Christian Bale Transforms Into Unrecognizable Look to Play Al Davis in John Madden Biopic

Christian Bale Transforms Into Unrecognizable Look to Play Al Davis in John Madden Biopic

Frazer Harrison/Getty; Christopher Oquendo/MEGA Christian Bale looks totally unrecognizable on the set of upcoming John Madden biopic Bale plays the late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis The biopic will chronicle the life and career of former Raiders head coach turned NFL commentator John Madden, who died in 2021 at 85 Christian Balelooks unrecognizable on the Atlanta set ofMadden. Bale, 51, was seen in a receding hairline wig with bleached eyebrows. He wore a white v-neck shirt paired with a leather jacket, black slacks, and dress shoes. The look was completed with a series of championship rings. The actor plays lateOakland Raidersowner Al Davis in the upcomingMaddenbiopic, which will chronicle the life of John Madden.Nicholas Cagestars as the legendary NFL coach, who won Super Bowl XI in 1977 for the Raiders and later became a broadcaster. Earlier this week, Cage was similarly seen in an unrecognizable ensemble, complete with a wavy blonde wig and aqua blue tracksuit. "The film follows Madden's remarkable journey—from his Super Bowl-winning partnership with Al Davis and the Raiders, to creating Madden NFL, and becoming one of the most iconic voices in football history," Amazon MGM Studiossaid of the filmwhen it was announced on May 13. Also joining the cast areJohn Mulaneyas Trip Hawkins,Kathryn Hahnas Virginia Madden, andSienna Milleras Carol Davis. David O. Russell, who previously directed Bale inThe FighterandAmerican Hustle, is directing the film. Christopher Oquendo/MEGA Madden served as head coach of the Raiders from 1969 to 1978. He was one of the youngest head coaches in history when the Raiders hired him at 32. His biggest victory came in January 1977, when he led the Raiders to a 32-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. He went on to work as an expert commentator on NFL telecasts for CBS, Fox, ABC and NBC from 1979 to 2009, and won 16 Sports Emmy Awards. The long-running football video game franchiseMaddencarries his name. Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.Madden died in 2021in his home in Pleasanton, Calif., at 85. Davis was the principal owner of the Raiders from 1972 until his death in 2011 at 82. His widow, Carol Davis, and their son Mark Davis now own the team. Amazon MGM Studios has not announced a release date forMaddenyet. Read the original article onPeople

byAlpha World

in

June 04, 2025

Christian Bale Transforms Into Unrecognizable Look to Play Al Davis in John Madden Biopic

Christian Bale Transforms Into Unrecognizable Look to Play Al Davis in John Madden Biopic Frazer Harrison/Getty; Christopher Oquendo/MEGA Ch...

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Sophia Bush Details Alleged Physical and Emotional Abuse on TV Show Set in Conversation with Monica Lewinsky

Sophia Bush Details Alleged Physical and Emotional Abuse on TV Show Set in Conversation with Monica Lewinsky

John Nacion/WireImage Sophia Bush is speaking candidly about a toxic work environment on the set of a TV show where she was allegedly physically and emotionally abused She said on the Tuesday, June 3, episode ofReclaiming with Monica Lewinskythat the situation happened with "someone old enough to be my father" " I had to go to work ready for war," she alleged Sophia Bushis speaking out about a toxic work environment and the alleged trauma she endured as a result. On the Tuesday, June 3, episode ofReclaiming with Monica Lewinsky, Bush, 42, recalled joining a television series after her nine-year run on the teen dramaOne Tree Hill, which wrapped in 2012. While she didn't directly name the TV show, she shared that it was on her "bucket list." However, she suffered "every kind" of abuse on the set, with "someone old enough to be [her] father." "When I look back at it, I had the opportunity after two years to go," Bush explained. "I did the thing I learned to do and said, 'I will not have my integrity diminished by someone else's behavior. I will be unflappable. I will come to work and do my job.' And I couldn't." She recalled waking up in "physical hell," having a "spontaneous illness" and being "covered in hives." Bush said during this time, her weight also fluctuated and she experienced hair loss. Matt Dinerstein/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty "As an extrovert who loves people, to be hit with anxiety in such a way that I could barely be out of the house; if people touched me in public, I would jump out of my skin," she recalled. "I couldn't talk to people anymore. I couldn't talk to strangers anymore. I couldn't be looked at anymore, especially in the work environment." Bush said she found herself becoming defensive while working on the series, something she'd never experienced before. "Because I had to go to work ready for war all the time, I had to learn where to stand to not get elbowed in the ribs or how to block a scene to not be touched. It was just exhausting," she claimed. The actress said she wasn't able to exit the show until April 2017, a few months beforethe #MeToo movementbegan. "By October [2017], I got a call from an executive apologizing for what they'd done and not done," she said. "And [they] said, 'We're very aware we just made it out of that unscathed.' " Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Matt Dinerstein/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty While Bush didn't directly name the show she spoke of, from 2014 to 2017 she played Erin Lindsay on the NBC police drama,Chicago P.D. She opened up about her departure from the series in December 2017, tellingRefinery 29'sUnstyledpodcast that she was given two options: change her environment or have her character written off. "It was then that I realized I'd been drowning. It was then that I knew just how miserable I was going to work every day,"Bush recalled at the time. "I had to respect myself in a situation where I didn't feel respected." PEOPLE reached out to Bush's rep for comment and didn't immediately hear back. If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor. If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Read the original article onPeople

byAlpha World

in

June 04, 2025

Sophia Bush Details Alleged Physical and Emotional Abuse on TV Show Set in Conversation with Monica Lewinsky

Sophia Bush Details Alleged Physical and Emotional Abuse on TV Show Set in Conversation with Monica Lewinsky John Nacion/WireImage Sophia Bu...

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Judge says migrants sent to El Salvador prison must get a chance to challenge their removals

Judge says migrants sent to El Salvador prison must get a chance to challenge their removals

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration must give more than 100 migrants sent to anotoriousprison in El Salvador a chance to challenge their deportations. U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg said that people who were sent to the prison in March under an 18th-century wartime law haven't been able to formally contest the removals or allegations that they are members of the Venezuelan gangTren de Aragua.He ordered the administration to work toward giving them a way to file those challenges. The judge wrote that "significant evidence" has surfaced indicating that many of the migrants imprisoned in El Salvador are not connected to the gang "and thus languish in a foreign prison on flimsy, even frivolous, accusations." Boasberg gave the administration one week to come up with a manner in which the "at least 137" people can make those claims, even while they're formally in the custody of El Salvador. It's the latest milestone in the monthslong legal saga over the fate of deportees imprisoned at El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center. AfterTrumpinvoked theAlien Enemies Actof 1798 in March and prepared to fly planeloads of accused gang members to El Salvador and out of the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, Boasberg ordered them to turn the planes around. This demand was ignored. Boasberg has found probable cause that the administration committed contempt of court after the flight landed. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele posted a taunting message on social media — reposted by some of Trump's top aides — that read "Oopsie, too late." The U.S. Supreme Court laterruledthat anyone targeted under the AEA has the right to appeal to a judge to contest their designation as an enemy of the state. Boasberg, in his latest, ruling wrote that he was simply applying that principle to those who'd been removed. Boasberg said the administration "plainly deprived" theimmigrantsof a chance to challenge their removals before they were put on flights. Therefore, he says the government must handle the migrants cases now as if they "would have been if the Government had not provided constitutionally inadequate process." The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The administration and its supporters have targeted Boasberg for his initial order halting deportations and his contempt inquiry, part of their growingbattlewith the judiciary as it puts the brakes on Trump's efforts to unilaterally remake government. The fight has been particularly harsh in the realm of immigration, where Trump has repeatedly said it'd be impossible to protect the country from dangerous immigrants if each one has his or her day in court. "We cannot give everyone a trial!" the president posted on his social media site, Truth Social, after the Supreme Court intervened a second time in the AEA saga,haltinga possible effort to evade its initial ruling by temporarily freezing deportations from northern Texas. Boasberg wrote that he accepted the administration's declaration, filed under seal, providing details of the government's deal with El Salvador to house deportees and how that means the Venezuelans are technically under the legal control of El Salvador and not the United States. He added, while noting there is a criminal penalty for providing false testimony, that believing those representations was "rendered more difficult given the Government's troubling conduct throughout this case." He also noted parallels with another case where the Trump administration admitted itmistakenlydeported a Maryland man to El Salvador and has been ordered by a judge, appellate judges and the U.S. Supreme Court to "facilitate" his return. That man,Kilmar Abrego Garcia, remains in El Salvador more than two months later. ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt welcomed Boasberg's ruling. "This is a significant step forward to getting these men the chance to show that they should not ever have been removed under a wartime authority," Gelernt told reporters in San Diego after a hearing in a separate, unrelated case. In that case, a federal judge Wednesday found the Trump administration violated a settlement to provide legal advice to thousands of families that were separated at the border. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw said he would likely decide on concrete steps by early next week. In the AEA case, Boasberg's order is only the latest of a blizzard of legal rulings. Several judges have temporarily halted deportations under the act in parts of Texas, New York, California, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, finding the administration's 24 hour window that it gave detainees to challenge their designation under the act did not meet the Supreme Court's requirement of providing a "reasonable" chance to seek relief. Deportations of people in the country illegally can continue in those areas under laws other than the AEA, Some of the judges in those cases have also found that Trump cannot use the act to target a criminal gang rather than a state, noting that the act has only been invoked three prior times in history — during the War of 1812 and during World Wars I and II. The Supreme Court will likely eventually decide those issues. The Trump administration contends that the gang is acting as a shadow arm of Venezuela's government. _______ Riccardi reported from Denver. Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, D.C., and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

byAlpha World

in

June 04, 2025

Judge says migrants sent to El Salvador prison must get a chance to challenge their removals

Judge says migrants sent to El Salvador prison must get a chance to challenge their removals WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled on Wedn...

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Trump administration returns migrant hastily deported to Mexico back to the US

Trump administration returns migrant hastily deported to Mexico back to the US

A Guatemalan national who says he was wrongfully deported to Mexico is back in the United States, his legal team told CNN, in whatappears to mark the first timethe Trump administration has brought back a migrant after ajudge ordered the administrationto facilitate their return. O.C.G., a pseudonym the migrant is using in the case, landed in the United States on Wednesday and made contact with a member of the litigation team challenging the Trump administration's moves tosend migrants to countries where they have no ties, according to Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance. He is now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement's custody, Realmuto told CNN. The Trump administration said in court filings last week that it was "working" on flying back O.C.G. after resisting similar orders to facilitate deported migrants' returns in other cases. "The person in question was an illegally present alien who was granted withholding of removal to Guatemala. He was instead removed to Mexico, a safe third option for him," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CNN on Wednesday. "Yet, this federal activist judge ordered us to bring him back, so he can have an opportunity to prove why he should be granted asylum to a country that he has had no past connection to." "The Trump administration is committed to returning our asylum system to its original intent," she said. US District Judge Brian Murphy – who is overseeing a case concerning migrants being deported to countries that are not their home country – ordered O.C.G's return last month, ruling that his removal to Mexico, and subsequently Guatemala, likely "lacked due process." After entering the US and being deported a first time, O.C.G. reentered the US again in 2024, at which point he sought asylum, having suffered "multiple violent attacks" in Guatemala, according to court documents. On his way to the US during the second trip, O.C.G. said, he was raped and held for ransom in Mexico –– a detail he made known to an immigration judge during proceedings. In 2025, a judge ruled he should not be sent back to his native country, the documents say. And just two days after, the government deported him to Mexico, according to Murphy's order. O.C.G. was later removed to Guatemala, where hefiled a declarationlast month that he was "living in hiding, in constant panic and constant fear." He has claimed that he had not been given the opportunity before his deportation to communicate his fear of being sent to Mexico and that his pleas before his removal to speak to an attorney were rejected. The government had initially argued that O.C.G. had communicated to officials before his removal that he had no fear about being deported to Mexico, but it recently backed down from that claim after it could not identify an immigration official who could substantiate it. According to Murphy's ruling, O.C.G. said during his immigration proceedings that he feared being sent to Mexico, but the judge told him that since Mexico isn't his native country, he can't be sent there without additional steps in the process. Murphy's ruling came days after an appeals courtdenied the Trump administration's requestto put on hold an order requiring it to facilitate the return of a 20-year-old Venezuelan migrant wrongly deported to El Salvador earlier this year. During a hearing last month, US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher said officials had done virtually nothing to comply with her directive that they "facilitate" that migrant's return to the US from the mega-prison in El Salvador where he was sent so he can have his asylum application resolved. In a similar case, the Trump administration has been in a standoff with another federal judge in Maryland over her order that it facilitate the return ofKilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was mistakenly deported in March. US District Judge Paula Xinis, who is overseeing the case, has facedrepeated stonewallingfrom the Justice Department and members of the Trump administration, who have continued to thwart an "expedited fact-finding" search for answers on what officials are doing to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return from El Salvador. This story has been updated with additional details. CNN's Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

byAlpha World

in

June 04, 2025

Trump administration returns migrant hastily deported to Mexico back to the US

Trump administration returns migrant hastily deported to Mexico back to the US A Guatemalan national who says he was wrongfully deported to ...

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'Ballerina' review: Ana de Armas is game-changing in new 'John Wick' movie

'Ballerina' review: Ana de Armas is game-changing in new 'John Wick' movie

Keanu Reeves' iconic hitman might still be at the top of the franchise food chain, but for at least one "John Wick" spinoff,Ana de Armasowns that super-cool underworld. De Armas smacks, smashes and crashes through a gauntlet of gunfights and brawls in the chilly revenge mission "Ballerina" (★★★½ out of four; rated R; in theaters June 6), director Len Wiseman's vital side adventure forthe popular action-movie series. If you thought watching Tom Cruise hang off a biplane for 20 minutes was a blast, just wait until de Armas picks up a flamethrower. Wick, the legendary "Baba Yaga" of this killer mythology, is here, too, but Reeves takes a back seat for the most part as Eve Macarro (de Armas) earns the spotlight. Orphaned as a child when her father was murdered in front of her, Eve grows up as both dancer and assassin in the Ruska Roma crime family, the organization run by the no-nonsense Director (Anjelica Huston) who also trained Wick. Join our Watch Party!Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox Taught to "fight like a girl" – able to adapt to any situation, cheat if necessary and kick a bunch of dudes in the groin – Eve proves herself worthy of going on assignments. But one night after taking out a club full of bad guys, she notices one's wrist is branded with the same symbol as the henchmen who killed her dad. Eve learns it's a cult that kills for sport, with the child-stealing Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) at its heartless center. Going rogue against the Director's wishes, Eve turns her quest for vengeance into a rescue when a little girl is kidnapped, and globe trots from a neon New York nightclub to a snowy Austrian village full of murderous locals. "Ballerina" is set between the third and fourth "Wick" films, so Reeves' character is still alive and kicking to be a frenemy of sorts for Eve. There's a nifty chemistry between the two actors, especially when they square off in combat, and Eve's story of breaking rules and facing consequences fleshes out her persona and also gives insight into Wick's uncharted origins. The "John Wick" films have upped their stunts and action-movie game each time out, and "Ballerina" doesn't disappoint in that vein. There's less of Reeves' tireless gun fu and more of de Armas just picking up random objects and using them on a host of baddies. Remote controls, dinner plates, ice skates, a firehose: All are used viciously by Eve at one point or another. She gets her signature franchise moments, including a delightfully demented flamethrowing shootout, and also those usually unseen ones as well, like Eve quietly reclaiming her knives from corpses after some violent mayhem. De Armas is a great addition to the "Wick"-verse, as is Wiseman: From the "Underworld" movies to a "Total Recall" reboot and a "Die Hard," the director is no stranger to action flicks and "Ballerina" is his best, by a lot. The film matches the neo-noir qualities of the other "John Wick" movies right down to the dialogue, which is as subtle as a head shot: "He's only one man!" screams some doomed soul, apparently unaware of how unstoppable Reeves' main man is at his bloody work. And some obvious references to the Garden of Eden with a woman named Eve searching for her truth are ham-fisted, but also a hallmark of the genre. Ian McShane and Lance Reddick reprise their respective past roles as Wick allies Winston and Charon – Reddick's warmth especially comes through in his final film performance. "The Walking Dead" standout Norman Reedus pops as Daniel Pine, an ex-cult member who needs Eve's help, and seems destined to return to a franchise where the protagonists always need more pals. For this particular heroine, de Armas taps into the same star-making potential she unleashed in an over-too-soon sequence in the James Bond movie "No Time to Die" and gets to let loose for two hours. There's no need to yearn for a female 007 or a woman Wick anymore – just hope for another film that's all about Eve. The action thriller "Ballerina," the latest installment of the "John Wick" movie franchise, is in theaters June 6. The film is rated R by theMotion Picture Association"for strong/bloody violence throughout, and language." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'John Wick' 'Ballerina' movie unleashes a stellar Ana de Armas

byAlpha World

in

June 04, 2025

'Ballerina' review: Ana de Armas is game-changing in new 'John Wick' movie

'Ballerina' review: Ana de Armas is game-changing in new 'John Wick' movie Keanu Reeves' iconic hitman might still be at...

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