Entertainment

Timothy Olyphant Thought David Fincher’s Many Takes Were Power Move

Published

9 hours ago

July 22, 2026

Cinephiles know that David Fincher is notorious for his many takes, having actors repeat their scenes over and over again to get the perfect performance. It’s a process that used to annoy Timothy Olyphant, who stars in Fincher’s forthcoming “The Adventures of Cliff Booth.”

But that changed when he started actually working with the Oscar nominee.

“I remember years ago, way back when, hearing the Fincher stories and thinking, ‘F–k that,’ you know? Just took offense to it,” Olyphant said on a Sunday episode of the “Talk Easy With Sam Fragoso” podcast.

“Because it sounded grueling. It sounded unnecessary. It sounded like it was some power move, you know, breaking down the actor,” Olyphant continued. “It was easy to say, ‘I’ll break myself down, thank you very much,’ you know what I mean? That kind of thing. Somewhere along the line, you get to a place — at least I felt like I got to a place where I’d show up to a set, and if I got a lot of notes early on, I was like, ‘You know, I did my homework too, and so let me show you.’”

Olyphant told Fragoso that something changed in him as an actor somewhere along the way. By the time he got tapped to work for Fincher in the “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” sequel centered on Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth spinoff, he “couldn’t wait to get to set.”

“I couldn’t wait to do the 20 takes,” he told Fragoso. “I was like, ‘You want to go 20 takes? I’ll go 20 takes. I’ll go as many as, it’s a ball.’ You’re basically just saying, ‘You don’t need to come in for dinner. Just keep playing.’ That’s all you dream about, right?”

You can watch the full clip below:

Olyphant has talked about Fincher’s process a few times lately. The “Justified” star (who appears in “The Adventures of Cliff Booth” as James Stacy after playing the same part in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) went on the “Smartless” podcast Monday, where he similarly joked about the director’s infamous many-takes style.

“My favorite thing to do was, after we’d finished a take, before he said anything, I’d say, ‘Can I get one more? If I could just get one more,’” Olyphant recalled.

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CAA Hires Elle Skinner For Creators Division In UK From Free Focus

Published

1 minute ago

July 22, 2026

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EXCLUSIVE: CAA has continued the rapid expansion of its UK-based creators division by swooping for the head of talent at Free Focus Management.

Elle Skinner joins as an agent in the London office, where she will rep digital-first talent and advise creators as they build businesses.

Skinner joins from creator agency Free Focus, where she rose from talent manager to head of talent during a seven-year stint.

Across her career, she has repped the likes of Helen Anderson, Hobbie Stuart, Beth Sandland, Francesca Perks, Emma Tamsin Hill, Gabriella Lindley, and BBC Radio 1 presenter Alyx Holcombe. She started out in TV production, working for Endemol.

CAA has been building out its creators team and Skinner joins recent hire Georgia Katz, who came from management firm Mokkingbird and brought across talent like Made in Chelsea star Sam Thompson.

CAA’s recent signings out of the UK unit include William Hanson, Fin Taylor, Max Klymenko (The Career Ladder), Fallow Chefs, Jordan North, Vick Hope and Polyester. In the U.S., CAA reps creators like KSI, Dharminder “Dhar” Mann and Jesser.

“Elle has built an outstanding reputation for developing long-term careers for creators while helping them evolve into successful businesses,” said CAA Agent Glen Miller. “Her experience across talent management, brand partnerships, content, and entrepreneurship makes her an exceptional addition to our growing Creators team. As the creator economy continues to mature across Europe, we’re excited to welcome her to CAA.”

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Rebecca Yarros’ ‘Peculiar Stars’ Heads To Apple TV For Adaptation

Published

10 minutes ago

July 22, 2026

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EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, with multiple studios and producers pursuing, Apple TV has stepped up to preemptively acquire the rights to Peculiar Stars, the upcoming romance novel from Rebecca Yarros, the bestselling author behind the Fourth Wing fantasy romance Empyrean book series.

Apple Studios will develop Peculiar Stars as a TV series, with Yarros serving as executive producer through her banner, Full Measures Productions. A search is underway for a writer to adapt the novel.

With Peculiar Stars — available for pre-order and set to publish November 17, 2026 — Apple TV is staking a claim in the romance series space, announcing its ambitions in the genre where the streamer has had limited presence so far that includes costume drama The Buccaneers and, to some extent, period drama Pachinko and limited series Lessons In Chemistry.

In Peculiar Stars, after a cyclone strands a young woman on a deserted island with a member of her fiancé’s family, survival upends everything she thought she knew about love. But when they’re finally rescued, and re-enter their world of privilege, expectation and secrets, homecoming proves far more dangerous than the island they left behind.

The slow-burn romance, which spans 543 days on an island, marks the latest in Yarros’ romance lineup outside of the romantasy Empyrean series which has sold over 30 million copies. Onyx Storm, the third book in the planned five-book saga, which came out January 21, 2025, has broken records as the fastest selling book in the last 20 years.

A Fourth Wing TV adaptation has been ordered to series at Amazon MGM Studios with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society and Kilter Films producing, and Meredith Averill showrunning. Deadline broke the news that Yarros’ 2021 romance novel, The Things We Leave Unfinished, has been set up at Lionsgate with Yarros executive producing, Arash Amel adapting and Thea Sharrock attached to direct.

The author’s romance novel In the Unlikely Event, sold to Netflix preemptively with Dylan Clark Productions producing. Her 2024 romance novel Variation is set up at Amazon as a feature with Higher Ground and Misty Copeland producing. In 2025, her novel The Last Letter, sold to Amazon with Imagine producing, Anna Klassen adapting, and Yarros EP-ing.

Yarros, a #1  New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels, is repped by The Fury Agency, Weintraub Tobin, and Untitled Entertainment.

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The Girl in the River: Tiffany Haddish, Devon Sawa Movie Gets Release

Published

18 minutes ago

July 22, 2026

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A crime feature starring Tiffany Haddish is set to make a splash in theaters.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired The Girl in the River and will release the thriller in theaters and on digital platforms Sept. 4, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Maggie Grace, Devon Sawa and Ralph Macchio round out the cast for writer-director Brando Benetton’s movie.

The Girl in the River centers on an experienced criminologist and a young psychologist who head to a small Mississippi town after a girl is murdered and her twin sister goes missing.

“I know you want to retire, but yesterday, two twin sisters disappeared,” Haddish says in the trailer. “Their father — his political authority is absolute. We’ve already found the body. If we don’t find her sister in the next 24 hours, she won’t be back at all.”

Later, Sawa laments the challenges inherent with the crime. “We have too many leads, no real suspects,” he says in the footage. He goes on to add, “Just because you think someone’s a killer doesn’t mean they are one.”

The trailer ends with Haddish declaring, “You’re not ready to confront what real evil looks like.”