Extraction
As a stuntman, stunt coordinator, and second unit director, Sam Hargrave has been a part of some of the biggest action films of the last decade, from
Atomic Blonde to
Avengers: Endgame. But Chris Evans’ former
Captain America stunt double saved his best and, according to him, “most intense physical sequence,” for his directorial debut. Shot over the course of 10 days in India, the 12-minute scene is presented as one shot, tracking mercenary Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) as he takes on a city full of bad guys determined to not let him escape alive. Previously talking to EW, Hemsworth said he’s “never experienced this amount of action before,” and, after watching him in a high-speed chase, jump buildings, and engage in nonstop hand-to-hand combat, we’re right there with him.
Hustle & Flow), Jones stars opposite fellow
SNL alum Murphy as Mary, the mother of the son Prince Akeem (Murphy) never knew he had. It’s like if a member of the British royal family suddenly found out they had a child with somebody from America but Leslie Jones is straight up Queens, Brewer says to EW with a laugh. She suffers no fools and says what’s on her mind in a real colorful way, and yet she actually brings a lot of joy to the kingdom, especially to Lisa [Shari Headley], who is from Queens but hasn’t been back since she married Akeem. And so in a way Mary is a little bit of a breath of fresh air from home that reminds Lisa where she comes from.
Above, see the first look at the legendary action star in
Coming 2 America. Snipes playing General Izzi in the long-awaited sequel comes more than three decades after he was passed over for the role of Darryl, the Jheri curl-having romantic rival of Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy).
“I auditioned for the first
Coming to America, but I didn’t get to audition in front of Eddie, Snipes previously told EW. After three call backs, I ended up losing the role to Eriq La Salle. But, ever since I saw that movie, I’ve wanted to work with Eddie. I wanted check the great grandmaster comedian Eddie Murphy off my bucket list. Working with him was surreal, joyful, hilarious, and, at times, a little scary, because you know he lives in the world of funny and you want to at least be in the room. I don’t know if it was toe to toe, I’d characterize it more like riding along, and, in some cases, hanging on. If you watch his films over the years, you can tell that a lot of the comedians in som
CRAIG BREWER: We need it.
Long before you worked with Eddie or signed on for
Coming 2 America, what was your relationship with the original? Was this a big touchstone for you?
Oh yeah. I’m a kid of the ‘80s, and so that means I’m a student of Eddie Murphy. I try to explain to young people what that moment was like when Eddie came onto the scene. It has not been equaled; he was electrifying. Every movie he was in I went to go see, all of the S
aturday Night Live episodes I not only watched them, I taped them on my Betamax and watched them back again. So
I know it might be tacky to say this about something I had a hand in, but it blew me away.
Writer Miki Johnson cried the first time she watched the opening scene of Fire Pink, the penultimate episode of
Ozark s third season, for which both she and director Alik Sakharov would score Emmy nominations. I was soaring with pride and emotion, she recalls, pointing to Tom Pelphrey s performance. Just amazing.
Described by Sakharov as an internal, unique, slow-burn of an episode, he believes Fire Pink can be watched and enjoyed even if you have zero knowledge of
Ozark. Because of how acutely dramatic it is, I think you can still be moved and touched by it, he says of the Ben (Pelphrey) and Wendy (Laura Linney) spotlight installment.