“If you’ve noticed, there have been a series of memoirs and documentaries that are sharing very similar downward spirals and challenges of young performers – not just in the industry, but also kids now being posted online, as well as young athletes, young academics, any kind of high-performing children pipeline,” they told TheWrap of the motivation behind their book. “But I’ve noticed that no one has unpacked why this happens, the ecosystem that enables it and what opportunities there are to intervene to prevent this kind of measurable harm.”

“I recognized that I had the opportunity to finally share very personal, lived experiences; all the juicy details from what happened on sets growing up. But I’m also a mental health practitioner now and I wanted to connect new dots for people across media, culture, child development and the industry and then bring it into today’s landscape: the digital world,” Stoner explained. “Experiences that were once reserved for entertainers are now actually being faced and experienced by everyone; anyone with a Wi-Fi connection and a social media profile is contending with issues of privacy, safety, parasocial relationships, the mental health effects of tech use – and overuse, for some of us. So, I knew that people might be drawn to understanding or learning about my childhood experiences, but I hope they stay for the cultural critique and the larger opportunities for deep reflection and conversation.”

Indeed, Stoner’s childhood experiences included roles in “Camp Rock,” “Cheaper by the Dozen,” “Step Up,” “Mike’s Super Short Show,” “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” and even the “Ellen” pilot, amongst many others. Nowadays, in addition to being an author, Stoner is the founder and CEO of mental health company Movement Genius, host of their award-winning “Dear Hollywood” podcast and a certified mental health coordinator for Hollywood productions.

“I selected moments that felt key to my personal development and key for audiences to have a window into the industry ecosystem. The first draft contained absolutely everything. I knew some things would be omitted. However, a lot of the details remained in the book, including names,” they recalled. “That was a very complex decision-making process, but many of the people who are named have also come forward and shared their sides of the story, so I wasn’t interested in countering the narrative or controlling the narrative, but moreso offering more information to round out the assessment of these situations. I’m unclear on what the consequences of my freedom of speech will be, but I did make an effort to contact everyone in the book and provide some context so there aren’t any surprises. I support everyone speaking their truth, I just have to make sure that I’m including myself within that ‘everyone,’ something I haven’t done until now.”

“This genre of memoir often is about proving one’s ability to overcome, highlighting resilience. While those absolutely are valid and valuable aspects of one’s story to share, I needed to commit to a level of honesty and detail that pierced through the illusion. I think audiences deserve this information, and once they have more information they might actually start reflecting on their own media consumption habits; they might shift what kinds of productions they support,” Stoner shared. “I’m also thinking about the impact of consuming material with really challenging themes all the time, that can actually be quite activating for people in ways that we’re not following up on … In fact, this memoir, for me, feels a bit like a mic drop, and I don’t know what will come after. I can’t tell if I’m pushing too far past the edge, or if it’s kissing the edge just strategically enough that I can support the industry and make shifts while also living in this empowered, honest life.”

As “Semi-Well-Adjusted” details, Stoner has shared their story a bit in the past — including on “Camp Rock” co-star Demi Lovato’s Hulu documentary, “Child Star.” However, there isn’t one all-encompassing solution to make sure today’s kids fair better than their predecessors.

“No single person can be an expert in every sector, and people in the industry are typically brilliant with storytelling and/or scaling companies; very few are also trauma therapists and child development experts,” Stoner said. “I stand at a unique intersection and I want to hold the middle and see how I can get folks from all sides to speak to each other so that we can think more holistically about the spaces we’re designing and what we’re asking of children.”

“It’s an interesting tension,” they added of how fans come into play. “We’re in this dynamic together, and I think there’s room for us to reconfigure a bit. I don’t know exactly what that looks like, but it’s going to take everyone stationed across the ecosystem to examine what we’re doing.”

Luckily, for Stoner, one gig that has remained “a unique bright spot” in their career is voicing Isabella on “Phineas and Ferb.”

“It speaks volumes to the creators and the cast. I also think there’s a different embodied experience as a voice actor, the community is different and I’m actually overjoyed that I get to play the same character as an adult, because I can now make more-informed creative decisions. I can sprinkle in different emotional dimensions to Isabella’s scenes. At the moment, it’s the degree to which I want to be involved in the industry,” they admitted. “I get to have a foot in the door, but it’s just my voice with a cast and crew who feel like family, and then the rest of my time is supporting productions as a coordinator. That kind of balance is working well for this season. Some of my artist friends are trying to drag me back into the industry, but at the moment, my body feels most invigorated by policy, political advocacy and being a coordinator to support them.”

Plus, “Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything” has something for everyone — including aspiring stage parents.

“I would certainly encourage people to either read this book or do some serious information-gathering before committing to pursuing the industry. Especially parents of and guardians of young ones,” Stoner said. “I think the book actually explores so many sub-themes, including faith and belief systems and queerness and financial stability and family dynamics, that anyone can find themselves in the story.”

“I do hope that people in the industry spread the word about it. I’d be really curious to see how some of the people I’ve worked with since childhood are responding to this material,” they continued. “From what I’ve shared so far on my ‘Dear Hollywood’ podcast, it seems to have surprised a lot of the adults I worked with who somehow did not know any of this information, yet they’ve been working with children for decades. So I’m looking forward to having conversations with the people who are still in the industry.”

Ultimately, as the book’s title suggests, Stoner is living a semi-well-adjusted life, and they want to pay it forward.

“I observe Hollywood as an industry that was established by adults, for adults, and therefore a lot of the environment was not designed around developmentally appropriate experiences for children,” the author noted. “Largely, I noticed that parents, guardians, casting directors, industry professionals are well-meaning; they want to support young people in pursuing their dreams and/or skills that they seem to have some knack for early on. What’s missing is that we haven’t updated the industry to match what we now know about child development, traumatizing experiences and the commodification of children in mass media and online.”

“So my relationship to the industry now is: we know better, let’s do better. That’s why my focus was on getting several certifications and becoming a mental health coordinator, which is so exciting,” Stoner concluded. “As the book launches, I will officially be able to support film, TV, theater, productions and audiences with bringing stories to life in deeply compelling ways that are also ethical, and to see production companies starting to respond to this as if it’s an obvious oversight that they want to correct is really heartening.”

“Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything” is out now.

The post Former Child Star Alyson Stoner’s Memoir Exists to Prevent Downward Spirals in All Areas – Not Just Young Hollywood appeared first on TheWrap.

In an exclusive statement to TheWrap, the Oscar-nominated entertainer and activist shared that the book — meant for readers aged 8-12 and exploring themes of identity, allyship and courage in the face of antisemitism — praised the project as “fierce and necessary.”

“When hatred is dressed up as opinion, we need stories that teach kids the difference,” Cohen said. “‘Don’t Feed the Lion’ is a fierce and necessary reminder that silence is never the answer.”

The book follows three schoolmates in Chicago who confront bullying and bigotry after a swastika appears on a school locker and a soccer star makes an antisemitic remark. Arcadia Children’s Books announced the upcoming release on Tuesday, platforming it as an effort to combat antisemitism and hate through the eyes of middle schoolers.

“When visiting libraries and bookstores in search of books about antisemitism that speak directly to young readers, we were surprised to find very few options available,” Golodryga and Levi said in a joint statement. “With the sharp rise in explicit antisemitism and hate around the world, our goal was to write a book for all readers who want to feel less alone in their identity, and for those who want to stand up against bias and discrimination with empathy and awareness.”

Golodryga is an Emmy-winning journalist and CNN’s senior global affairs analyst. She anchors “One World With Zain Asher and Bianna Golodryga” on CNN International and CNN Max. Levi, meanwhile, has anchored Israel’s primetime news program on Channel 12 for over 20 years and hosts the podcast “Unholy: Two Jews on the News.”

“Don’t Feed the Lion” is available for pre-order ahead of its nationwide release on Nov. 11.

The post Sacha Baron Cohen Praises ‘Don’t Feed the Lion’ Children’s Book on Antisemitism: ‘Fierce and Necessary’ | Exclusive appeared first on TheWrap.

When asked whether Rowling would be a good choice to play Roxie Hart in “Chicago,” a musical which Monsoon has famously starred in, the drag performer responded at first with feigned confusion: “Who is this? Who is he? Jake Hay Rowling?” Ziwe quickly corrected the LGBTQ icon, telling Monsoon, “He is a she.”

“Oh, dear. That is not a feminine name in the slightest,” Monsoon responded. “I know that, oftentimes, female authors use initials so that people assume it’s a male writer. So I have to presume that J.K. Rowling was unsatisfied with the way that the world saw her, and then she transitioned herself into a new personality, so that the world would perceive her the way she wanted to be perceived.”

Ziwe giddily sipped from her drink while Monsoon gave her sly, tongue-in-cheek criticism of Rowling. When she was done, the interviewer told Monsoon she was, “Gagging,” which prompted the “Drag Race” winner to start heartily laughing.

The clip was shared on Instagram early Thursday. Fans will be able to watch Ziwe’s full interview with Monsoon when it premieres on YouTube Thursday at 5 p.m. PST.

Monsoon, who identifies as trans-femme non-binary, has been a vocal and active proponent for transgender rights. The “Harry Potter” author has often expressed anti-trans opinions online and in the press in recent years, and has become an increasingly controversial figure as a result.

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The public response to Rowling’s views has been so pronounced that HBO chairman and CEO Casey Bloys was forced to address her involvement in HBO’s forthcoming “Harry Potter” TV series during an April podcast appearance on “The Town with Matthew Belloni.”

“The decision to be in business with J.K. Rowling is not new for us. We’ve been in business for 25 years,” Bloys said at the time, before insisting that Rowling is “entitled” to her own personal views. In the same interview, the exec assured fans that HBO’s adaptation was “not secretly being infused with anything,” including Rowling’s political beliefs.

Monsoon is, notably, not the only prominent celebrity who has called out Rowling for her anti-trans stances. “Materialists” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” star Pedro Pascal expressed his disdain for the “Harry Potter” author’s views in April as well, calling her rhetoric “awful” and emblematic of “heinous LOSER behavior.”

The post Broadway Star Jinkx Monsoon Reads J.K. Rowling for Being Anti-Trans Despite the Author’s Own Name Change | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

“What the world saw on the campaign trail was only part of the story. My new book is a behind-the-scenes look at my experience leading the shortest presidential campaign in modern history,” she shared on X on Thursday. “‘107 Days’ is out on Sept. 23. I can’t wait for you to read it.”

“Just over a year ago, I launched my campaign for President of the United States. 107 days traveling the country, fighting for our future, the shortest presidential campaign in modern history,” Harris said in an accompanying video. “It was intense, high-stakes and deeply personal for me and for so many of you. Since leaving office, I spent a lot of time reflecting on those days, talking with my team, my family, my friends, and pulling my thoughts together, in essence, writing a journal that is this book, ‘107 Days,’ with candor and reflection, I’ve written a behind-the-scenes account of that journey.”

“I believe there’s value in sharing what I saw, what I learned and what I know it will take to move forward. In writing this book, one truth kept coming back to me: Sometimes the fight takes a while, but I remain full of hope, and I remain clear-eyed. I will never stop fighting to make our country reflect the very best of its ideals, always on behalf of the people,” she continued. “So thank you for being in this fight with me. I am forever grateful, and I cannot wait for you to read this and I’ll see you out there. Take care.”

Harris’ memoir announcement comes just one day after she formally confirmed she will not be running for governor of California after serving as VP to President Joe Biden. “In recent months, I have given serious thought to asking the people of California for the privilege to serve as their governor. I love this state, its people and its promise. It is my home,” she said in a Wednesday statement. “But after deep reflection, I’ve decided that I will not run for governor in this election.”

The politician lost the 2024 election to President Donald Trump after the Democratic Party elevated her to nominee — despite not taking part in the primaries — once incumbent-eligible Biden withdrew from the race due to the public’s concerns over his age and mental fortitude.

“107 Days” hits shelves on Sept. 23 through Simon & Schuster.

The post Kamala Harris to Recount Her Presidential Campaign in New Book ‘107 Days’ appeared first on TheWrap.

James Gunn’s “Superman” feels like some of these comics flew off the page, adapting everything beautiful, inspiring and outright goofy about the Man of Steel. If you left “Superman” wanting more, check out some of these stories that inspired the DCU debut.

This list will have no spoilers for “Superman” (2025). If it wasn’t in a trailer, it won’t be mentioned here.

“All-Star Superman” by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely

“All-Star Superman” should be thought of as the comic book equivalent of the Christopher Reeve/Richard Donner “Superman” movie: there’s nothing quite like it, and it set an immovable gold standard going forward. This 12-issue series sees Superman grapple with his mortality after Lex Luthor ensnares him in a ploy that leaves him with only a year to live. Taking a page from Hercules’ book, the Last Son of Krypton sets out to complete the “Twelve Labors of Superman” to leave behind a better world.

Gunn established early on that this book had influenced his film, sharing a first look at Krypto that resembles a panel of Superman and his dog sitting on the moon. Through a series of engaging and absurd adventures that celebrate Superman’s history, Morrison repeatedly gets to the heart of what makes this character so special.

“Justice League International” by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis

By far the longest entry on this list, Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis’ work on “Justice League International” feels like it will serve as a significant inspiration for the DCU going forward. The film introduces audiences to the Justice Gang, a prototypical Justice League-type team led and funded by Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn). Starting members include Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi). The team bears a resemblance to the Justice League International, a comic book unit run by Lord with Gardner as a founding member. Both the Justice Gang and the JLI consist of members who aren’t necessarily A-listers like the original Justice League seven, presenting a comparatively comedic incarnation of the team.

With future Leaguer Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) also present in “Superman,” it seems increasingly like Giffen and DeMatteis’ iconic run will be at least an inspiration for Gunn’s initial handling of the Justice League going forward.

“Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” by Tom King, Bilquis Evely

If you want an idea of where the DCU is headed directly after “Superman,” you should place Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” at the top of your reading list.

The next DCU movie is Craig Gillespie’s “Supergirl,” starring Milly Alcock (previously titled “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow”). The film directly adapts King and Evely’s 2021-2022 comic book adventure starring Kara Zor-El, who starts the book by getting drunk on a planet with a Red Sun (which takes away her powers) to celebrate her 21st birthday.

The book, heavily inspired by “True Grit,” follows Kara and young Ruthye as they travel across the universe to bring Krem of the Yellow Hills to justice after he kills Ruthye’s father and drastically wounds Krypto. Eve Ridley and Matthias Schoenaerts star as Ruthye and Krem, respectively, while Jason Momoa joins the cast as Lobo — a character not present in the comics who slots perfectly into the universe-spanning adventure. It’s a phenomenal book, and one that highlights what makes Supergirl a distinct and unique hero in the DC universe.

“Superman: Birthright” by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan

One of the more relevant books on this list, “Superman: Birthright” updates Superman’s origins by focusing on the early days of Clark Kent’s life post-Smallville. The story shows Clark’s first days in Metropolis after traveling the world as a young adult, highlighting his first major conflict with Lex Luthor — and sharing a secret connection between the two. Superman’s Kryptonian heritage plays a big role in both “Superman: Birthright” and James Gunn’s “Superman” (which was previously named “Superman: Legacy”). The 12-issue run breathes new life into Superman’s origin, concluding with a gut-punch ending.

“Superman for All Seasons” by Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale

Another origin story, “Superman for All Seasons,” reunites the “Batman: The Long Halloween” team of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Each of the comic’s four issues focuses on a different season with a different narrator, highlighting how the world around Clark perceives Superman. Sale’s gorgeous art underscores both the beauty and the loneliness often present in the character’s canon, drawing direct inspiration from Norman Rockwell’s Americana artwork.

Perhaps more than any other, this book provides a perfect starting point for new comic book readers — and an excellent read for established fans of the form.

“Superman: Kryptonite” by Darwyn Cooke, Tim Sale

Though not an origin story, Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale’s “Superman: Kryptonite” explores an early adventure in Superman’s career as he comes into contact with Kryptonite for the first time. The storyline presents a distinctly human portrayal of the Man of Steel, one full of fear and longing for connection.

Like Gunn’s “Superman,” “Kryptonite” sees the Metropolis Marvel face true defeat for one of the first times, showing what it takes for a bulletproof man to bounce back from failure.

“Superman: Peace on Earth” by Paul Dini, Alex Ross

Longtime Superman fans were surprised when marketing introduced audiences to the Hammer of Boravia, an original character created for the film. The villain represents the interests of his homeland of Boravia, a country attempting to overpower the neighboring nation of Jarhanpur. As Superman attempts to prevent war from breaking out, he is forced to reckon with his place in a world focused more on bureaucracy and politics than righteousness. It’s a theme explored tremendously in Paul Dini and Alex Ross’ short story “Superman: Peace on Earth.” The 64-page one-shot follows the Man of Steel as he attempts, for a single day, to prevent world hunger by feeding every person in need across the globe. It’s a quest that draws the ire of various governments and militaries.

This short story ponders an oft-debated question in the Superman canon: should a man who can do everything act, or should he lead?

“Superman: Secret Identity” by Kurt Busiek, Stuart Immonen

Perhaps the most radical entry on this list, “Superman: Secret Identity” doesn’t follow Clark Kent at all. At least, not the Clark Kent fans are familiar with. Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen’s four-issue Elseworld’s tale follows a young boy who lives in a world much like our own: superheroes don’t exist, but “Superman” comics do. With the last name “Kent,” the protagonist’s parents decide to name him “Clark” as a jokey reference to the iconic comic book hero. This name soon becomes a premonition, as Clark wakes up one night with the powers of the Man of Steel.

“Superman: Secret Identity” follows four key moments in Clark’s life, showing how a Superman-like hero would operate and function in the real world. This story interrogates Superman as an icon and a figure, exploring how he fits into the modern landscape in much the same way as Gunn’s film.

“Superman: Up in the Sky” by Tom King, Andy Kubert

A personal favorite, “Superman: Up in the Sky” follows Superman on a quest across the universe as he leaves Earth in search of a little girl, Alice, who was abducted by aliens. The book is comprised of a series of short stories, different legs in Kal-El’s quest as he repeatedly faces seemingly impossible odds.

Tom King and Andy Kubert’s stand-alone story explores themes central to the Man of Steel: that one life is always worth saving, that compassion is just as valuable as strength, that Superman’s true power lies in his unwillingness to give up. Superman is repeatedly knocked down throughout the story, yet he always gets back on his feet. “Up in the Sky” feels tonally of a pair with Gunn’s “Superman,” which frequently shows how the Last Son of Krypton refuses to stay down when an innocent life is on the line.

“Superman: Warworld Saga” by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Grant Morrison, Sami Basri, Adriana Melo, Miguel Mendoca

“Superman” stories often show how Clark inspires the people around him to rise and become better versions of themselves, and Gunn’s film is no different. This idea is brilliantly portrayed in “Superman: The Warworld Saga,” the newest story on this list. In this modern epic, Superman takes a ragtag team of heroes and villains to Warworld, a gladiatorial planet of slaves ruled over by Mongul. Superman enters the situation at a disadvantage, with his powers already weakened before they arrive to the brutal Warworld. As the Man of Steel and his crew attempt to liberate the planet, Superman’s message of “Truth and Justice” spreads across the world like a wildfire.

There aren’t many Superman stories that feel this sweeping, but “Warworld” reads like a blockbuster on the page.

“Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen?” by Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber

Fans of Skyler Gisondo’s hilarious turn as Jimmy Olsen in Gunn’s “Superman” must check out Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber’s phenomenal 12-issue run on the character. The story follows Superman’s pal as he attempts to solve his own murder after a decoy Jimmy Olsen is shot and killed. The laugh-a-page story is one of the funniest DC Comics to date while also exploring the heart and humanity of this iconic “Superman” side character. If that’s not enough to sell you, maybe Jimmy’s prank war with Batman will.

“What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way?” by Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke, Lee Bermejo

While “Superman: Birthright” feels like Gunn’s closest narrative comp, “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way?” was almost certainly a thematic inspiration for 2025’s “Superman.” In this dense single-issue story (printed in “Action Comics #775”), Superman grapples with the thought that the world has moved past his form of heroics. When a new team of violent vigilantes named “The Elite,” led by Manchester Black, comes onto the scene, Superman must reckon with the public’s approval of killer “heroes.”

Kelly’s story reflects the comic book industry’s shift to darker stories and heroes, thematically addressing the increasingly popular notion that Superman’s goodness is outdated or “boring.” Gunn’s film does much the same, a rejection of the ever-growing number of evil Superman stories appearing throughout the 2010s and 2020s.

Another book that expertly addresses these ideas is Mark Waid and Alex Ross’ “Kingdom Come” — the story that inspired Superman’s logo in Gunn’s film.

The post ‘Superman’ Reading List: 12 Comics to Read After the Movie appeared first on TheWrap.

However, despite her villainous reputation, the “Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites” winner and “Heroes vs. Villains” runner-up never really saw herself as a villain. In fact, as she details in her new memoir “Nice Girls Don’t Win: How I Burned It All Down to Claim My Power,” Shallow’s life story is a lot more nuanced than even multiple-season arcs of television can translate.

“This book is my entire life’s work. It is my memoir, from start to finish. I was born in a Hindu spiritual commune in Florida run by a guru, and that’s the blueprint of how I became Parvati from ‘Survivor’ and ‘Traitors’ and beyond,” she told TheWrap. “So we have my origin story, and it weaves in universal themes that we all experience and contend with in life. There’s love in there, there’s uncertainty in there. There’s trying to build a career and a life, there’s making a big mess of it, there’s wanting to have a baby, getting married, getting divorced, being a single mother and then going back into the world of reality TV as a single mother. There’s a re-identification as a queer person later in life, too. So I really think it’s a wild ride.”

“If you’re a fan of mine from ‘Survivor’ or if you’re a ‘Survivor’ fan, you’re going to love it,” Shallow continued. “And if you’re a person who is just interested in understanding yourself in a deeper way, you’re going to see a lot of yourself in the book because I really wrote it as a service project from my own emotional journey so that other people could feel themselves in the book as they’re reading it.”

After making the jury on “Survivor: Cook Islands” in 2006, Shallow has competed on the CBS staple three more times — most recently, as part of “Winners at War” in 2020 — and will next be seen representing America in “Australian Survivor: Australia vs. The World.” Her other notable appearances include Season 2 of “The Traitors” and Season 2 of “Deal or No Deal Island,” as well as her “Nice Girls Don’t Win” podcast with reality TV producer Amy Bean.

“I never set out to become this, so it’s really funny. I work as a life coach, and I have a lot of friends who are in their early 20s that I now consider my extended family — they come around, hang with my daughter, we do trips together — and they’re trying to figure out their life. When I was in my early 20s, when I first played ‘Survivor,’ I was a hot mess, I had no idea what I wanted to do or be,” she admitted. “I had gone to college and gotten a degree, but then I started working at this PR firm and it it was awful. I hated it, so I jumped ship and started waiting tables. ‘Survivor’ found me, this genre found me, and I sort of like bobbed and weaved my way through. It sort of feels like I spiderwebbed my way into creating this genre of career for myself without even being aware of what I was doing.”

And speaking of spiders, Shallow’s biggest accomplishment on “Survivor” is winning “Micronesia,” in which she and her all-female alliance outwitted their fellow players, ultimately earning the name the Black Widow Brigade.

“I’ve never been able to shake the Black Widow reputation. I mean, it’s less so in my day-to-day real life, but whenever I’m playing a game on television, people see me as a Black Widow. So that comes with a certain level of power and responsibility for me,” she recalled. “I didn’t identify as a villain when I was cast as a villain and that label was given to me without me stepping into it and choosing it. But once I played the villain, I realized there’s so much freedom in that role and there’s so much fun to be had in being a villain.”

“I’m grateful for having the opportunity, because it really helped to break this mold of the good girl that I was trying to be. I realized it’s too rigid of a container, that’s too tight of a container, you can’t be good all the time. No person is meant to be good all the time. I think each of us, all of us human beings, are inherently good inside, but we can be bad; we can play bad, we can be naughty,” Shallow added. “Especially in reality television and in the world of entertainment, being mischievous and naughty is what makes good television and it’s what makes these games fun. I embrace it.”

But how exactly have things changed in the nearly 20 years since her TV debut?

“‘Winners at War’ was a big moment where fans were just so excited to see the winners battle — especially me, Rob, Sandra, Tony, these big heavy-hitters back on the screen in a Battle Royale. And then COVID happened and people who’d never seen ‘Survivor’ before got to stream it back-to-back cooped up from a prison of their own, using it as an escape,” Shallow explained. “There was this big resurgence, especially for me individually, because I had experienced quite a bit of backlash at the time that my shows aired from the media and from the public and critics about my gameplay.”

“It was a different era in 2006 when I played, so there was a lot of slut shaming that occurred at that time, which I internalized and it informed my life in a pretty significant way. So when COVID happened and people started streaming, they could see my arc and they loved me — the gay community especially came out hard for me — it was really cool and so fun,” she shared. “I felt really loved and supported and seen in a way that I had not been when the show was airing in real time the first time.”

Another thing all of the above winners that Shallow listed have in common is taking part in “The Traitors” on Peacock. The Alan Cumming-hosted murder mystery show famously pulls from all networks and streamers in order to find its all-star casts, not just NBC and NBCUniversal properties.

“If networks can start to loosen their grip and see the reality contestants that have demonstrated longevity in this field — there’s a few of us who have really taken this role and been able to grow and evolve alongside the community of fans and people that are old school, people that have been watching forever and then their kids that are watching, their grandkids are watching,” Shallow said. “And it’s there. It’s a whole new landscape, the world of reality TV, than it was in 2000 when it was first created. I think it’s a brilliant move to bring people in from different networks … I think that’s really the coolest thing, where it’s less about being territorial and keeping your group closed, it’s like we can cross-promote and help all these networks and all these other shows by introducing new fans to the format.”

Up next for Shallow is “Australian Survivor: Australia vs. The World” alongside “Deal or No Deal Island” alliance member David Genat.

“What’s really cool is the timing of it all. I was asked to do ‘Australian Survivor’ last year, like early spring. I said yes to it right away because of the format and then I started watching so I knew who David was. Then I go out and play ‘Deal or No Deal’ and we worked so well together. We have like a month between ‘Deal’ and ‘Australian Survivor,’ I complete the book before I go out and play again,” she teased. “So I write my epilogue after I get home from ‘Deal or No Deal’ and then ‘Australian Survivor’ is sort of like the next continuation. It’s like, what happens next? I’m really excited for ‘Australian Survivor’ to come out, because I think the show is great and they do a really good job of editing it. They make it really cinematic and a wild ride.”

But ultimately, Shallow has one piece of advice for fans who are considering sitting down with “Nice Girls Don’t Win.”

“I think it’s going to be good medicine, like the best meal you’ve ever had,” Shallow gushed. “If people ask, ‘What would you eat if you were stranded on a desert island?’ or ‘You could only have one meal for the rest of your life?’ You should eat my book.”

“Nice Girls Don’t Win: How I Burned It All Down to Claim My Power” hits shelves Tuesday.

The post From ‘Survivor’ to ‘The Traitors’ to ‘DONDI’ and Back, Parvati Shallow Reveals How She Learned to Love Playing the Villain appeared first on TheWrap.

IDW Publishing is launching “Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” a new comic book series that is based off the Paramount+ streaming show (itself an extension of 2023’s excellent animated feature “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”). The new series will be written by Mikey Levitt (for the first story) and Andrew Joustra for the second story, Levitt is a veterans from the “Tales of the TMNT” production team and Joustra worked on the feature films (he also wrote the new short), with art by Louie Joyce.

According to the official release, the comic book will feature “original streaming show characters in comics for their very first time, as well as classic TMNT characters never before seen in the new streaming series!”

“TMNT comics are so iconic, so to have this opportunity to create a new iteration is a dream come true,” Levitt shared in a statement. “Now having written for the show and comics, there are so many exciting paths within this world we can send the characters, and I think the fans will love where we go this time! I don’t want to reveal too much, but if you’re a fan of the robot characters throughout Turtles’ history, you may want to buy yourself a copy when these come out! One more thing I’ll tease: Not every villain we’ve said goodbye to is truly gone…”

”I’m beyond thrilled and honored to be going on a new adventure with the Turtles,” Joustra added. “We’ve been given the unique opportunity to further explore this iteration of the TMNT and introduce them to a new spin on some familiar faces. It has particularly been a dream come true for me to reimagine my favorite TMNT character, the Fugitoid, for these issues and to tell a surprisingly personal story with him. I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just ZAY I’ve had a TON of fun working on this project and leave it at that. Cowabunga!”

There will be more from this corner of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” world, with a new short film “Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey,” debuting with the new “SpongeBob Squarepants” movie “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” in December. A second season of the television series will also be coming to Paramount+ soon, with a proper sequel to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” hitting theaters on Sept. 17, 2027.

‘Tales of the TMNT’ #1 is on sale Wednesday, Oct. 15 with a pre-order deadline of Monday, Sept. 8. A special New York Comic Con variant cover will be revealed at a later date. Get a look at some of the covers below.

The post ‘Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Comic Book, Based on Paramount+ Animated Series, Launches This October | Exclusive appeared first on TheWrap.

Still, Anthropic is not completely cleared — Judge William Alsup said the company will have to face a separate trial over its “piracy” of millions of copyrighted books.

On the first issue of fair use, Judge Alsup ruled Section 107 of the Copyrighted Act allowed Anthropic to train Claude using copyrighted books. That is because Claude’s answers, based on the copyrighted material, were “exceedingly transformative” — in other words, much different from the source material and could not be considered rip-offs.

The judge also ruled fair use law allowed Anthropic to take purchased physical books and scan them into a digital “research library” that can be used to train its models.

“However, Anthropic had no entitlement to use pirated copies” of books for its library, the judge ruled. Altogether, Anthropic pirated “over seven million copies of books,” the judge said in his ruling, by illegally downloading digital copies that company executives knew were “unauthorized copies.”

Anthropic, the judge added, “could have purchased books, but it preferred to steal them to avoid” what cofounder and CEO Dario Amodei said was a legal “slog.”

The lawsuit against Anthropic was filed last year by three authors: Andrea Bartz, Kirk Wallace and Charles Graeber. Anthropic, the judge said in his ruling on Tuesday, pirated copies of at least two works from each author.

The ruling comes as the issue of fair use and how AI models are trained has come to the forefront in the media and entertainment worlds in recent years. OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, is currently facing a lawsuit from The New York Times, which claims the AI company stole its content to train its model. Hundreds of Hollywood creators, including Ben Stiller, Aubrey Plaza, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, also recently called on the Trump Administration to push back against OpenAI and other companies that have been lobbying for looser copyright laws.

And earlier this month, Disney sued AI company Midjourney for copyright infringement, saying its model was illegally creating images that were exact copies of characters like Homer Simpson and Elsa from “Frozen.”

You can read Tuesday’s court ruling by clicking here.

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Last month, Marvel and DC announced that the companies would join forces this September in a set of one-shot comic book crossovers. Each studio will release a single issue: Marvel’s Deadpool/Batman #1 by Zeb Wells and Greg Capullo, and DC’s Batman/Deadpool #1 by Grant Morrison and Dan Mora. This marks the first time the Big 2 comics publishers officially crossed over since 2004’s Avengers/JLA finale.

Marvel’s Deadpool/Batman #1 one-shot will feature a number of backup stories seeing other heroes cross paths. Daredevil and Green Lantern will be helmed by Kevin Smith and artist Adam Kubert. Smith famously wrote runs on both characters in the late 90s and early 2000s, scribing Daredevil’s Guardian Devil storyline and famously introducing the villain Onomatopoeia to the DC Universe. This marks Smith’s first time writing for the Big 2 since 2019. Iconic Daredevil and Ultimate Spider-Man artist Marco Checchetto illustrated a variant cover for the story.

The announced crossovers feature some of the greatest talent working at DC and Marvel today. Capullo illustrated the iconic Batman series during The New 52, which famously introduced the Court of Owls to the DC universe. Mora, who worked with Mark Waid on Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, is one of the most highly regarded artists at DC today. Morrison famously penned stories like Batman and Son and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth.

While the May announcement only revealed the team-up (and, likely, fight) between the Caped Crusader and the Merc with the Mouth, we now know a bit more about some other crossovers on the way — at least, on the Marvel side of things.

The issue also includes Captain America and Wonder Woman by Chip Zdarsky and Terry Dodson. This comes hot on the heels of Zdarsky’s appointment to Marvel’s Captain America flagship title, which will begin July 2 with Captain America #1. Kelly Thompson, who created Jeff the Land Shark, will re-team with It’s Jeff! co-collaborator Gurihiru for Jeff the Land Shark and Krypto. A variant cover by Gurihiru teases the story, which will likely be in the silent, humorous style of the Eisner-winning Infinity Comic It’s Jeff!

It is currently unclear what backups will be included in the DC half of the crossover, but major characters like Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Harley Quinn, The Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four are still on the board.

Deadpool/Batman #1 will release Sept. 17.

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“Our North Star as a team was, ‘Do not screw up that beautiful book,'” Plec told TheWrap. “It evolved into a relationship where the novelist was more often telling us that it was OK to change things, while Carina was fighting tooth or nail to try to keep things.”

It was Adly MacKenzie, who worked alongside Plec as a writer and producer for “Vampire Diaries” spinoff series “The Originals,” who first brought “We Were Liars” to Plec as a vacation read recommendation when the book was published in 2014. “She put it, basically, in my hands and said, ‘You’re welcome.'”

Set on a breezy, fictional New England island (called Beechwood Island), “We Were Liars” centers on the old money Sinclair family, finding its protagonist in the eldest grandchild, Cadence, who is heir to the Sinclair fortune. Following Cadence, her cousins and their childhood friend (who’s also Cadence’s love interest), known as the “liars” — as well as their mothers, the three daughters of patriarch Harris Sinclair (David Morse) — the Prime Video series investigates the family’s generational trauma, which is pushed to the forefront in the wake of a traumatic head injury.

“It was a pretty easy thing to put at the top of a wish list, because my whole career, all I’ve ever wanted to do was make people feel big, huge feelings, and there aren’t a lot of books like this one where you feel all the feelings,” Plec said.

She was all-in after reading the book, and Plec and Adly MacKenzie began vying for the rights to adapt it, which Plec’s My So-Called Company and Universal Television eventually acquired, alongside “We Were Liars” prequel “Family of Liars” and novel “Again Again,” in 2022. “Over the years, we fought long and hard to get the ability to actually make it as a TV show and then finally, 11 years later, here we are,” Plec said.

“It’s not a story that necessarily … easily translates to screen,” Adly MacKenzie added, noting the book consists of “a lot of internal musings and then really, really, really long conversations between people,” which she said is “not how you write good TV.” “Part of the fun was the challenge; a lot of people have tried. We were excited to give it our shot.”

After obtaining the rights, the creators jumped into the writers’ room, where they were armed with the expertise of Lockhart, who was in the room with Plec and Adly MacKenzie for 10 weeks. Throughout the writing process, Plec recalled how Adly MacKenzie would “write these beautiful moments that were so true to the book,” though many ended up getting cut due to length, prompting Adly MacKenzie to fight for whichever fan-favorite line to be kept in the script.

“I would say, ‘OK, well, keep one and you can lose the other,” Plec said. “You can only fight that for so long.”

“I realized that some of the stuff from the book that had gotten lost along the way also made its way back in along the way,” Adly MacKenzie agreed, noting the pilot had initially taken a turn towards being much more “explicit and clear,” though the inclusion of a voiceover at the beginning ultimately made the premiere episode much more poetic and in-line with the book. “We found our medium, a happy medium.”

Like many shows that have premiered within the past year, “We Were Liars” was inevitably impacted by the WGA strike in 2023, which happened as the series was casting the liars, which were eventually found in Emily Alyn Lind, Esther McGregor, Joseph Zada and Shubham Maheshwari.

“We started casting for six months, and then the actors went on strike for five months and then we basically picked up and cast for another six months,” Plec said. “We did have the luxury of really taking our time … and seeing as many people as we could possibly see.”

Alyn Lind, who can be seen in “The Babysitter” movies and the “Gossip Girl” reboot, became their Cadence, while McGregor came on as Mirren, shifting what the writers had in mind for the character. “We had to almost choose Esther and then write Mirren, because all the different ways we were writing Mirren were not Esther, because Esther is just too cool,” Plec said. “We decided that we wanted her more than we wanted to keep the character we’d already put on the page.”

The duo also joked that they get the bragging rights for giving Zada, who will soon play young Haymitch Abernathy in the “Hunger Games” prequel movie “Sunrise on the Reaping,” his first big American role as Johnny. “That kid is going places, and we’re just along for the ride,” Plec said.

Maheshwari came on as Gat before the rest of the liars as part of an open casting call filmed in his dormroom. Though he had never acted before aside from a few student films — leading Adly MacKenzie to think “we can’t cast the lead of the show as someone who’s never even thought about acting before” — after bringing him in for a producer session and chemistry reads, Maheshwari became the only option for Gat.

The next generation of Sinclairs is found in Caitlin Fitzgerald as Penny, Mamie Gummer as Carrie and Candice King as Bess. King reunites with the creators after starring in “The Vampire Diaries” and “The Originals,” though they weren’t sure she would line up well for the role, as when they first brought up the part to her, she was a few years too young for it. “She was always our favorite, and the voice of Bess became so vividly Candice in our head … and it made Bess easier to write,” Adly MacKenzie shared.

Layered in the romance between Cadence and Gat, as well as the YA storylines for Mirren and Johnny, “We Were Liars” is a discussion of privilege, classism and racism as Gat and Cadence exchange Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste” and Cadence confronts her grandfather’s implicit biases. Adly MacKenzie noted how the series addresses these themes, but said it doesn’t necessarily “land on a pretty little lesson at the end,” admitting “these things are really complicated.”

“We are experiencing a moment where we need people in power, people who look like me, to not just sit comfortably by when they see wrongs happening because the wrongs aren’t happening to them or because they’ve got their own agenda to further,” Adly MacKenzie said. “Passing that fight on to the next generation is going to cost us all.”

For both Plec and Adly MacKenzie, “We Were Liars” marked a departure from sci-fi and supernatural elements found in their shows like “Vampire Diaries,” “The Originals” and “Roswell, New Mexico.” This presented a challenge to not rely on genre as a storytelling crutch.

“[With] the absence of that external, big, high-stakes conflict, you still want to write the scene that just sits there beautifully in its own space, but you get insecure about the fact that it might not have enough conflict, or it might not have enough dramatic pivots and twists and turns,” Plec said. “It’s kind of like teaching yourself how to write from the basics all over again.”

“We Were Liars” is now streaming on Prime Video.

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