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Child stardom might seem like the ultimate dream, but it can unfortunately be a challenging experience for young actors. Not only are there immense adult stresses related to the job, but child stars are often exposed to very adult things long before they should be, and abuse, unfortunately, occurs on sets and around them. Even if a child star manages to avoid abusive situations, they can struggle with fame and the unusual requirements of their jobs. For example, "Captain Marvel" star Brie Larson was originally hesitant to take on the mantle of a major Marvel hero because she was unsure of her identity as a separate thing from the many roles she had played throughout her childhood. No matter how much money a kid might be raking in, there are plenty of reasons for a child star to step away from a bright and shining career. 

Angus T. Jones, the...

At the age of 10, Angus T. Jones received a break that most actors are left dreaming of through their entire careers. Playing the role of Jake Harper in Chuck Lorre’s Two and a Half Men, Jones eventually amassed a net worth of $20 million and became one of the most successful child actors in the industry.

Angus T. Jones as Jake Harper in Two and a Half Men | CBS

However, despite the early success and the longstanding role, Jones eventually became less frequent on Two and a Half Men. He enjoyed a guest role in Seasons 11 and 12, before leaving the show altogether. That was of course, after the dramatic exit Charlie Sheen underwent in Season 9.

However, Jones’ decision to leave Two and a Half Men had nothing to do with Sheen. Instead, it was down to his newfound faith which meant that he had become a ‘god-fearing person.’

Angus T.

The meteoric rise and fall of Hollywood stars often capture public attention, and few stories are as compelling as that of Angus T. Jones. Starting his acting career with roles in movies like Simpatico, The Rookie, and George of the Jungle 2, Jones is best known for his role as Jake Harper on the hit sitcom Two and a Half Men.

Still from Two and A Half Men | Credit: CBS

Despite the early success and prominent position on one of television’s most popular shows, Jones’ career took a dramatic and unexpected turn, after he abruptly quit the show and would even go on to urge fans to refrain from watching the hit sitcom.

Angus T. Jones’ Once Asked Fans to Stop Watching Two and a Half Men

Before landing one of the lead roles alongside Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer in Two and a Half Men, Angus T. Jones had...

Anthony Hopkins is taking on yet another iconic figure, this time from the world of music.

The stage and screen legend — a two-time Academy Award winner — is attached to star as George Frideric Handel in “The King of Covent Garden,” set during the period the famed opera composer worked on his choral masterpiece “Messiah.” Embankment Films has launched global pre-sales on the project, which is scheduled for a late fall 2025 release.

Andrew Levitas (“Minimata”) will direct “The King of Covent Garden” from a script by Tim Slover, with the filmmakers pitching the feature as “a powerfully majestic celebration of genius breaking all the rules to create an anthem inspiring the popular imagination of global audiences.” Dan Lupovitz (“Death Defying Acts,” “Simpatico”) and Kevan Van Thompson (“Ballerina,” “Jojo Rabbit”) will produce.

Global operatic mezzo-soprano star Katherine Jenkins joins Peter Touche (“Military Wives,” “Blinded by the Light”) as executive producer, adding her musical performance,...

Chris Pine, Cynthia Erivo, Kieran Culkin, Sharon Stone and Rosie Perez celebrated Jeff Bridges’ seven-decade career at the 49th annual Chaplin Awards Gala in New York City on Monday night. But the Big Lebowski star almost chose a different career path.

During his acceptance speech for the Film at Lincoln Center‘s prestigious honor, the True Grit star shared that he originally “resisted” the idea of pursuing acting full-time for a few different reasons.

“It made me nervous, anxious, and I had other things I wanted to do,” he told the full auditorium at Alice Tully Hall. “I was very much into music. I loved ceramics, painting, and who wants to do what their parents do anyway?”

He recalled his father, actor Lloyd Bridges, explaining to him that he could do all of those things in this career path and use them all to some degree, which was one of the beauties of the job.

The 49th annual Chaplin Gala presenters have been officially unveiled to honor award recipient Jeff Bridges.

Bridges’ former co-stars Sharon Stone, Chris Pine, Cynthia Erivo, and Rosie Perez will all toast the Academy Award winner’s contributions to film as Bridges receives the coveted Chaplin Award on April 29.

Erivo starred with Bridges in “Bad Times at the El Royale” (2018), while Perez appeared with Bridges in “Fearless” (1993). Pine was side-by-side with Bridges in Oscar-nominated Western “Hell or High Water” (2016), and Sharon Stone acted opposite Bridges in both “Simpatico” (1999) and “The Muse” (1999).

The Chaplin Award Tribute will feature excerpts from a selection of Bridges’ work, appearances by co-stars, friends, and colleagues, and the presentation of the award itself. An acclaimed actor, producer, and musician, Bridges’ film career has spanned seven decades and features a slew of iconic roles in “True Grit,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Hell or High Water,” “Heaven’s Gate,” and “Crazy Heart,...

Esteemed British writer David Nicholls is not precious when it comes to adaptations of his novels and cites Netflix’s recent adaptation of his 2009 novel One Day as being a perfect example of how being open-minded to fresh ideas on established material can result in good work.

Speaking at Dublin’s first ever screenwriting festival Storyhouse, Nicholls sat down for a lengthy discussion with Room and Normal People director Lenny Abrahamson to discuss his process of writing and adapting material. Nicholls credited the writers and directors of series One Day – writer-creator Nicole Taylor, writer Bijan Sheibani and director Molly Manners, among others – of their ability to adapt One Day for a modern television audience.

“The joy of that was that they were both being very faithful and trying to replicate the feeling of reading the novel while at the same time embellishing and drawing things out,” said Nicholls. “And I...

Exclusive: U.S. producer duo Marisa Vitali and Claire McClanahan are launching production company Emergent Pictures and have signed Heidi Greensmith (Winter) to direct their first feature film, Carbon.

Emergent’s McClanahan wrote the script as her feature film debut and will produce the drama under the Emergent Pictures banner alongside Vitali. Casting is currently underway on the project which follows a mother who, unable to accept her daughter’s sudden death, attempts to clone her daughter and carry the clone to term.

Greensmith’s debut feature film Winter, starring Tommy Flanagan and Tom Payne, played at festivals including Palm Springs and the New York City International Film Festival where it won four awards.

Emergent Pictures will have bases in La and New York. It will focus on developing and producing stories for an international audience and wants to promote diversity and emerging filmmakers.

Carbon’s script has featured in...

“It was always my dream adaptation,” reveals writer David Nicholls about taking on the Showtime limited series “Patrick Melrose.” “I loved the world, and I thought the central character had this incredible richness and variety.” Based on a series of novels by Edward St. Aubyn, the show follows the life journey of the title character (Benedict Cumberbatch) including his abusive childhood, his struggles with addiction, and his ultimate redemption. Nicholls “loved the idea of seeing this character change and grow, and finding out where he would be in the next stage of his life.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Nicholls above.

See Benedict Cumberbatch spills secrets of being ‘Patrick Melrose’ at Showtime’s world premiere [Red Carpet Interview]

Adapting the novels into a five-part limited series was “a huge job” that has “taken up most of the last five years.” Although he’s had experience bringing lofty literary material to the screen...

Michael Shannon has honored his late co-star, Sam Shepard, by recording the audiobook to Shepard’s final work of fiction. On December 5, Knopf Doubleday will release “Spy of the First Person,” the story of a nearly-immobilized man who looks back on his life while undergoing medical testing.

Shepard died of Als complications in July at age 73, leaving behind a legacy that includes more than 60 film roles and 55 penned plays. “Buried Child” won him the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979; five years later, Shepard earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for “The Right Stuff.”

Read More: Sam Shepard, Rip: 5 Essential Performances That Illustrate His Genius

Shannon, himself a two-time Oscar nominee in that category, appeared with Shepard in films such as “Mud” and “Midnight Special.” In addition, the “Shape of Water” actor performed as several Shepard-created characters onstage. This year alone, Shannon participated in a June reading of “Curse of the Starving Class...

Matthew McConaughey first learned of Sam Shepard’s death during a red carpet interview last night, and his raw emotional reaction to the news was captured on camera.

“Sam Shepard moved on?” the actor asked incredulously at The Dark Tower premiere in New York City Tuesday night, after an Associated Press reporter told him the news.

Shepard, who starred with McConaughey in 2012’s Mud, died at his home in Kentucky on July 27 after battling Als, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, People confirmed. The actor’s illness was not publicly known. He was with his family at the time of his death.

Sam Shepard, known for his acting work in films such as Black Hawk Down and The Right Stuff, has died. He was 73.

Shepard’s theater representative confirms to People that Shepard passed away at his home in Kentucky on Thursday, July 27, from complications from Als, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The actor’s battle with Als was not publicly known. He was with his family at the time of his death.

“The family requests privacy at this difficult time,” said Chris Boneau, the family’s spokesman.

The representative said funeral arrangements would remain private. Plans for a public...

The Climate Was Changing: Warchus Revisits 80s Set Instance of Activism

British director Matthew Warchus first appeared in 1999 with his directorial debut, Simpatico, based on the Sam Shepard play. While it received a rather underwhelming response despite starring Jeff Bridges, Nick Nolte and a supporting Sharon Stone, Warchus has been off the map for the past fifteen years until Pride. An insightful screenplay from first time writer Stephen Beresford is the first of many surprises in this well performed resuscitation of the 1984 UK mining strike, which examines the possibilities of tolerance and supporting those in need of assistance. Though its tale may seem merely a footnote in the long haul toward Lgbt equality, Warchus has concocted a relatable film meant to cross boundaries and audiences, and thankfully isn’t shackled down by its own good intentions.

In 1984 Britain, the National Union of Mineworkers called a series of strikes that crippled the government.

Matthew Warchus has a catalogue of work that most theatre lovers can only dream of. Primed to take over from Kevin Spacey as Artistic Director of London’s Old Vic, he can boast Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeff Goldblum, Sharon Stone and Spacey himself as just a few of those he has directed on stage. Yet he has only one feature film directing credit to his name: 1999’s Simpatico. Thank goodness, then, for Stephen Beresford whose gloriously uplifting and essential script has coaxed Warchus back to the big screen.

With Pride receiving incredible – and thoroughly deserved – acclaim across the board, we were only too eager to talk about a film based on real life events that many thought would remain forgotten.

Pride is released in UK cinemas this Friday. Check out our review here.

More Pride Interviews

The post The HeyUGuys Interview: Matthew Warchus & Stephen Beresford on Pride appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Ahead of its release in UK cinemas, we talk to the director and writer of the funniest film of the year, Pride. It's one of the best, too.

Regular readers will know that we've been banging the drum for the film Pride for a little while now. It's a fabulous comedy, whose laughs are as fierce as its politics, and it arrives in UK cinemas this Friday.

In advance of that, we chatted to its director Matthew Warchus (returning to cinema for the first time since 1999's Simpatico) and writer Stephen Beresford. Both come from a theatre background (Warchus is taking over from Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic next, and his hugely impressive theatre credits include the Matilda musical), and both were in fine form when we met them...

What particularly intrigued me about Pride is why you chose to tell such an unusual story this way. And I...

Another Cannes entry has found a buyer: CBS Films has acquired U.S. rights to Tony-winning director Matthew Warchus's "Pride" and is wasting no time opening the well-reviewed dramatic comedy starring Bill Nighy ("The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"), Imelda Staunton ("Maleficent"), Dominic West ("The Hour)" and Paddy Considine ("Submarine"). The film played well at Directors' Fortnight. CBS Films, which mounted an ambitious awards campaign for last year's "Inside Llewyn Davis," will release the film in theaters on September 19th. Directed by Warchus ("Simpatico") from a screenplay by actor-turned-writer Stephen Beresford inspired by a true story, "Pride" is set in the summer of 1984, when Margaret Thatcher was in charge and the National Union of Mineworkers was on strike. When London gay and lesbian activists raise money to support the strikers’ families, the Union...

★★★☆☆David Nicholls has had a varied career to date and has won acclaim for his work in TV and film, as well as his fiction. His first feature was an adaptation of Sam Shepard's stage-play Simpatico (1999). Nicholls then cut his teeth contributing scripts for the popular TV series Cold Feet (2000). He gained wider recognition with his acclaimed book One Day, which was made into a film in 2011. Despite his success in cinema, Nicholls has retained his affection for television. His latest offering, The 7.39 (2014), demonstrates his usual flair for convincing characters and dialogue but lacks the rigour and passion of past work.

Now that Roman Polanski is a free man again, he can go anywhere and do anything - except in North America. That won't stop Sony Pictures Classics from distributing Carnage there, though, as they eye an end-of-year bow for his follow-up to The Ghost Writer. Carnage is based off of a Gods of Carnage, a play written by Yasmina Reza that premiered in Zurich in 2006. The film was shot in Paris, but is set in Brooklyn (the possibility of imprisonment will do that to you), and features an all-star cast in Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, Jodie Foster, and John C. Reilly. Sony Pictures Classics will also be releasing Woody Allen and Pedro Almodóvar's newest films later this year, while this is the first Polanski film that they have had the pleasure of bringing to theatres. Gist: The play focuses on two sets of parents. When one of the couple's...

American character actor known for his tough-guy roles in westerns and on television

With a voice that sounded as if it were strained through gravel chipped from his craggy face, James Gammon, who has died of cancer aged 70, had a memorable presence as a character actor in crime films, rural dramas and especially westerns, from A Man Called Horse (1970) to Urban Cowboy (1980), Silverado (1985), Wyatt Earp (1994), Wild Bill (1995) and Appaloosa (2008). Ed Harris, who directed and starred in Appaloosa, said of Gammon: "If he'd been born 20 years earlier he'd have been in every other western ever made."

Gammon had a perpetual squint that could be interpreted as crazy or wise – or both. His best-known role was as the unflappable baseball manager Lou Brown in the comedy Major League (1989). On television, he played Don Johnson's father in the series Nash Bridges from 1996 to 2001. Gammon's ability to reveal an essential weakness, and the...

Keira Knightley and Matt Damon look set to star in a movie version of F Scott Fitzgerald's novel Tender Is The Night.

David Nicholls, who wrote the scripts for Starter For 10 and Simpatico, has adapted the screenplay and 20th Century Fox has offered Keira and Matt the lead roles, according to Pajiba.

The story follows the psychological disintegration of a young married American couple on the French Riviera in the 1920s.

Matt would play Dick, a promising young doctor living off the money of his wealthy wife Nicole, played by Keira.

There is currently no director attached. The book was previously adapted for the big screen in 1962.