Celebrity
Game of Thrones cast talks divisive finale, water bottles
Published
5 years agoon
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FNN NEWSSAN DIEGO (AP) — “Game of Thrones” may be over but the cast can’t seem to get away from stray coffee cups.
Maisie Williams, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Liam Cunningham, Isaac Hempstead Wright and others took the stage at San Diego Comic-Con Friday evening for a goodbye panel and found some waiting at their places.
It was a cheeky reference to the misplaced coffee cup that viewers spotted in an episode of the final season that subsequently went viral. Although the moderator didn’t make them answer for the coffee, actor John Bradley did have to defend himself against the other out-of-place item in the finale: The water bottle by his foot.
“I am right handed. I’ve thought about this very strongly,” Bradley said, making a case that he would have put the bottle on the other side if it was his. “I’m not trying to clear my name, but … I think I’ve taken enough blame for this one.”
The cast was in good spirits after years of attending Comic-Con and not being able to reveal anything at the panels. Finally they were allowed to talk about things.
The big Hall H audience cheered to find out some of their favorite lines: Williams chose her own character’s battle cry, “Not today,” while Conleth Hill went for his co-star Peter Dinklage’s, “I drink and I know things.”
They also indulged in some fan theories, cleared up some burning questions and speculated about what happens after the finale.
Wright said that he can’t imagine Bran’s new government is a “barrel of laughs.”
“Westeros is probably a surveillance state,” he said.
But perhaps there is more fun happening on the new small council, according to Bradley.
“It basically turns into ‘The Office,’” he said.
Cunningham posited that a spinoff could be called “Better Call Davos.”
As for Arya and her quest to go “west of Westeros,” Williams said, “I’m sure she’s having a wonderful time, like Dora the Explorer minus the bob.”
And Jacob Anderson thinks Grey Worm is off starting a new society with “a Wakanda kind of vibe.”
There was some discussion of the divisiveness of the eighth and final season, although likely not as much as there would have been had showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss been in attendance as originally scheduled.
“Look at the amount of people here,” Hill said, gesturing to the 8,000-some people in Hall H. “We’re very grateful to your fandom over the years … this is the reality as opposed to the media-led hate campaign.”
Coster-Waldau said every season of “Game of Thrones” has been divisive in its own way, from Ned Stark’s fate to the “Red Wedding.”
“Obviously when it comes to an end it’s going to (expletive) you off no matter what because it’s the end,“Coster-Waldau said. “Just don’t call people names.”
Benioff and Weiss dropped off the schedule at the last minute, as did actors Iain Glen and Nathalie Emmanuel and director Miquel Sapochnik. Their absence was not addressed during the panel.
But everyone at Hall H seemed to be enjoying the victory lap. Earlier this week, “Game of Thrones” scored 32 Emmy nominations. It was a single year Primetime Emmy nomination record.
In addition to a best drama series nod, which the show has won four times, there were a handful of acting nominations for Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke in leading performances, Dinklage, Coster-Waldau, Alfie Allen, Lena Headey, Williams, Sophie Turner and Gwendoline Christie in supporting performances, and Carice van Houten as a guest star.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Allen, Christie and van Houten all self-submitted for consideration, which involves paying a $225 entry fee,
“Game of Thrones” ended this past May after 8 seasons. Its finale brought in a series record 19.3 million viewers.
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Celebrity
[PHOTOS] 2022 Cannes Film Festival: Supermodel Adriana Lima Boasts Baby Bump on ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Red Carpet
Published
2 years agoon
May 28, 2022CANNES, France (FNN) – Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima brought a guest with her to the red carpet premiere of Top Gun: Maverick. No, we don’t mean her boyfriend Andre Lemmers, but her adorable–and well-styled–bun in the oven.
Lima, 40, graced the red carpet dressed in Chopard jewelry and a black long-sleeved Balmain gown with a baby bump cutout.
Lima announced in February that she was expecting her third child, this one being the first with Lemmers, and her first son. She has two daughters, Valentina, 12, and Sienna, 9, with ex-husband Marco Jarić.
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Florida National News editor Mellissa Thomas and FNN News international correspondent Patience Eding contributed to this report. | info@floridanationalnews.com
Celebrity
[PHOTOS] 2022 Cannes Film Festival: Tom Cruise and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Cast Grace the Red Carpet
Published
2 years agoon
May 28, 2022CANNES, France (FNN) – Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, and the cast and crew of Top Gun: Maverick landed for the 2022 Cannes Film Festival red carpet in style. (No, literally–the aircraft actually landed.)
Executive Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and his wife also joined the excitement on the red carpet for one of the most anticipated sequels in all of Hollywood.
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Florida National News editor Mellissa Thomas and FNN News international correspondent Patience Eding contributed to this report. | info@floridanationalnews.com
Business
Interfaith Group Asks Starbucks to Drop Vegan Milk Surcharge
Published
2 years agoon
May 13, 2022By
FNN NEWSBOSTON (AP) — A group of Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish leaders is asking Starbucks to stop charging extra for vegan milk alternatives, saying the practice amounts to a tax on people who have embraced plant-based lifestyles.
In a statement issued Friday, an interfaith coalition led by Nevada-based Hindu activist Rajan Zed pressed the coffee chain to end the surcharges it called “unethical and unfair.”
“A coffee company should not be in the business of taxing individuals who had chosen the plant-based lifestyle,” said Zed’s statement, which was also signed by Thomas W. Blake, an Episcopal priest; Greek Orthodox clergyman Stephen R. Karcher; Buddhist priest Matthew Fisher; and Jewish rabbi ElizaBeth Webb Beyer.
The religious leaders cited numerous reasons why some Starbucks customers prefer alternatives to dairy, including dietary restrictions, ethical issues, environmental concerns, lactose intolerance, milk allergies and animal welfare.
Those who want plant-based milk should not have to pay more, they said, calling on the Seattle-based company’s CEO, Howard Schultz, and board chair Mellody Hobson to immediately drop the surcharge.
Starbucks outlets in the United States typically charge 50 cents to a dollar more for drinks made with plant-based milks.
Starbucks doesn’t charge for a splash of nondairy milk, including soy milk, coconut milk, almond milk and oat milk, though it does levy a surcharge for customized beverages made largely with those substitutes, spokesperson Megan Adams told The Associated Press.
It is not the first time Starbucks’ surcharge has riled the public. On Tuesday, activist and actor James Cromwell glued his hand to the counter of a Starbucks franchise in New York City to protest the practice.
Cromwell, 81, later used a knife to scrape it off. Police said there were no arrests.