The daily gossip: Eddie Redmayne regrets playing a trans character, Jennifer Lawrence recalls thinking she was going to die in a plane crash, and more

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1. Eddie Redmayne says his role as a transgender character in 'The Danish Girl' was a 'mistake'
2. Jennifer Lawrence recalls thinking she was going to die in a plane crash
3. Keanu Reeves once randomly showed up at Sandra Bullock's house with champagne and truffles
4. Ridley Scott blames his last movie bombing on 'audiences who were brought up on these f---ing cell phones'
5. Kevin Spacey ordered to fork over $31 million after 'House of Cards' firing

published 22 November 2021

1. Eddie Redmayne says his role as a transgender character in 'The Danish Girl' was a 'mistake'

Eddie Redmayne earned an Oscar nomination for playing a transgender character in The Danish Girl — but he now regrets taking the role in the first place. Redmayne starred as one of the first people to undergo gender reassignment surgery in the 2015 film, which was criticized for not casting a trans actor. Years later, Redmayne told The Sunday Times, "I wouldn't take it on now. I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake." Redmayne added that the "bigger discussion about the frustrations around casting is because many people don't have a chair at the table," calling for "a levelling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates." The star of the Harry Potter prequel series Fantastic Beasts previously blasted J.K. Rowling's anti-trans tweets, speaking out last year in support of "my dear transgender friends and colleagues."

Well, this isn't the most comforting thing to hear before flying home for Thanksgiving. Jennifer Lawrence opened up to Vanity Fair about fearing she was going to die in 2017, when she was on a private plane that had to make an emergency landing. "I started leaving little mental voicemails to my family, you know, 'I've had a great life, I'm sorry,'" Lawrence said. The Hunger Games star recalled that she began to pray, "Not to the specific God I grew up with, because he was terrifying and a very judgmental guy. But I thought, Oh, my God, maybe we'll survive this? I'll be a burn victim, this will be painful, but maybe we'll live." Luckily, everyone on board was fine — but Lawrence had to immediately get on board another flight right after. "Flying is horrific," she lamented, "and I have to do it all the time."

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Keanu Reeves is exactly who you hoped he would be, according to a new Esquire profile. Sandra Bullock, Reeves' Speed co-star, described casually mentioning to him that she's never had champagne and truffles — only for Reeves to show up at her house on his motorcycle days later unannounced, standing outside her door with champagne, truffles, and flowers. "I just thought you might want to try champagne and truffles, to see what it's like," Reeves told her. Bullock proceeded to invite Reeves in, where she and her girlfriend had been painting their nails, and Esquire writes that "Keanu put his hands out, without a word, and Bullock painted his nails black, same as hers." Bullock said she and Reeves never dated because she didn't want to ruin a friendship with him, but she added, "Who knows? Keanu's a guy who, I feel like, is friends with every woman he's ever dated. I don't think there's anyone who has something horrible to say about him. So maybe we could have survived."

Why did Ridley Scott's latest movie, The Last Duel, tank at the box office despite earning great reviews? He's got a theory. The legendary director appeared on the WTF podcast and discussed the fact that his most recent film, starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, was a huge box office disappointment, arguing it wasn't because Disney dropped the ball on the marketing. Instead, Scott said, "I think what it boils down to — what we've got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these f---ing cell phones." He went on to bemoan millennials who "do not ever want to be taught anything unless you told it on the cell phone." Scott is currently promoting his second movie to debut this fall, House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga. Will the Little Monsters turn out for it and prove Scott wrong, or will he go off even harder on moviegoers in a few weeks? Stay tuned.

Disgraced actor Kevin Spacey has been ordered to fork over a whopping $31 million to the production company behind House of Cards after being fired for alleged sexual misconduct in 2017. An arbitrator ruled that Spacey breached his contract with the production company MRC by violating its sexual harassment policy, ordering the actor and his companies to pay $29.5 million in damages, as well as $1.2 million in attorneys' fees. Spacey was fired from the show in 2017 while production was underway, forcing the sixth season to be rewritten, and MRC alleged it suffered millions in damages as a result. Could Spacey being tied up with this case be enough to spare us from another weird Christmas Eve video this year?

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.