Hollywood welcomed Jeremy Renner back with open arms as he proved he actually is a superhero, returning to the red carpet only a few short months since his terrifying accident. Meanwhile, at the TCM Classic Film Festival, Angie Dickinson proved that 91 is still young; and at the “Schmigadoon!” Season 2 Premiere, Jane Krakowski brought shock and awe (and squad goals) to everyone over 50. We were also inside the “Blindspotting” bash, partied with nuns at the “Mrs. Davis” debut and began to say goodbye to “Mrs. Maisel,” all here in our inside glimpse into what Hollywood’s most interesting people have been doing lately.
“Blindspotting” Season 2 Premiere
NeueHouse Hollywood
The “Blindspotting” Season 2 Premiere party at NeueHouse Hollywood felt like attending a family reunion, as the cast and crew of the Starz comedy series came together to celebrate its return to television. The evening kicked off with a screening of two episodes from the new season that premieres on April 14, followed by a Q&A panel with the cast and creators Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs, with moderation by actor LeVar Burton.
After the main event, guests enjoyed drinks and appetizers and mingled with Starz executives, cast and crew members from the series, and celebrity guests like “Hamilton” star Leslie Odom Jr. and Paul W. Downs, the co-creator of the HBO Max hit comedy series “Hacks.”
A sequel series to the 2018 film of the same name, “Blindspotting” stars Jasmine Cephas Jones, Helen Hunt, Benjamin Turner, Jaylen Barron, Candace Nicholas-Lippman, Atticus Woodward and Casal, who all made the scene in style.
“It’s such a gem of a show. I’ve been in this business for a long time and it’s not easy to find a show that’s this special, full of joy and imagination,” Starz President of Original Programming Kathryn Busby told us during the event
“I hope audiences tune in and see what the show has to offer this season.” – Jose Alejandro Bastiadas
“Rennervations” Premiere
Regency Village Theater, Westwood
Jeremy Renner made his first public appearance at the Regency Village Theater in Westwood since his accident on New Year’s Day with a snow plow that crushed him. He broke more than 30 bones and dealt with severe injuries that hospitalized him for weeks and took months to recover.
Renner took some time to talk with TheWrap and discussed what inspires him and motivates him – especially following the injury.
“Kids in general inspire me, my daughter for sure does. I try to make it a prerequisite for that to spend my time with people, do they inspire me? Do they inspire me to be better?” he said, still showing some residue of the accident as he worked the red carpet.
During a special Q&A following the screening of an episode of the reality series that centers around Renner and his crew reimagining decommissioned vehicles and rebuilding them into creations that serve communities around the world, Jimmy Kimmel asked Renner how his injury gave him a new outlook on life.
“A big part of my recovery was the show,” Renner revealed. “[This night] set a big milestone for me to get better, to make sure that our hard work was not for naught. I ran my damn self over, right? Like there’s no alternative. To me, it was easy because I had somewhere to go and something to point toward – and I had a lot of love, man.” Find “Rennervations” on Disney+. – Elijah Gil
“Mrs. Davis” Premiere
Directors Guild of America Theater, Los Angeles
The premiere of the new Peacock series Mrs. Davis took place at the Directors Guild of America building in Hollywood and was “nun” short of being a fun-filled experience – just like the show.
Guests were greeted by nuns dressed in blue with church music playing in the background. The show centers around an AI entity who battles with Simone (Betty Gilpin) on her quest to find and destroy the “Holy Grail.”
TheWrap caught up with Gilpin who revealed her thoughts about the future of Artificial Intelligence. “It terrifies me, it makes me feel a thousand years old! I try and keep my two year old away from the screens, and then realize, oh I can’t even pee without looking at my screen, I’m fully addicted to this thing that I’m telling my child is poison. So I’m like, I’ve got to get a handle on that before she’s old enough to cognizant,” she joked.
Other cast members who joined the festivities included Jake McDorman, Andy McQueen, Elizabeth Marvel and David Arquette. We caught up with Arquette who says he “absolutely” had FOMO watching the new “Scream 6” horror flick, which he isn’t in. He’s still a fan of that slasher series that made him a movie star, and says he hopes that Neve Campbell returns for “Scream 7” “I’d love to see her come back and go real hardcore Sidney Prescott.” – Elijah Gil
“Schmigadoon!” Season 2 FYC Screening
TV Academy Saban Media Center, North Hollywood
“Schmigadoon!” celebrated its Season 2 launch – and kicked off its Emmys prospects – with an every-seat-filled screening and talkback with cast and creatives at the TV Academy Saban Media Center in North Hollywood. And while it was, of course, to celebrate the awards-worthy work of all involved on the musical parody series, one name was on the tip of everyone’s tongue: Jane Krakowski.
The audience was absolutely rapturous for Krakowski, having come fresh off a screening of Episode 3, “Bells and Whistles,” which closes with a show-stopping number by the five-time Emmy nominee as a “Chicago”-inspired lawyer Bobbie Flanagan.
Executive producer Andrew Singer – who was joined on the panel by co-creator Cinco Paul and stars Krakowski, Cecily Strong, Keegan-Michael Key, Aaron Tveit, Dove Cameron, Jaime Camil and Tituss Burgess – even called for another round of applause for the former “30 Rock” star for the trapeze, splits, roller-blading and more that the courtroom number had her doing.
“It was a big thing to prepare for because I wanted to be able to fulfill it for how great it was written on the page – I had to start stretching immediately to get the splits back!” Krakowski told TheWrap earlier. “For this number, [the script] had said that ‘she enters on a trapeze,’ which I was like, ‘Yay!’ I was so excited. I asked if I could stay on the trapeze and do a few more tricks, and Cinco said if you want to go to trapeze school and learn some things, we’ll open the ceiling. So I came back and I knew some things and the scenic design opened the ceiling more so I could fly throughout the room, which was just a dream come true.”
“I’m fully aware that I’m not going to get to do this, maybe, again, so this was a once in a lifetime chance,” the actress added.
The evening closed out with a buzzy TV Academy reception with the stars happily mingling, all amid a “Schmigadoon!” purple glow, downing themed drinks like the Show Time vodka mixer and Break A Leg mocktail.
Paying loving homage to musicals of the ’60s and ’70s like “Cabaret,” “Chicago” and “Pippin,” “Schmigadoon!” Season 2 is currently airing on Apple TV+ with new episodes every Wednesday. – Benjamin Lindsay
“The Last Thing He Told Me” Season Premiere
Regency Bruin Theater, Westwood
Another damp night in SoCal (like many evenings of this incredibly wet winter-spring 2023 season) found the cast and creative team behind “The Last Thing He Told Me” walking a drizzly carpet at the Regency Bruin Theater in Westwood. Star and executive producer Jennifer Garner looked gorgeous as usual in a white dress studded with dainty gold bars paired with gold heels.
“Trust is a major theme in ‘The Last Thing He Told Me,’” Garner told TheWrap. “It really is about, ‘Can you know the person that you love the most? Is it even possible? Does everyone have enough secrets that you can never actually know who they are?’”
The star-studded crowd made the best of the weather, as they gathered on the carpet designed with a murky purple backdrop to match the show’s mysterious premise. Reese Witherspoon, whose production company Hello Sunshine adapted the show from Laura Dave’s best-selling novel, joined the celebration, along with Hello Sunshine’s president of Film and TV Lauren Neustadter.
Ser Jaime Lannister himself (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) got spiffy, wearing an ice blue velvet suit jacket that matched his wife’s sparkly light blue pantsuit; he’s Garner’s husband in the thriller series. Aisha Tyler, who plays Garner’s best friend, reminded everyone that she’s often the tallest woman in the room!
The light rain couldn’t dampen the mood, especially of author Laura Dave and her husband and the series showrunner Josh Singer, who seem thrilled with their “The Last Thing He Told Me” marks the latest Hello Sunshine project to hit a streamer — Apple TV+. The first two episodes premiere Friday April 14, with a weekly rollout of episodes through May 19. – Dessi Gomez
PaleyFest: “Mrs. Maisel”
Dolby Theatre, Hollywood
The cast of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” celebrated their final season on the closing night of PaleyFest – but not before lightly ribbing the ensemble of “Yellowstone” for ditching their earlier scheduled festival appearance last-minute.
The Emmy-winning Prime Video comedy series starring Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein was celebrated with a closing night screening and Q&A, marking the last event of the 40th William S. Paley Television Festival at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. After screening a sizzle reel of the beloved Prime Video show, several members of the cast and the creative duo behind the comedy — creator, writer, director and EP Amy Sherman-Palladino and writer, director and EP Daniel Palladino — appeared onstage for the Q&A, moderated by Stacey Wilson Hunt.
After introducing the cast members who attended, including Brosnahan, Borstein, Tony Shalhoub, Michael Zegen and Caroline Aaron, Hunt also listed the names of other members of the cast who were not able to attend. Palladino added a punchline to the moderator’s statement when he referenced “Kevin Costner” as one of the missing cast members, which was met with an uproar of laughter and wows from the audience and the others on the stage.
The “Maisel” celebration event was hosted just three days after “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan, star Kevin Costner and other main cast members from the popular show skipped their appearance at the festival at the last minute, leaving fans in attendance in shock and demanding refunds.
When asked what made her the most proud of creating the series, Sherman-Palladino said that focusing the show on a female friendship centered around ambition, camaraderie and “not talking about men all the time” was the best part. She also mused about how the show examines what can happen when women support each other as unconditionally as Susie and Midge do while chasing their dreams.
“It’s good to have someone to tell you you haven’t completely lost your mind,” she told the crowd to more applause. – Jose Alejandro Bastiadas
14th TCM Classic Film Festival 2023
TCL Chinese Theater, Hollywood
The 14th TCM Classic Film Festival returned to Hollywood with a world premiere restoration of the 1956 Western “Rio Bravo” to a packed house at the TCL Chinese Theater. Directors Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson joined new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Davd Zaslav and TCM host Ben Mankiewicz before that classic unspooled, to discuss the world of film restoration.
Spielberg said it takes “virgin elements” to make a restoration work, and that while different directors on the board of the Film Foundation – which put the night’s restoration of “Rio Bravo” together – have different ideas about that, he tends to follow with whatever the foundation’s head, director Martin Scorsese, is interested in. Then to the delight of everyone in the audience, Mankiewicz had a chat with “Rio Bravo” star Angie Dickinson, who at 91 is still as sharp as ever. She talked about everything, from declaring Frank Sinatra to be “the love of my life” to how stars Dean Martin and John Wayne would often play chess together – though they didn’t tend to invite her to join in.
Last year’s opening night afterparty took place at the lavish Academy Museum, so the transition to the swank L.A. eatery Mother Wolf was an offbeat decision. The festival went all out decorating the restaurant and the event space above. Happy movie buffs walked through a hallway of various cardboard cutouts of famous Hollywood legs, inspired by 1942’s “42nd Street” poster. Various activations showed how to sync a movie’s dialogue to the action, while the ceilings were festooned in umbrellas in an homage to “Singin’ in the Rain.” The place was packed, and stars including Danny Huston and Rebecca de Mornay popped in, each of whom will be introducing a film at TCM Festival, which runs through April 16. – Kristen Lopez
Please send all party/event invites to Jenny.Peters@TheWrap.com.