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Ke Huy Quan shares the career advice Cate Blanchett gave him on next steps post-Oscar

Ke Huy Quan, seen here at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday, is sharing some choice advice he recently received on how to navigate Hollywood.

Newly crowned Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan is thoroughly aware that success doesn’t come easy, and is open to ideas on how to make his good fortune last.

In a new interview with Variety published on Wednesday, the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star mentioned how he doesn’t yet have his next roles lined up after winning the Academy Award for best supporting actor on Sunday and revealed some career advice he recently got from Hollywood luminary Cate Blanchett.

“I told her that I don’t know what I’m going to do next, but I feel I have a responsibility to do something good, and that I don’t want to disappoint all the people that have supported me,” he said.

Quan then shared Blanchett’s advice: “‘Just go with your heart and be irresponsible: Don’t worry about what other people think. Choose something that you believe in, choose something that you love, and things will work out.’”

Elsewhere in the interview, the Vietnam-born Quan made reference to his beginnings in Hollywood, and how he arrived in Los Angeles after being in a refugee camp in Hong Kong as a child.

“I didn’t have the maturity to process the sacrifices that my parents made so that we could have a better future,” he said. “And as fate would have it, four years later, I landed a job on ‘Indiana Jones,’ which changed my life.

(From left) Ke Huy Quan and Cate Blanchett seen here in January in Los Angeles.

That “job” was his role as Short Round to Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones in the 1984 Steven Spielberg-directed film “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” which quickly led to another classic ’80s movie, “Goonies,” one year later. (“Goonies was conceived and co-executive produced by Spielberg, as well.)

And on Sunday, Quan made sure to find both Spielberg as well as Ford during the starry Academy Awards telecast to share the moment.

He recalled approaching Spielberg during a commercial break, where he was seated next to his wife Kate Capshaw – who costarred with Quan in “Temple of Doom” 40 years ago. The director put his arms on Quan’s shoulders, he said, and told him, “You are now an Oscar-winning actor!”

Later, when Ford presented the best picture Oscar to “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Quan made a bee-line to the septuagenarian star and gave him an emotional embrace onstage.

“When he opened that envelope and read the title, it made our win for best picture even more special,” Quan shared, later adding that he gave him a hug. “I just couldn’t help myself. I just want to shower this man with all my love. I gave Harrison Ford a big kiss on the cheek!”

Hannah Waddingham is heartbroken to see ‘Ted Lasso’s’ Rebecca go

Hannah Waddingham in "Ted Lasso" season two, now streaming on Apple TV+.

Since reaching worldwide stardom as headstrong football team owner Rebecca Welton on “Ted Lasso,” Hannah Waddingham has been sought after for many different projects. But, she says, she’s willing to play Rebecca on the series until the end of time.

Although the show garnered a whopping 20 Emmy nominations for Season 2 last year, creator and star Jason Sudeikis has said Season 3, which debuts on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, will likely be the last.

The Emmy-winning Waddingham told CNN in a recent interview that she “loves” Rebecca, and “my God, I would literally [keep going].”

Hannah Waddingham as Rebecca Welton and Juno Temple as Keeley Jones in "Ted Lasso"

“I already miss her,” Waddingham said. “If I don’t get to play her again, you know, there’s no Rebecca without me playing her. And it’s a very weird thing to miss someone who only exists on screen.”

That actress said she cares for Rebecca and the choices she makes and wants “to know where she goes next.”

“I love that she’s a bit ramshackled and you think she’s all together and she’s an absolute hot mess,” Waddingham laughed.

Caring for her “feels like I’m serving a friend,” she added. “And I want to continue to serve her. I want to see what happens when she turns 50, or see what happens when, you know, this person gets married and how they feel about that. Or see what happens when she loses her mother. All those things. I’m not ready [for the end.] I’m not getting the last beat of her life, you know?”

Playing a person who appears powerful but feels vulnerable is universal, Waddingham said.

“Because we have that in all of us. I know I certainly do,” she said. “I’m quite an open book and the reason why I identified with her and had such an affinity with her in the first place, and I’ve been very vocal about this, I had been in a verbally abusive relationship, which people wouldn’t think that I would have looking at me. So I already had a shorthand into who she was and how beautifully they write it. And, certainly Season 3, I love that we get back to slightly lost Rebecca.”

Viewers will learn more about Rebecca’s background in coming episodes, Waddingham revealed. Her character’s love life has been a theme on the show, but she said she does not want Rebecca to end up with Ted, as some viewers have wished.

“[Jason Sudeikis] and I have always been quite shocked that everyone’s so obsessed with [our characters] as a romantic, sexual relationship,” she said. “It speaks more about social conditioning, presuming that if two people get on with each other and are looking out for each other, that immediately will then bleed into a romantic sexual relationship. There’s more longevity in these two souls having each other in each other’s pocket.”

Bobby Caldwell, ‘What You Won’t Do For Love’ singer and songwriter, dead at 71

Bobby Caldwell performs onstage at the 2013 Soul Train Awards at the Orleans Arena on Friday, Nov. 8, 2013 in Las Vegas.

Bobby Caldwell, the soulful singer and songwriter behind R&B hits like “What You Won’t Do For Love” and “Open Your Eyes,” has died, according to a statement from his wife, Mary Caldwell.

He was 71.

“Bobby passed away here at home. I held him tight in my arms as he left us. I am forever heartbroken. Thanks to all of you for your many prayers over the years,” Mary Caldwell’s statement, shared on his verified Twitter account, read in part.

She said Caldwell had been dealing with health issues for some time.

Caldwell’s hit song “What You Won’t Do For Love” hit the Billboard 100 charts after its release in 1978. Artists including Tupac Shakur, Common and John Legend have all sampled his music.

Questlove, who collaborated with Common on “The Light,” which sampled Caldwell’s “Open Your Eyes,” shared a tribute to the late artist on Instagram, describing how he tried to work with him over the years.

“Man such a missed opportunity to meet a legend,” Questlove wrote. “Thank you for your voice and gift,

Other fans of Caldwell shared memories on social media, with one musician writing, “Thank you for sharing Bobby with us and the rest of the world, which brought to it so much joy and beauty. He will be missed and his memory will be a blessing.”

Caldwell was born in New York and grew up in Miami and got a big break as a guitarist for Little Richard.

He credited the cultural diversity of his hometown, with its Haitian, reggae, Latin, pop, and R&B influences, with is ability to perform music across genres.

“Most of the wonderful people I’ve gotten to know in the radio business, they all say the same thing. It’s like a universal language, and should have no barriers,” Caldwell said of music in a 2005 interview with NPR.

Beyond his solo career, he also wrote hit songs for others artists like “The Next Time I Fall” for Amy Grant and Peter Cetera. His last record, “Cool Uncle,” released in 2015.

‘Creed III’ wins a split decision in a sequel boxed in by its ‘Rocky’ formula

The “Rocky” sequels aren’t exactly known for their nuanced opponents, so give “Creed III” credit for trying to flesh out its antagonist, played by Jonathan Majors. But bulking up the back story slows the pacing, in a movie that finally delivers the goods but whose broader ambitions under director/star Michael B. Jordan get boxed in by its ring-shaped formula.

If only the script and story were in the same kind of fighting shape as its leads. Grounding the narrative in Adonis Creed’s past does provide a weightier foundation, but the tradeoff is an element of sluggishness in a movie that, despite its impressive cast, never feels particularly light on its toes.

A 20-year-old flashback introduces the young Adonis at a pivotal moment with his friend Damian (Majors when he grows up), a promising Golden Gloves boxer. Something happens that sends the latter to jail, and after his release 18 years later he’s eager to make up for lost time, even though he’s past what would normally be considered any fighter’s prime.

Adonis, meanwhile, is happily retired from the ring, helping develop boxers (including the reigning heavyweight champ) and orchestrate fights, while happily raising his young daughter (Mila Davis-Kent) with his wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson). Still, he carries guilt over what transpired with Damian, resisting Bianca’s pleas to open up about their history and what’s gnawing at him.

Hoping to make amends, Adonis throws Damian work as a sparring partner for the champ, though his old friend still hungers for the title shot he was denied. When circumstances derail a planned championship bout an opportunity presents itself, with the prospect of giving an unknown his chance drawing comparisons to the late Apollo Creed’s long-ago stunt with that Rocky guy.

Director-star Michael B. Jordan (left) squares off with Jonathan Majors (right) in "Creed III."

Adonis presses ahead, ignoring the objections of his former trainer and now partner, played by Wood Harris. (Sylvester Stallone, for the first time, has opted to sit this one out, although he is credited among the producers.)

“I still got gas in the tank,” Damian insists in response to Adonis’ initial skepticism, and Majors – the highlight of the recent “Ant-Man” sequel – invests the character with a quiet sense of menace and determination that does feel combustible.

While that construction makes a good deal of sense (“Creed” director Ryan Coogler shares story credit with his brother, Keenan Coogler, and Zach Baylin), there’s a flatness to the middle rounds – including the time devoted to Adonis’ domestic bliss – before getting down to business.

The same goes for the boxing sequences, which stumble a bit when Jordan seeks to expand the template by incorporating slow motion and a moment when the world essentially melts away, leaving only the fighters to duke it out in an empty void – an interesting device that ultimately doesn’t quite work.

Those deductions aside, the Jordan-Majors dynamic (as it happens, a faceoff of two topnotch Marvel villains) imbues the movie with heavyweight talent in more ways than one. The challenge is that the durability of the “Rocky” franchise from which “Creed” has cleverly drawn in the earlier films makes it as difficult to mess up its simplest charms as it is to enhance or deviate from them.

“Creed III” offers enough appealing elements, old and new, to finally come out ahead on points. Yet those strengths are balanced by shortcomings that make that judgment something seldom seen in this winner-take-all movie world of boxing – namely, a split decision

Wayne Shorter, jazz saxophonist and composer, has died at age 89

Miles Davis (left) and Wayne Shorter performing in 1967.

Wayne Shorter, a Grammy-winning saxophonist and composer who helped shaped the sound of contemporary jazz, has died, according to his publicist.

He was 89.

Shorter died Thursday in Los Angeles, his publicist Cem Kurosman with Blue Note Records told CNN in an email. No cause of death was shared.

Shorter was nominated for 23 Grammy Awards during his career and won 12 times. His first Grammy nomination was in 1973. His most recent win was in January for best improvised jazz solo performance for “Endangered Species.”

Shorter began playing the clarinet at age 16 but later turned his focus to the tenor sax before entering New York University in 1952.

Upon graduating in 1956, he played with jazz pianist Horace Silver until he was drafted into the Army. He served for two years, per the artist’s biography on Bluenote.com.

Throughout the late ’50s and into the ‘60s, Shorter joined various jazz groups and collaborated with artists such as Maynard Ferguson, Joe Zawinul and Art Blakey. In 1964, he was recruited by legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis to join Davis’s Second Great Quintet band, with which he played until 1970.

With Davis, Shorter was one of the Second Great Quintet band’s most prolific composers and contributed to hits such as “Nefertiti.”

In the ’70s and ‘80s, Shorter played with various jazz bands and musicians. He had a 15-year run in the group Weather Report, a group he co-founded, playing alongside Zawinul and Miroslav Vitous until 1985.

Shorter went on to collaborate with various rock ‘n’ roll legends. He toured with Carlos Santana in 1988, and contributed to the Rolling Stones’ 1997 hit album “Bridges to Babylon” on saxophone. In 1998, Shorter was also featured on jazz pianist Herbie Hancock’s “Gershwin World” album.

Other notable musicians Shorter worked with include Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan.

In 1999, Shorter received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee School of music alongside legendary rock artist David Bowie, who was also a skilled saxophone player.

“Wayne and myself were just so moved to hear our compositions coming back at us through your ears and abilities. It was dynamite,” Bowie said during his commencement address.

Shorter received an honorary doctorate award from NYU in 2010 during the university’s commencement at Yankee Stadium. In 2015, he was honored by the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, with a lifetime achievement award. Shorter was also an honoree at the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony.

Hancock called Shorter his “best friend” in a statement shared to CNN on Thursday from Shorter’s publicist Alisse Kingsley at Muse Media, going on to say that the late musician “left us with courage in his heart, love and compassion for all, and a seeking spirit for the eternal future.”

“I carry his spirit within my heart always,” Hancock said.

Shorter is survived by his wife Carolina, daughters Miyako and Mariana and his newborn grandson Max, according to his publicist’s statement.

Macklemore recruits 7-year-old daughter Sloane to direct ‘No Bad Days’ music video

(From left) Macklemore and 7-year-old daughter Sloane, who was tapped to direct the rapper's upcoming music video for new song 'No Bad Days.'

There are no bad days in Macklemore’s house.

The rapper shared a video on Instagram on Monday where he’s seen enlisting his 7-year-old daughter Sloane to help direct the music video for his new song “No Bad Days.”

“I’m a little bit nervous asking this, if I’m being honest,” Macklemore said to Sloane, who is seen sitting next to her dad in front of a piece of paper full of doodles at a table.

Macklemore told his daughter that he was so impressed with her “work ethic” when she recently helped him produce his golf apparel line Bogey Boys, adding “I absolutely loved your style.”

He continued to tell her that he’s been trying to think of a music video for his upcoming track “No Bad Days,” which is on his new album “Ben” set to be released on March 3 and said he had a “crazy idea.”

“I need a director and I was thinking, what if you directed the music video?” Macklemore proposed.

Shocked, Sloane giggled and excitedly exclaimed, “That’s a yes!” The dad-and-daughter duo then shared a celebratory embrace as Sloane wiped tears from her eyes and aptly said, “Action!”

This isn’t the first time Macklemore has enlisted his dynamic daughter to weigh in on his work. The rapper shared a video in 2021 in which he played his song “Next Year” for Sloane.

“Not your best but I still love ya,” she opined after listening to the song.

Hopefully, Sloane’s next venture directing her dad’s music video will go over much better.

Marvel enters a new phase, but ‘Endgame’ still looms large in the rearview mirror

Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," which kicks off the next phase of Marvel movies.

The unfavorable reviews greeting “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” have triggered inevitable speculation about Marvel losing its mojo, and whether the studio’s 15-year run of box-office dominance might be, well, shrinking, if not entirely over. While the future’s hard to see, the past points toward a pivotal moment: The exit of foundational characters that followed “Avengers: Endgame.”

Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Evans as Captain America were two of the original pillars, along with Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, around which Marvel Studios concocted its then-audacious scheme of five movies culminating with the superhero team-up “The Avengers.”

The departure of the first two after “Endgame,” followed by the sudden and unexpected death of the likeliest heir to their mantle, “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, dealt Marvel a blow that it has been struggling to compensate for ever since.

The creative challenges ushered in by the post-“Endgame” period were obscured in part by the logistical ones caused by the pandemic that impacted the entire film industry, altering expectations about what a “hit” movie actually looked like. The studio also effectively funneled much of its energy into launching parent Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, most effectively with series spun out of the Avengers franchise, and less so with efforts to bring new second-tier heroes (see Moon Knight and She-Hulk) to the screen.

With the benefit of hindsight, Marvel has essentially been in rebuilding mode since the Thanos saga reached its epic conclusion, having sacrificed a level of star power that simply isn’t easily replaced.

Indeed, the fact that Marvel opted to initiate its next phase featuring the villainous Kang the Conqueror through the character of Ant-Man, a fun but decidedly punier figure within its comics-based empire, serves as a tacit signal of the void left in its assembly line.

Marvel also experienced a setback from the tepid response, critically as well as commercially, to its attempt to introduce a new super-team with “Eternals,”

 piercing the studio’s aura of invincibility.

Marvel still misses the key players that left after "Avengers: Endgame" in 2019.

Although some will surely race ahead to label Marvel wounded – particularly if “Quantumania” doesn’t meet box-office expectations – any impulse to write its epitaph would surely be misguided. Beyond several high-profile sequels on this year’s release calendar, enormous anticipation exists regarding the studio’s integration of its former Fox properties with Deadpool, X-Men and the Fantastic Four due to join its cinematic universe.

Still, Marvel’s strength has given way to certain signs of weakness, and the delicate balancing act associated with satisfying existing fans while creating points of entry for new ones – a priority Marvel chief Kevin Feige cited in an interview with Entertainment Weekly – has become more involved as its universe has expanded, making the process of keeping track of every interlocking wrinkle feel more like “homework,” as he put it.

In that interview, Feige also mentioned producing fewer Disney+ series and spacing the out more, seemingly acknowledging the danger of diluting the brand.

Compared to the rest of the movie world Marvel still possesses high-class problems, especially when it comes to producing the kind of films that can still inspire people to rush out to see them. But the enthusiasm of its loyal fans perhaps prevented observers from recognizing the blow the studio experienced when Downey and Evans opted to hang up the armor and shield, respectively.

Even if “Ant-Man and the Wasp” falls short, Marvel’s next phase could still wind up being a rousing success, and the potential of the aforementioned Fox additions seems particularly bright.

Watching “Ant-Man,” though, it’s hard to avoid a sense that while Marvel’s storytelling has evolved to encompass a multiverse of infinite possibilities, its stable of heroes does feel smaller – as much a tribute, perhaps, to the all-stars that moved on as a knock on those that remain in its bullpen.

How ASL performer Justina Miles stole the show at Super Bowl LVII

Justina Miles performs "Lift Every Voice and Sing" in American Sign Language prior to Sunday's Super Bowl.

Rihanna wasn’t the only one shining bright like a diamond during the Super Bowl.

Videos of Justina Miles, a deaf American Sign Language interpreter, are racking up views online as admirers praise her energetic performances Sunday.

Miles signed lyrics for hearing-impaired TV viewers as Rihanna performed a 13-minute set during the game’s halftime show. Before the game the 20-year-old also signed during actress Sheryl Lee Ralph’s performance of the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

“Loving the spark and energy of Justina Miles, the ASL performer for the #SuperBowl,” one user wrote on Twitter. “Just fantastic!”

This isn’t Miles’ first musical performance. Hailing from Philadelphia, she has performed ASL renditions of concerts throughout the country, according to the National Association of the Deaf.

At a news conference on Thursday, Miles spoke about the significance of singing the Black National Anthem, which many viewers may not have heard before, she said.

Deaf performers Colin Denny, Troy Kotsur and Justina Miles (left to right) speak during a press conference Thursday about the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show.

“It’s not only for me to share this experience with the whole world, but to really bring that empowerment to millions and millions of Black deaf people all over the country, who’ve never really seen that before,” she said. “And so they should feel inspired, and that’s the same way I feel. I feel like that is truly lifting every voice, even my voice.”

Miles is a nursing student and a cheerleader at Bowie State University in Maryland and was the valedictorian at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf in Washington, DC, according to the NFL.

She was one of several ASL performers who appeared at Sunday’s Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. Actor Troy Kotsur, who became the first deaf man to win an Oscar for his performance in 2021’s “CODA,” signed Chris Stapleton’s performance of the National Anthem.

Rihanna’s performance at this year’s Super Bowl was memorable for other reasons, too. Though the Kansas City Chiefs took home the trophy for beating the Philadelphia Eagles, Rihanna stole the show by signaling her pregnancy in the midst of her performance, sending shock waves through social media. A representative for the pop star later confirmed her pregnancy to CNN.

How Rihanna stayed grounded, while so high in the air at the Super Bowl

Feb 12, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, US; Recordist artist Rihanna performs during halftime of Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium.

Yes, the seven floating stages during Rihanna’s Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show were theatrical and cool, but they also had a very practical purpose.

And it had everything to do with the grass on the field.

That’s according to Bruce Rodgers, the halftime show production designer, who spoke to Wired about helping to create the show prior to the performance.

Rodgers explained that when it came to the LED lit stages that elevated off the field for Rihanna and her dancers, it had “never been done before.”

“With Katy Perry, we flew her around in a flying device, like a rocket ship,” he said. “But this one is a totally different animal.”

Rodgers said he came up with the concept and worked with Rihanna’s team, which included designer Willo Perron, choreographer Parris Goebel, and production manager Joseph Lloyd, to implement it.

Rihanna performs onstage during the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show.

By having the singer and the other performers in the air, it took the stress off of the turf on the field that at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, is 100,000 square feet of Tifway 419 hybrid Bermuda grass.

Grass is very important to the National Football League as it can affect how the players are able to function on the field.

And while it may have looked risky for Rihanna, who debuted her new baby bump during her performance, to be suspended on a stage 15-60 feet off the ground, according to the report, the stages had “massive Brunel trusses” that Rodgers assured Rihanna’s team are “strong enough to ‘carry a freight train.’”

“This will be, in my opinion, the most technically advanced Super Bowl halftime show that’s ever been done because of the amount of tech used to move the platforms,” Aaron Siebert, the project lead from Tait Towers, which made the platforms, told the publication prior to the show.

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ leads Oscar nominations with 11

The strange and sentimental film “Everything Everywhere All at Once” led among the films nominated for the 95th Academy Awards on Tuesday, scoring 11 nominations. “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” followed with nine nominations each.

Blockbusters “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” each landed nominations for best film, and there is plenty of star power among the nominees. Both Rihanna and Lady Gaga were nominated in the original song category (for tunes from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” respectively), as veterans in the industry were recognized as well.

Those actors include Angela Bassett, who was nominated in the best supporting actress category for her role in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever;” Jamie Lee Curtis in the same category for “Everything Everywhere All at Once;” Judd Hirsch in “The Fabelmans,” nominated for best supporting actor; Colin Farrell in “The Banshees of Inisherin,” and Brendan Fraser in “The Whale,” nominated for best actor; and in the best actress category Cate Blanchett for “Tár,” Michelle Williams in “The Fabelmans” and Michelle Yeoh in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Allison Williams, who most recently starred in the horror hit “M3GAN,” and Riz Ahmed, who received an Oscar las year for his role in the short film “The Long Goodbye,” announced the nominations.

The Academy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, March 12.

See below for a full list of the nominees.