When Empire, the new series from Lee Daniels, premieres on Jan. 7, it’ll be not only something to watch, but something to listen to. The Fox series brings viewers into the world of Lucious Lyon, a ferocious hip-hop mogul whose fading health means major changes for his entire operation. ... More

On the surface, an orchestra is a thing of beauty. It’s a well-oiled machine made of highly trained cogs all working together to churn out some of the world’s most listenable music. Behind the scenes, well, that’s a different story. On Amazon’s new series Mozart in the Jungle—premiering December ... More

She’s been working steadily for two decades and has spent most of that time at the very top of her industry, having gained worldwide fame and acclaim. Yet, during an interview conducted on a sun-bathed terrace at the Splendido resort in Portofino, Italy, Cate Blanchett seems as utterly open to ... More

Viggo Mortensen has played plenty of roles—from a king in The Lord of the Rings to Sigmund Freud in A Dangerous Method—but none have required quite the same specialized skills as his most recent part. To play Daru, the protagonist of director David Oelhoffen’s Far From Men, Mortensen not only had to log time ... More

Many thrillers strive for a ripped-from-the-headlines tone, but Burned, which opens with a bombing by a secret extremist group, takes authenticity to a new level. The reason is its co-author, Valerie Plame, who worked as a CIA officer before she was herself "burned." In 2003, a newspaper column about Iraq’s development ... More

Rosemarie DeWitt was too happy to play sad. As a new mother, the actress found it difficult to conjure the demons required to become Rachel Coulson, the depressed New England mother she portrays in Olive Kitteridge, the recent HBO miniseries.  “The tricky thing about my character was that she ... More

“A film is nothing but the reflection of the soul of its creator,” Isabelle Huppert said during the opening night festivities of the 14th annual Marrakech International Film Festival this week. And considering her role as the president of the festival’s jury—which includes, among others, Mèlanie Laurent, Alan Rickman, Bertrand Bonello ... More

Hilary Swank, her dog Kai at her feet, is having lunch at an outside table at Barbuto, a carefully casual Italian restaurant on Washington Street in New York City’s West Village. It’s a risky seating choice for an actress who generally keeps a low profile, but Swank has a pair ... More

He might be the toast of New York’s ballet scene, but there’s something distinctly Californian about Justin Peck. Sometimes it manifests itself in his work—like Paz de La Jolla, a playful and sweet yet sophisticated ode to his San Diego roots—but mostly it comes across in his surfer-like nonchalance and ... More