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Margulies facing character backlash
Julianna Margulies is not backing down about playing a lesbian with her latest role.
The Emmy Award-winning actor responded to the growing backlash about her portraying out gay anchor Laura Peterson on the Apple TV+ series “The Morning Show.”
She doubled down on her recent remarks about actors being able to play roles that may not be aligned with the personal lives — but this time with a caveat.
When asked if straight-identified actors should be allowed to play LGBTQ+ characters, “The Good Wife” star said, “My response also would be we’re all making assumptions as to who I am and what my past is and what all of our pasts are. I am an actress, and I am supposed to embody another character. Whatever their sexuality is doesn’t matter to me.”
During the “CBS Mornings” interview, the 55-year-old actor said she wanted to play the character because they shared similar personalities, ambitions and experiences, and warned that if a character’s sexuality is the only trait that determines which actors portrays them, that could open a Pandora’s box regarding casting for roles.
“Are you telling me that because I’m a mother I can never play a woman who’s never had a child? Or if you’ve never been married that you can’t play a married woman?,” she asked. “We’re actors, we’re supposed to embody a character regardless of their sexuality.”
But there is one line Margulies believes should never be crossed — playing characters that are of a different race or gender.
“That’s a whole different story and I 100% agree with that,” she said.
Hamm to star in animated comedy: Jon Hamm will voice the lead character of the new Fox animated comedy series “Grimsburg.” The series, which is slated to debut in 2023, will see Hamm play Marvin Flute, a great detective who hasn’t cracked the mystery of his family.
“I am very excited to be involved in the Fox animation universe,” Hamm said. “A universe I have been actively watching since the early nineties. The opportunity to get to bring a project like ‘Grimsburg’ to life that is so particular and unique and to work with its incredibly imaginative and hilarious creators is one I can’t wait to get started with.”
Hamm is best known for the Emmy-winning role of Don Draper on the AMC series “Mad Men.”
Cumberbatch to play Benedict Litvinenko: Cumberbatch is set to star in the limited series “Londongrad” in development at HBO. Based on the book “The Terminal Spy” by Alan Cowell, the series tells the true story of Alexander Litvinenko, the KGB agent and later defector killed by poisoning with the radioactive isotope polonium-210 in 2006 in England.
Cumberbatch will star as Litvinenko and also serve as an executive producer. The actor has held multiple highly-regarded TV roles, including as detective Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series “Sherlock.”
Nov. 1 birthdays: Actor Barbara Bosson is 82. Actor Jeannie Berlin is 72. Musician David Foster is 72. Actor Belita Moreno is 72. Singer Lyle Lovett is 64. Singer Anthony Kiedis is 59. Rapper Willie D is 55. Actor Toni Collette is 49. TV personality Jenny McCarthy is 49. Actor Natalia Tena is 37. Actor Penn Badgley is 35.