The 2024 Emmy Awards will air on ABC Sunday, Sept. 15th.
Preview:
‘The Bear,’ ‘Shogun’ and ‘Baby Reindeer were among the big winners at the 2024 Emmys
‘Hacks’ was a surprise winner.
Dan and Eugene Levy hosted the night.
It might have been the second Emmys of 2024 (thanks to the strike-delayed first landing in January of this year), but otherwise it was business as usual for the TV Academy’s awards show.
Though there was the standard bout of repetition (‘The Bear’ won 11 awards, breaking its own record), while Billy Crudup and Jean Smart won more awards (for ‘The Morning Show’ and ‘Hacks respectively), there was still room for some surprises –– Lamorne Morris triumphed in the Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category for ‘Fargo’ over Robert Downey Jr. for ‘The Sympathizer,’ while talking of ‘Hacks,’ it was the somewhat shocking (if welcome) winner in the Comedy Series arena over ‘The Bear.’
The other big winners were in the limited series category (even if one of them is in early development on its second season) as ‘Shogun’ and ‘Baby Reindeer’ nabbed multiple trophies. Jodie Foster won the first Emmy of her career for ‘True Detective: Night Country.’
(L to R) Annie Murphy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Daniel Levy in ‘Schitt’s Creek’. Photo: CBC Television.
Eugene and Dan Levy, the stars (and in Dan’s case, creator) of ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ hosted the evening, kicking off with a monologue that touched on the controversy of a constantly dramatic show like ‘The Bear’ dominating the comedy categories and the growing presence of big movie stars on TV thanks to the lesser episodic demands of streaming shows.
And the big watchword for the show could be “nostalgia,” since various categories were handed out by stars of former TV shows such as ‘The West Wing’ and ‘Happy Days’ or those who played particular types of characters such as cops or lawyers.
There was an impassioned, funny speech from John Leguizamo about representation on television and a welcome award for TV super-producer Greg Berlanti. More confusing additions? Having Jelly Roll perform the In Memoriam song.
Here, then, is the full list of winners for the evening:
(L to R) Sandra Diaz-Twine, Trishelle Cannatella, Chris ‘C.T.’ Tamburello, Alan Cumming, Kate Chastain, Mercedes “MJ” Javid in ‘The Traitors’. Photo by: Euan Cherry/Peacock.
(L to R) Benedict Wong and Liam Cunningham talk ‘3 Body Problem’.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Benedict Wong and Liam Cunningham about their work on ‘3 Body Problem’, the book the series is based on, how they approached playing their characters, and shooting the game sequence.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Wong and Cunnigham, as well as Jess Hong, Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Alex Sharp, Rosalind Chao and Zine Tseng.
Moviefone: To begin with, Benedict, were you familiar with the book the series is based on before you signed on for the project?
Benedict Wong: No, I wasn’t. I met the guys on Zoom whilst I was filming ‘Doctor Strange.’ I was just immediately very suspicious, why did they need three showrunners for this project? Then delving deep into the first novel is so dense, this science and this world of the game world. I was thinking, I don’t even know how this is going to be filmed. It’s such a challenge. I just picked up the gauntlet and ran with them.
MF: Liam, did you read the book before you started shooting?
Liam Cunningham: No, I’m going to wait till I’m done. I generally don’t do it. Even the last project I did with David and Dan (‘Game of Thrones’), I never read those books. I didn’t want two voices in my ear. My blueprint was the scripts and that’s what I was employed to deliver. If I read the books, if I’d had trouble with any of it, I would’ve used that as a reference. But that’s when I think I might be in trouble when I must go somewhere else for information. So, I didn’t want two voices in my ear, the book voice and the script voice. So, I am going to keep that treat until we’re all done on this. Then I’ll sit down on a beach somewhere under a palm tree and I’ll dig deep into the book.
MF: Liam, can you talk about your preparation and approach to playing this role?
LC: We do enormous amounts of preparation. Enormous amounts, but we prepare for the scene. Our showrunners are very good at formulating a character that is not about, he went to school here or anything like that. In fact, I had a couple of small questions, but I don’t think I ever talked about where he comes from.
MF: Benedict, how did you prepare to play your character?
BW: I think the world builds around you and within this center of your universe, you have everyone at your command. The calls that you make are answered and there’s so much power within that, and that builds that level of who this person is. We did get the blessing of Cixin, the author, and he knew that this was going to be inspired from the books because they were telling a global story but then it still had this Asian spine of myself, being from Manchester and Jess (Hong) being from New Zealand, and then the character of Ye Wenjie played by Zine Tseng and Rosalind Chao. But to tell much more of a global story of look, we have someone who’s Irish in command with this duo and its fascinating to watch because it’s almost like, well, how did they get there? And they have every right to get there too.
MF: Finally, Liam, can you talk about shooting the game sequences?
LC: It was very much what the guys are very good about it, but they kept it to a minimum. So, these cinematics as they call them, the room we were in was very high-tech. It wasn’t that volume that they used on ‘The Mandalorian,’ that semicircular LCD wall. It was a very particular lighting setup on an enormous level. They gave us this huge amount of room to wander about in this place. There were minimal sets. What you hang your hat on is what happens. What’s the information that’s given? You’re seeing this AI representation of whatever word the threat is. So, there was a certain amount, and you did have to use an enormous amount of your imagination and paint the pictures in your head, which can be interesting if it’s very important to the storytelling. It was a joy to do. It was quite a challenge, but a real joy.
Ye Wenjie (Rosalind Chao) is an astrophysicist who saw her father brutally murdered during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Later, she was conscripted by the military because of her scientific background and sent to a secret radar base in a remote region. Her fateful decision at the base echoes across space and time to a group of scientists in the present day, forcing them to face humanity’s greatest threat.
Launching on Netflix with all eight episodes on Thursday March 21st, ‘3 Body Problem’ represents two gigantic challenges all at once: how do the creators of the ‘Game of Thrones’ TV adaptation follow their mammoth fantasy undertaking, and how do they do it using one of the most acclaimed science fiction novel series of recent years?
As it turns out, the answer is: with an abundance of brains and style, putting together a quality cast and fully using the resources offered by Netflix’s deep pockets to bring the novels’ story (or at least the first in the ‘Remembrance of Earth’s Past’ trilogy, which in book form is known as ‘The Three-Body Problem’) to life.
‘3 Body Problem’ is excellent right out of the gate, even more so than ‘Thrones’. It’s audacious, detailed, emotional and sweeping, hooking you with a teasing mystery (at least for those who have not read the books) that slowly and logically unfolds.
A hefty challenge is that a chunk of the narrative revolves around some big physics concepts, but the show smartly explains them in ways that anyone can understand. You won’t feel like you have to have ‘A Brief History of Time’ open on your lap as you watch.
The story weaves its way towards big revelations, but never feels out of reach, grounding its concept in human behavior and satisfying character interactions –– the main group all feel like people you want to spend time with as you take this journey alongside them.
D. B. Weiss and David Benioff know plenty about adapting sprawling stories with big casts, but here, even more than with ‘Thrones’, they smartly choose to follow a (relatively) small group so as to keep viewers engaged.
So while the story trips through two different time periods and focuses on a few different places across the planet (plus an advanced, immersive video game system that becomes key to the plot), you’re never left wondering who is doing what and why.
Working alongside fellow showrunner Alexander Woo (‘True Blood’), they stay mostly faithful to the book while making necessary changes for the new medium. Thanks to certain moments, they do get to indulge in what you might expect given their previous show –– the series kicks off with some serious head trauma and there is some nudity (though not sexual) in a future episode.
And with luck, they’ll avoid the pitfalls of ‘Thrones’ controversial final season, as the ‘Remembrance’ novel trilogy has an actual ending (no disrespect to George R.R. Martin there).
The show employs ‘Thrones’ veteran director Jeremy Podeswa plus Minkie Spiro, Derek Tsang and Pixar leading light Andrew Stanton, who has been building his live-action directing career steadily with the likes of ‘Legion’ and ‘For All Mankind’, and they all contribute some fantastic visuals as well as subtle and entertaining character work.
There are moments in this series that will have your jaw drop, though we won’t spoil anything here –– trust us, though, you’ll be sorely tempted to watch all the episodes as soon as possible.
Having clearly been happy with a lot of their cast on ‘Game of Thrones’, a few of key actors carry over here.
John Bradley plays Jack Rooney, a man who has hit it rich with his snack business but is still close to his college friends. Rooney offers Bradley the opportunity to play a polar opposite of ‘Thrones’ Samwell Tarley, a cocky but still loveable sort who is one of the first start playing the mysterious game that will be a core element of the early chunk of the story.
Liam Cunningham, meanwhile, feels more like his ‘Games’ character of Davos Seaworth, sharing the cunning brain and salty tongue of the Westeros resident, but as Thomas Wade, a man with a definite mission to protect humanity (no matter the cost), he’s authoritative and darkly funny –– suffering zero fools.
‘Thrones’ High Sparrow, Jonathan Pryce, meanwhile, plays a character who… Well, that would be telling.
On Wade’s team is Benedict Wong’s Da Shi, and this is honestly the best role the actor has enjoyed for years. He knocks it out of the park as the world-weary but funny not-quite-cop who is investigating what is happening to scientists in the UK. While we’re big fans of Wong’s role as, well, Wong in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he has more to do in one scene here than most of the movies he’s shown up in.
The core of the characters is the scientist group who are friends with Rooney, who all feel like actual buddies instead of actors swapping dialogue. And they’re all very different personalities, brought to life by the likes of Eiza González, Alex Sharp, Jess Hong and Jovan Adepo.
‘3 Body Problem’ is a show blessed with a near note-perfect cast: everyone is worth watching here.
Our advice for this one is: if you’ve yet to read the books, stay away from them and avoid Wikipedia! It’s absolutely recommended to go into this one knowing as little as possible, so the surprises hit harder, and the characters feel fresh.
Book readers are likely to be happy with the adaptation, which certainly doesn’t embarrass itself when put up against the literary source. But having seen the whole series, we’re confident in saying that this is a superior, satisfying piece of science fiction TV we can easily see ending up on Best of 2024 TV lists.
‘3 Body Problem’s story begins in 1960s China when a young woman makes a fateful decision that reverberates across space and time into the present day. When the laws of nature inexplicably unravel, a tight-knit group of brilliant scientists must join forces with an unflinching detective to stop humanity’s greatest threat.
Who is in ‘3 Body Problem’?
The ‘3 Body Problem’ cast includes Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Rosalind Chao, Liam Cunningham, Eiza González, Jess Hong, Marlo Kelly, Alex Sharp, Sea Shimooka, Zine Tseng, Saamer Usmani, Benedict Wong and Jonathan Pryce.
Chris Hemsworth attends the Netflix’s Tudum: A Global Fan Event 2023 at Fundação Bienal de São Paulo on June 17, 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images for NETFLIX.
After a couple of years of having stars show up in front of greenscreens to be composited into a fancy virtual stage to promote their latest wares, streaming giant Netflix was able to go live for the third TUDUM event: think Comic-Con meets a shareholder meeting, all entirely built around the company’s big hit shows, big name stars and those it has coming in the future.
Held this year in Brazil, the event was more raucous than ever as a parade of famous faces and some rising stars took to the stage (or sent videos) to raise fans’ anticipation for what they can expect in the coming months.
If you didn’t watch it, here’s a handy guide to our picks of what you missed…
Given that ‘Extraction 2’ only just hit Netflix’s servers this past weekend, don’t go thinking that the new movie will be here particularly soon.
But star Chris Hemsworth (who plays veteran soldier Tyler Rake) and director Sam Hargrave arrived to thank fans for their support of the movies so far and promise more to come.
At least, in Hemsworth’s words, they’re talking about a third entry. And if we know anything about Tyler Rake, it’s that he’s exceedingly hard to kill.
With ‘Squid Game’ proving to be one of the company’s biggest hits, Netflix is naturally getting as much as it can out of the Korean series.
Yet because creator Hwang Dong-hyuk takes his time making the show, there was no release date to tease just yet. Work is under way on Season 2, though, and Netflix was able to announce that stars Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun, and Gong Yoo will all be returning for the second installment, joining new cast members Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-hoon, and Yang Dong-geun.
There was more to show from the company’s reality game show based on the series. Yes, for those applied to compete in non-lethal versions of ‘Squid Game’s trials, the first teaser for ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ ran as part of the event. The show will premiere this coming November.
‘All the Light We Cannot See’
(L to R) Taz Skylar, Iñaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, Mackenyu and Jacob Romero Gibson attend the Netflix’s Tudum: A Global Fan Event 2023 at Fundação Bienal de São Paulo on June 17, 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images for NETFLIX.
Upcoming from prolific producer/director Shawn Levy (who lists ‘Stranger Things’ among the projects he works on) is a new limited series called ‘All the Light We Cannot See’.
Based on Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of the same name, the limited series takes viewers back in time to German-occupied Paris. The coming-of-age story follows French teenager Marie-Laure (Aria Mia Loberti) who is blind and connects with Werner (Louis Hofmann), a German orphan, through radio frequencies. As Marie-Laure and her father (Mark Ruffalo) flee Paris to her uncle’s (Hugh Laurie) house in Saint-Malo, the two strangers’ paths intertwine.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, already anointed as Netflix’s Chief Action Officer, is sticking around beyond the first season of spy comedy series ‘FUBAR’ and the ‘Arnold’ documentary.
Schwarzenegger was at the TUDUM event in person to explain what he loves about Brazil and to thank those present and audiences around the world for watching ‘FUBAR’. Despite less-than-glowing reviews, the show will be back for a second season.
The action icon also debuted a blooper reel from the first season:
One of the most anticipated new offerings is the adaptation of Cixin Liu’s best-selling sci-fi trilogy of novels. And it boasts two showrunners who know a thing or two about bringing big books to small screens –– ‘Game of Thrones’ veterans David Benioff and DB Weiss.
Liu’s tomes tell a sprawling story about alien contact and humanity’s shifting fortunes, but here’s your basic synopsis:
“A young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and time to a group of brilliant scientists in the present day. As the laws of nature unravel before their eyes, five former colleagues reunite to confront the greatest threat in humanity’s history.”
Nothing to do with James Cameron’s giant movie franchise, the manga and anime versions of ‘Avatar’ are themselves hugely popular.
Set in an Asiatic, war-torn world where certain people can “bend” one of the four classical elements: water, earth, fire, or air. Aang (Gordon Cormier) is the “Avatar”, the only one capable of bending all the elements, and is destined to bring peace to the world from the Fire Nation.
With his new companions Katara (Kiawentiio Tarbell) and Sokka (Ian Ousley), Aang sets out to master the elements while being pursued by the exiled Fire Nation prince Zuko (Daniel Dae Kim), who seeks to regain his honor by capturing the Avatar.
The show’s stars unveiled an exciting first look at their faithfully realized characters, which you can see below.
Also on the anime adaptation front is the live-action take on the best-selling title of all time — ‘One Piece’, written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda.
The story follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, where he explores the Grand Line in search of the mythical treasure known as the “One Piece” in order to become the next King of the Pirates.
Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero Gibson and Taz Skylar make up the rest of his crew for the show, which is being brought to life this time by showrunners Steven Maeda and Matt Owens.
‘One Piece’ will kick off on Netflix on 31 August, and you can find the teaser below…
Zack Snyder offers a look behind the scenes of ‘Rebel Moon’
The Netflix’s Tudum: A Global Fan Event 2023 at Fundação Bienal de São Paulo on June 17, 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images for NETFLIX.
‘Rebel Moon’ focuses on the agricultural moon of Veldt, part of a sprawling galaxy of planets overseen by the ferocious, all-powerful Imperium which oversees the other planets from its home base of Mother World.
When Imperium forces expand out to Veldt’s local area, they target the moon as a potentially rich source of food and new recruits. But the natives, none too happy that their already struggling existence is being threatened, turns to a newcomer, Kora (Sofia Boutella) for help.
The isolated woman, who has her own past with the Imperium, knows that it would be foolish to try and negotiate a better deal with the powerful government, so she rounds up some fighters who could be of use against the might of the enemy. But keeping alliances together won’t be quite so easy…
Snyder’s big attempt to launch a franchise on the scale of ‘Star Wars’, has already put out some imagery and the director, alongside producer/wife Deborah Snyder and star Sofia Boutella, brought some behind-the-scenes footage.
‘Stranger Things’ is no stranger –– pun intended –– to 1980s movie and TV icons and it is adding at least one more in the shape of ‘Terminator’ veteran Linda Hamilton.
She appeared via video to reveal her casting on the show but wouldn’t be drawn on who she might be playing. And given the writers’ strike, we’re going to have to wait longer than planned for the fifth and final season of the show to arrive.
It’s not just Chris Hemsworth that can bring the action goods. Gal Gadot has plenty of that sphere under her belt –– she has an iconic superhero character too and has appeared in the likes of ‘Red Notice’ and the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise.
She’s back on Netflix with new action thriller ‘Heart of Stone’, which will see her playing Rachel Stone, an operative for a secretive organization known as The Charter, who step in when governments can’t handle tough situations. It’s a lonely life for the agents who serve as the knife’s edge of the operation. And things just get tougher when a hacker gets control of The Heart, a powerful tech system that helps the Charter with its missions. Compromised and alone, Stone will have to stop the new threat.
There was, of course, a lot more to see, and you can see it at Netflix’s TUDUM site.
Gal Gadot attends the Netflix’s Tudum: A Global Fan Event 2023 at Fundação Bienal de São Paulo on June 17, 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images for NETFLIX.
