The film industry is a profession that most people automatically write off as impossible to get into. Henson on the Future . TV and Directing“Empire” returns this week and the hit series has already been renewed for a fourth season, but that doesn’t mean the show can go on forever — well, at least according to star Taraji P. Henson.“I could not do this forever. Cookie wears me out!” Henson exclaimed during a recent interview with Variety. Those writers, they just keep pushing my emotions with every episode. I got to get far away. I don’t wear animal print. Film and Television News and Jobs for Professional Filmmakers. Find Film Production Companies and Crew for your next Production.I cut my hair into a bob. I don’t wear a weave because I’ve got to get as far away from Cookie as possible.”When asked if she has a number of seasons in mind she’d like “Empire” to stay on the air, Henson quips, “Once it’s syndicated — and then I’m like, . Goodnight!'”“I learned this from the women of . You don’t want to overstay your welcome. You want to go out on a high. You want to be remembered as the number one show on network,” Henson adds. I can’t do that for so long.”While playing Cookie is an emotionally- taxing role, Henson wasn’t always confident that her erratic character would resonate with audiences. When she first read the script for “Empire,” she says she was “scared to death.”“I thought people would hate her,” Henson admits. That’s how I pick roles — if it scares me, I have to do it,” she explains. Once I did that work, I was like, okay, people are either going to love her or hate her. Phew!”It sure did work. Even though the numbers have dipped throughout its run, the Fox drama still ranks as a top scripted network show, along with NBC’s breakout hit “This Is Us.”But even with the record- breaking numbers, Henson says she doesn’t pay attention to ratings.“No. I don’t because I can’t. That would drive me crazy,” she says.
Plus, I have people for that,” she chuckles. If you do good work, the people are going to come. So I don’t sweat about the numbers. That’s someone else’s job.”Henson admits that the importance placed on overnight ratings is part of the reason why she actually prefers working in film than TV. What I mean by corporate is that it’s like a government job almost — you’re still acting, but it’s a different set- up,” Henson explains, continuing, “Film, I like better. You have a day to shoot one scene and you get to let it breath, and you have one writer for your character so your character doesn’t feel schizophrenic — sometimes, my characters feel schizo on television because there are so many opinions and so much input. Glossary A Page A revised page that extends beyond the original page, going onto a second page. Page 1, 1A, 2, 3, 3A) Abbreviations shortcuts used in scripts. Journey into Fear is a 1943 American spy film directed by Norman Foster, based on the Eric Ambler novel of the same name. The film broadly follows the plot of the. One writer, one director, one . Not all those voices.”While she’s a bit more privy to film work than television, there is still one thing on Henson’s to- do list: directing an episode of “Empire.”“I feel like I will, but the bug hasn’t hit me yet,” she says when asked if she’d like to direct. There are musical numbers. I don’t know if I could be in it and direct, but that feels like something I should do because I’m an actress and I’m on a television show and you should. I want to learn more.”“Empire” returns with the rest of Season 3 this Wednesday, March 2. Get Out Movie Review & Film Summary (2. This review was originally published on January 2. Sundance Film Festival coverage. With the ambitious and challenging “Get Out,” which premiered in a secret screening at the 2. Sundance Film Festival, Jordan Peele reveals that we may someday consider directing the greatest talent of this fascinating actor and writer. We knew from his days on “Key & Peele” and in feature comedies that he was a multiple threat, but his directorial debut is a complex, accomplished genre hybrid that should alter his business card. It is both unsettling and hysterical, often in the same moment, and it is totally unafraid to call people on their racist bullshit. When he introduced the film in Park City, he revealed that it started with an attempt to write a movie he hadn’t seen before. We need more directors willing to take risks with films like . His film is essentially about that unsettling feeling when you know you don’t belong somewhere; when you know you’re unwanted or perhaps even wanted too much. Peele infuses the age- old genre foundation of knowing something is wrong behind the closed doors around you with a racial, satirical edge. What if going home to meet your girlfriend’s white parents wasn’t just uncomfortable but downright life- threatening?“Get Out” opens with a fantastic tone- setter. A young man (the great Keith Stanfield, in two other movies at this year’s Sundance and fantastic on FX’s “Atlanta”) is walking down a suburban street, joking with someone on the phone about how he always gets lost because all the streets sound the same. A car passes him, turns around, and slowly starts following him. It’s an otherwise empty street, so the guy knows something is wrong. Suddenly, and perfectly staged in terms of Peele’s direction, the intensity of the situation is amplified and we are thrust into a world in which the safe- looking suburbs are anything but. Cut to our protagonists, Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams of “Girls”), preparing to go home to meet her parents. Rose hasn’t told them he’s black, which she blows off as no big deal, but he’s wary. His TSA Agent buddy (a hysterical Lil. Rel Howery) warns him against going too, but Chris is falling in love with Rose. He’ll have to meet them eventually. And Rose swears her dad would have voted for Obama a third time if he could have. From the minute that Chris and Rose arrive at her parents’ house, something is unsettling. Sure, Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener) seem friendly enough, but almost too much so, like they’re looking to impress Chris. More unnerving is the demeanor of a groundskeeper named Walter (Marcus Henderson) and a housekeeper named Georgina (Betty Gabriel), who almost appear to be like the pod people from “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” There’s just something wrong. But, as we so often do in social or racial situations, Chris keeps trying to excuse their behavior—maybe Walter is jealous and maybe Georgina has an issue with Chris being with a white woman. The lurking presence of Rose’s odd brother (Caleb Landry Jones), who often looks like he’s auditioning for a remake of “A Clockwork Orange,” doesn’t help. Chris goes out to have a smoke one night, and, well, things start to get even stranger in ways I won’t spoil—in fact, the preview gives away way too much. Avoid it if you can. Advertisement“Get Out” is a slow- burn of a film for its first half as Peele piles up the clues that something is wrong. Or could Chris just be overreacting to everyday racial tension? Peele’s greatest gift here is in the way he walks that fine line, staging exchanges that happen all the time but imbuing them with a greater degree of menace. As white partygoers comment on Chris’ genetically- blessed physical gifts, the mind is racing as to what exactly the greater purpose of this visit is for this young man, a minority in a sea of white people who seem to want to own him, which is itself a razor- sharp commentary on the way we often seek to possess cultural aspects other than our own. Then Peele drops his hammer. The final act of “Get Out” is an unpredictable thrill ride. As a writer, Peele doesn’t quite bring all of his elements together in the climax in the way I wish he would, but he proves to be a strong visual artist as a director, finding unique ways to tell a story that goes increasingly off the rails. The insanity of the final act allows some of the satirical, racially- charged issues to drop away, which is slightly disappointing. He’s playing with so many interesting ideas when it comes to race that I wish the film felt a bit more satisfying in its payoff, even if that disappointment is amply offset by the pure intensity of the final scenes, during which Peele displays a skill with horror action that I didn’t know he had. Peele works well with actors too, drawing a great leading man turn from Kaluuya, letting Williams essentially riff on her “Girls” persona, and knowing exactly what to do with Whitford & Keener, both of whom have always had that dangerous edge to their amiability. They’re excellent at working something sinister into their gracious host routines. Most importantly, Peele knows how to keep his concept front and center. He understands that every time a black man goes home to visit his white girlfriend’s parents, there is uncertainty and unease. He’s merely turning that up, using an easily identifiable racial tension to make a horror movie. Many of our greatest genre filmmakers have done exactly the same thing—amplifying fears already embedded in the human condition for the purpose of movie horror. We just don’t often see something quite so ambitious from a February horror flick or a first- time director. Even if the second half doesn’t quite fulfill the promise of the first, Peele doesn’t just deserve credit for trying something so daring; he should have producers knocking down his door to see what else he’s never seen before.
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