shelly’s mother, friends, and famous collaborators, all of whom still seem stunned—and devastated—by her unimaginable fate. From Keri Russell and Paul Rudd to Jeremy Sisto and Hal Hartley, colleagues are effusive about her talent, with her The Unbelievable Truth co-star Robert Burke stating, “She was a complete unicorn, as far as I was concerned.” They also have high praise for the courageous feminist attitude that she brought to all her endeavors, notably Waitress, which was ahead of the #MeToo curve, and whose second life in musical form stands as a testament to the universal appeal of its forward-thinking spirit.

Adrienne’s tribute to Shelly constantly feels as if it’s being delivered through teary eyes, and that culminates with the film’s showstopping final passage, in which Ostroy visits Pillco in prison to understand what really took place on that appalling November day and why, and also to show the killer precisely what he stole from everyone. Through a translator, a seemingly repentant Pillco explains how his robbery of Shelly’s apartment—a frequent practice of his, since he was deep in debt—turned homicidal when the actress caught him mid-theft and attempted to call the police (Pillco was an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador). Ostroy and Pillco’s encounter is predictably wrenching, for us as well as for Ostroy, who forces Pillco to look at photos of his wife—with himself, and with young Sophie, including a snapshot taken on Oct. 31, 2006, the day before her murder—and then, overcome with anguish, cuts off the chat.

“Adrienne” premieres on HBO on Dec. 1.
Source: https://www.thedailybeast.com

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Keri Russell Cast in ‘Extrapolations’ at Apple

Apple TV Plus announced that Edward Norton, Indira Varma, Keri Russell, Cherry Jones and Michael Gandolfini have been cast in “Extrapolations,” Scott Z. Burns upcoming climate change anthology series.

Russel, who has starred in “The Americans” and “Felicity,” plays Olivia Drew, a gun for hire. She is repped by WME, Burstein Company, Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern and Viewpoint.

The new additions join previously announced cast members Meryl Streep, Matthew Rhys, Marion Cotillard, Eiza Gonzalez, Tobey Maguire, Forest Whitaker, Kit Harrington, Sienna Miller, Gemma Chan, Tahar Rahim, Daveed Diggs, David Schwimmer and Adarsh Gourav, with more cast members yet to be announced. Over eight episodes, the series will tell stories of how upcoming changes to the planet will affect day-to-day life including love, faith, work and family.

“Extrapolations” is now in production, produced for Apple TV Plus by Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res. Executive producers include writer/director Burns, Ellenberg, Greg Jacobs, Dorothy Fortenberry and Media Res’ Lindsey Springer.

Source: https://variety.com/

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Why Keri Russell Thinks It’s Time for a ‘Felicity’ Reunion

Keri Russell is ready to step back into Felicity’s shoes. ET’s Rachel Smith spoke with the 45-year-old actress at a special screening of her latest film, Antlers, in New York City on Monday, and she revealed that she’d be down to revisit one of her most iconic roles.

“I’ll do it,” she said of a Felicity reboot. “People need a feel-good something and that would be a feel-good something.”

Russell starred in the titular role from 1998 to 2002, as a high school graduate who follows her crush (Scott Speedman) to college in New York City, and soon finds herself in a love triangle with him and her resident adviser (Scott Foley).

“In the middle of the pandemic I was like, ‘You know what? People need something nice. We should just do a really quick, low budget what happened to them, because I just want to feel good for a moment,'” Russell told ET, adding that she “would do” a reboot.

Both of her leading men on the series have also said that they’d participate in a reboot. The cast reunited in 2018 in honor of the 20th anniversary of the show’s premiere, and Speedman said he’d “absolutely” do a reboot during the panel discussion.

“A few years ago, the cast got together for a panel discussion on its 20th anniversary. Being around them, being onstage again changed my mind,” Foley told ET in April of being open to an onscreen reunion. “I missed working with them and I would give it another shot.”

Russell’s willingness to return to the iconic role, she said, is largely because it changed “everything” about her career.

“I think it was the first story that I really loved,” she told ET. “[Creators] J.J. [Abrams] and Matt [Reeves] together was such a unique pairing. It was the first character that I really cared about… It was a sweet little show.”

Russell’s latest project is a far cry from Felicity. In Antlers, the actress stars as a teacher, who, along with her police officer brother (Jesse Plemons), becomes convinced that one of her student’s is harboring a supernatural creature.

The horror flick was an unlikely choice for Russell, who admitted that, though she “grew up” with scary movies and loves them, she’s quick to be frightened in real life.

“Matthew, my guy, before he walks into the room he goes, ‘I’m walking in,’ because I always [scream] and he’s like, ‘You know I’m here,'” Russell told ET of her partner, Matthew Rhys. “… I am the one that gets afraid.”

Nevertheless, Russell was quick to sign on to the project, which was directed by Scott Cooper and produced by Guillermo del Toro.

“I was such a big fan of Scott Cooper’s films, especially Crazy Heart, and when I heard he was doing a horror movie with Guillermo, I just thought it was such an elegant way to do a horror movie,” she said. “I thought he could pull off that intimate character study piece and fit it into that genre, and I think he did.”

Antlers will hit theaters Oct. 29.

Source: https://www.etonline.com

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Searchlight Sets Release Dates for ‘Antlers’

While the 2021 release calendar is very much up in the air, with big movies still shifting endlessly amongst the uncertainty of the still-very-terrible pandemic, Searchlight today announced the theatrical release dates of several high profile and hugely eagerly titles. Whether or not they’ll make these dates is anybody’s guess, but for now, this is what we’ve got.

After a number of delays and missed release dates, Antlers finally gets a perfect, Halloween-adjacent spot on October 29. The film, directed by Scott Cooper and produced by Guillermo del Toro, stars Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Rory Cochrane, and Amy Madigan. The official synopsis for the incredibly creepy-looking movie follows: “In an isolated Oregon town, a middle-school teacher (Russell) and her sheriff brother (Plemons) become embroiled with her enigmatic student (Thomas) whose dark secrets lead to terrifying encounters with a legendary ancestral creature who came before them.”

Source: https://collider.com

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Keri Russell On Why Strict Diets Are Just Not Her Style—and Amen to That

Keri Russell is someone you can have a beer with. (She’ll take a Peroni, thanks.) Someone who, even after a good 15 years in Brooklyn, still exudes the sunny, girl-next-door ease of her roots out West, by way of Arizona and Colorado. The “uniform” she’s wearing today at an elegantly hip Italian restaurant she frequents is what she describes as “Sam Shepard from The Right Stuff”: a buttery leather bomber from Celine, rolled-up Gap khakis —“the ones I wore on an adventure trip with Bear Grylls” (Look it up)—Rag & Bone T-shirt (she’s friends with the designer; their kids go to school together), and leopard-print kitten heel Aquazzura booties.

It was actually Matthew Rhys, her partner of six years and former costar on The Americans, who coined the look, and it stuck. “We laughed really hard about it, but I realized that’s my true fashion—like tough guys,” she smiles. “Growing up, I didn’t play with Barbies or dolls. I wanted the adventures.” It wouldn’t be too long before her Hollywood joy ride would begin, as a 20-year-old Keri, onetime Mouseketeer, was cast as the lead in the hit cult drama series Felicity. The real magic is how she managed to do celebrity on her terms in the years that followed. “After Felicity, I didn’t want to act anymore because I was so tired, and I didn’t want to be more famous than I was,” she says. Since then, Keri has alternately pumped the brakes and hit the accelerator on a thriving movie and TV career while having three kids, 12-year-old son River and 8-year-old daughter Willa with former husband Shane Deary, and 3-year old Sam, her son with Rhys.

These days, she trades off doing film shoots with Rhys so they can be “on duty” for the kids. Keri, 43, is home at the moment, and she’s got brownies to bake (from scratch!) this afternoon for Willa to take with her to school tomorrow.

“They say you can have everything—just not all at once. I think that’s really true. There are times when you’re living for your career and times when you get to make cakes.”

So what’s a girl like Keri, who jumps at the word boo, doing in a horror film like Antlers? Well, who better to relate to that audience? “I’m a total scaredy-cat, but I think the reason why it’s OK for me to do scary movies is because I’m scared all the time,” she says. “I’ll be in the bathroom getting ready, and Matthew will be coming down the hall and he’ll warn me, ‘I’m about to come in.’ And I’ll still scream!” In this film, a lushly shot, creepy mix of supernatural evil and blood and guts premiering this month, Keri plays a quietly badass teacher with her own broken past. And then, of course, there’s a monster.

What’s undeniable is that Keri knows how to keep her cool in navigating the alternate universes of Hollywood and home. Her relaxed approach to food, fitness, fashion, and, well, life may be our new wellness goal.

Continue reading Keri Russell On Why Strict Diets Are Just Not Her Style—and Amen to That

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Keri Russell to Make First Convention Appearance at ACE Comic Con Northeast!

ACE Comic Con Northeast is coming to Boston in just a few weeks, and the final addition to the headlining list of celebrity guests has finally been revealed — Keri Russell!

This will be Russell’s very first comic con appearance, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to meet Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s Zorii Bliss! Russell will have a VIP package ($390), autographs ($125), and photo ops ($115), which will all go on sale Monday, March 2 at 3 p.m. EST.

Russell will be joining an incredible line-up of guests from a galaxy far, far away, including Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Matthew Wood, Tiya Sircar, and Taylor Gray.

Marvel’s finest will also be making an appearance, including Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Tessa Thompson, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Shameik Moore, along with Hogwarts alumni Rupert Grint and Bonnie Wright.

ACE Comic Con Northeast will be held March 20-22 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Tickets are on sale now. VIP packages, photo ops, and autographs are also available.

Source: https://www.nerdsandbeyond.com/

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Why Keri Russell leaped at the chance to join J.J. Abrams’s ‘Rise of Skywalker’

Keri Russell’s career was already riding high, with her multi-Emmy-nominated turn on “The Americans,” when she heard from an old friend.

It was J.J. Abrams, who two decades earlier provided her breakout role on TV’s “Felicity,” which he co-created. His email posed a simple question:

Do you want to join Star Wars?

The offer a couple of years ago, though, came with a caveat. The character she would play in “Rise of the Skywalker,” a spice smuggler named Zorii Bliss, would never remove her helmet, which covers her entire face, except occasionally her eyes.

So “I can see everyone, but no one can see me,” Russell says by phone this month.

“There’s a real power play to that,” continues Russell, describing how her nimble scoundrel of a character — who has a past with the dashing pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) — would be a distinct change of pace after her starring roles. She jumped at the chance to disappear into Zorii.

While Abrams was co-writing the character, though, he didn’t even have his old pal in mind.

“You’re really not thinking about specific actors,” Abrams says. But then, “We started to cast the picture and suddenly there was an opportunity to work with Keri again, which is something that one takes advantage of if possible.

“So she was the first person I reached out to” about Zorii, “just to say: Listen, there’s this pretty fun character,” he says.

Because Russell has training as a dancer, Abrams knew that the actress could readily play the quick, agile Zorii. And he was quite confident that Russell could deliver Zorii’s sly humor.

Yet the “Rise” director also wanted someone who could communicate with simply their voice.

“The biggest thing is the conveying of emotion,” Abrams says. Russell, the director says, is able to have “a connection to a character [that] is usually weirdly sort of deep and abstract.”

To find that connection, Russell seized on the idea that beneath this enigmatic facade, Zorii is a survivor in occupied territory. The actress also dived into the big-budget costuming, with all the precise fittings for a helmeted look that harks back to vintage space serials. Her Zorii, she realized, must be as fleet of mind as of body.

Although the role is minor, it is memorable. From a creative standpoint, Russell says, “I can’t think of anything more fun than getting to do this part.”

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/

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Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Keri (Felicity, Mission: Impossible III, The Americans) is an American actress and dancer. Keri visits the attic to discuss her time on the all new Mickey Mouse club, meeting Dax’s mom and sacrificing a normal childhood for work. She talks about being an introvert and Dax is thrilled about a childhood connection he has to her. The two discuss the need to privately re-charge at public events, the story of why Keri cut her hair on Felicity and they dissect the themes of loyalty and marriage in The Americans.

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GALLERY LINKS:
– Talk Shows Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard | EP167 – December 16 2019

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