One of The Challenge's most legendary players is finally back — and he's got something to prove. After four-time winner Darrell Taylor was eliminated in the first episode of The Challenge: Dirty 30, he didn't compete for the next five seasons. And now, the man who holds the record for most winning seasons in a row (literally winning his first four seasons!) is making his highly-anticipated return with Double Agents.

"It's been a while, I know," Taylor tells EW with a laugh. "Feels like ages!"

Taylor has been seen on The Challenge since his unfortunate early elimination on Dirty 30 — he made an appearance the very next season on Vendettas as a mercenary against Nelson Thomas, resulting in the first-ever elimination draw — but this is the first full season he's competed in since season 30. And, he reveals, he's actually been ready to appear in every season since then.

"They always ask me if I'm available [for each season], every time, like twice every year," Taylor says. "I'm always available. And then last year, me and Derrick [Kosinski], we were actually both alternates on season 35 so we thought we were going to come in as some mercenaries or something, maybe as partners; we didn't know the format. But they just never pulled the trigger."

That's been a trend for Taylor the past five seasons. "[MTV] always called me and would then say, 'Sorry, we're not going to go that route,'" he says. "Which was fine, it never really bothered me too much. I guess they just pulled the trigger this year, and it was perfect timing. I just closed my gym and then I could go do The Challenge and get paid to try to win some more money."

Below, EW got Taylor to break down what fans can expect from his return this season, what exactly happened that led to his Dirty 30 demise, how he's not allowing that early elimination to happen again on Double Agents, and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Taking into account how long it's been since you’ve competed on the show, what happened to you in your last season, and how the challenges keep getting more and more intense every season, how did you prepare for Double Agents?
DARRELL TAYLOR: It's crazy because yes, the game has changed. A lot. You've got to expect the unexpected, and just take it one challenge and one day at a time. Because if you beat yourself up? I'm not going to lie, I have PTSD because of what happened last time in Dirty 30. What I was going to do for this one was I wasn't going to drink on the plane, I wasn't going to drink until I finally got my feet settled in the house and I got the concept of the game. That was my No. 1 priority: no drinking until I hear the rules of the game, until [host] TJ [Lavin] has announced what's going on. Then I can relax a little bit. Because last time I went a little too crazy on the plane, and as soon as we got there, right away it was a challenge. It was a purge, and I had no idea. Normally when we first meet everybody, we see the house, we do cast photos, and usually we don't have a challenge until like two or three days after we get settled in.

Yeah, watching you go in the first episode in Dirty 30 was absolutely heartbreaking.
I was in tears. I quit drinking. I was so mad! [Laughs] I don't think you understand, it was like fresh off the plane, they put us in a holding place for like a good eight hours, but I was still pretty — yeah. I was going crazy on that plane, drinking way too much of the free alcohol, way too much, ready to have a good time. So it was good that I calmed down and got my bearings back first [this time].

I always wondered what went wrong for you in Dirty 30. I don’t think anyone saw that coming considering back then — and even now! — you hold the record for most Challenge wins in a row.
Yeah, it's one of those things where it's kind of [based on] respect with Cory [Wharton] and everybody else [getting me out in the purge]. I'm pretty sure he was not the only one who would have done that. Because I'm a threat. Like you said, I've won four, and they know if I'm there sticking around at the end, most likely the percentages are going to be on my side of taking that money and winning. Everybody's built different, and I'm more final-built. And maybe eliminations. I'm not really too good at the daily challenges unless they're on the ground. I think they know if they keep me around long enough, it's going to come back to bite 'em in the ass. Unless they're on my team!

So taking all that into consideration, were you targeted right away again this season?
Oh, I was ready. Coming into this season I knew that I had a big target on my back. I'm not in the loop. Last time I was on was Dirty 30 and I didn't even get to really play the game because I was gone so quick. And then before that it was Invasion, and we already knew what was happening. It was just me going against CT, Johnny ["Bananas" Devenanzio] and Zach [Nichols]. And so I knew right away coming to this one, it's easy for people just to throw me in and try to dispose of me because I haven't played the game in so long. But at the same time, I had the advantage [because] people have been playing the game for a while so they have enemies amongst themselves.

Another advantage you’ve never had before is the skull twist because even if someone does try to eliminate you early again, they’re also giving you an opportunity to secure your spot in the final.
I like that, the concept of [having] to get a skull. If you throw them in, you're giving them a chance to run in the final. So it's like a double-edged sword there if you try to get rid of me, at the same time you're going to give me an advantage of getting a skull. It's a good concept and I think they should keep it. I will admit, back in the day I would skate by without having to go in [to elimination], but it wasn't by choice. It was just because they never said my name, so like, "Alright, why go in if I don't have to?" Now it makes people want to go in and they know they have to go in. Even though there are a lot of people that still don't want to go in and just hang around. I hate to say that but it's true. It's pretty crazy. I don't get it.

Did you go into this season with any assumptions or goals?
Going into this season, my goal was to win the money because TJ has never said anything about a million dollars on any of the seasons that I've been on. That was pretty exciting for me. My whole goal was just not to be eliminated first. [Laughs] To go out of the game first is the worst feeling in the world. That happened to me in Fresh Meat II. And then it happened in Dirty 30. That was my biggest fear too, I kept trying to block it out but it was continuously in the back of my head. And with Wes [Bergmann] being there, ugh, I already knew he would get all his minions and all the rookies to try to throw Darrell in. "You don't want him here!" That was not working on my side. I love Wes outside the game, but inside the game? Aw hell no. I cannot trust that guy. At all! They call him Rumplestiltskin, [laughs] do not believe anything he says.

Were there any rookies or vets you viewed as a major threat going into this season?
Yeah, Wes was my biggest threat, and all the rookies for the simple fact I know he could gather them up. Everybody knows the vets. Every season the rookies come and the vets throw them in and keep throwing them in. We kind of use the rookies as a scapegoat. So Wes was definitely a threat and any of the rookies that he could get his hands on or into their heads to make them vote a certain way for me. I was pretty paranoid. Even during quarantine, I'm talking to Leroy [Garrett] like, "Man, we've got to get Wes up out of here. Before he tries to come for me. I can't relax!" [Laughs] I was like, I'm not drinking in my room, I'm doing hella burpees, I'm getting ready. I was doing two-a-days, jump rope, skip rope, like oh man, just getting ready for that first elimination, just in case.

What can you tease about who you ended up working with throughout the season?
The only person that I really trusted was Leroy because of the simple fact we see him twice a year, me and my wife, we go to Vegas a lot, but I'm pretty sure everybody hits Leroy up when they go to Vegas. He's cool with everybody, so it's kind of like, where do I stand? I know he said I was his No. 1 so I trust him. He wouldn't tell me that if he didn't mean it because he's not the type to say something just to say it. So going in, I knew that I could trust him, and I guess Kam [Williams] because he's with her to a certain degree, because at the end everybody's trying to look out for themselves. And then once I got settled in, I started to hang around the Big Brother cast a little bit. But I think they're just really good at the social game, they just make their rounds and talk to everybody. So I'm pretty sure everybody felt like that with them. I can't say too much but I was with Fessy [Shafaat] and Josh [Martinez] and Kaycee [Clark].

What can you tease about how this season went for you?
I can say that I showed more brains this season than any other one.

What do you think is going to surprise fans about this season?
There are just so many twists and every time you think you got a foothold on the game, even probably as viewers when they watch it, man, it's crazy. These cats are not playing. They are real cutthroat compared to how I used to play the game with other cast members. Adding on the Big Brother people and Survivor, man, it has just changed a lot. These people are straight-up cutthroat! I'm talking about smiling in your face backstabbers. Just how people vote will surprise you. I was even shocked a lot of times by the people that were going in eliminations. I don't see a lot of stuff coming. I thought I knew but I didn't. The season jumps off like, what?! But as long as it's not your name, you kind of just got to go with the flow, you know?

Get a sneak peek at the new season with the preview episode The Challenge: Double Agents Declassified on Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. The premiere will follow two nights later.

Related content:

• Survivor winner Natalie Anderson talks taking on The Challenge: Double Agents
• The Challenge: Double Agents extended trailer reveals crazy injuries and fights (exclusive)
• First trailer for The Challenge: Double Agents teases 'bigger and crazier' game than ever

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Sydney Bucksbaum

Crossroads

• Movie

• Romance

Justin Long is taking a walk down memory lane.

On Thursday, the actor shared a sweet throwback memory of working with Britney Spears as her love interest on the cult classic 2002 film Crossroads. "I remember being slightly nervous to work with Britney Spears — she was such a massive star in 2002 (as she still is)," Long wrote on Instagram alongside a photo from the movie. "When she introduced herself to me in the makeup trailer, I was disarmed by how sweet and NOT famous she seemed — just a nice girl (not yet a woman) from Louisiana."

Long went on to recall how Spears immediately made him feel comfortable, as did director Tamra Davis and writer Shonda Rhimes (yes, that Shonda Rhimes). "p.s. what ever happened to HER???" Long joked of the now super-successful TV producer.

"Britney seemed to get exponentially more guarded (totally understandably) whenever we walked off set with her bodyguard 'Big something' (my memory is so bad but I remember really liking him - a massive, warm, friendly, terrifying guy)," Long continued. "People would clamor to get to her and paparazzi were constantly lurking behind trees, in bushes, etc. 
Years later, when the tabloid frenzy surrounding Britney reached a fever pitch, I remember feeling so sorry for her. Nobody deserves to be hounded and harassed like that — least of all a very sweet person — one who behaved kindly towards a young nervous actor who occupied a much lower rung on the hierarchical ladder of that film set."

Long also got self-deprecating as he reminisced on how he felt watching the movie for the first time. "I remember thinking that it looked like I was wearing pantyhose on my head because the makeup people only put makeup on my pasty white face and failed to cover up the rest of my translucent body (probably because it would’ve gotten all over the sheets)," he wrote, adding a nauseous face emoji. "Though I personally think it makes Britney’s skin tone look that much nicer — and she was the star, after all, despite not acting like one."

This isn't the first time Long has looked back fondly on his experience with Spears. In 2019, the actor visited PeopleTV’s Couch Surfing to talk about his first onscreen kiss with her in the film.

"I've got to say, she was so sweet and down-to-earth, it was really like disarming," Long said. Of the kiss, he explained that "at one point our legs were kind of intertwined," and Spears apologized for not having shaved her legs that day. "I'm sure they're fine," Long recalled telling her. But she insisted, Long said, and Spears proceeded to put his hand on her thigh. "It was like a baby's ass, you know, it was like the smoothest, it was like silk," he said. "And I swear it was like the smoothest thing I've ever felt — it was like a dolphin."

Related content:

• Justin Long recalls kissing Britney Spears in Crossroads
• Crossroads stars, then and now
• Justin Long and his brother think they have coronavirus but can't get tested

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Sydney Bucksbaum

Natalie Anderson is ready to dominate another reality competition series. She won Survivor: San Juan del Sur, overcame a debilitating concussion that delayed her return to the Survivor franchise, and finished second on last season's Survivor: Winners at War when she was finally deemed medically safe to compete. Before that, she came in fourth place on The Amazing Race and returned for The Amazing Race: All-Stars with her twin sister, Nadiya. Now Natalie is turning her attention to The Challenge.

The player known for her physical prowess and sharp tongue is making her MTV debut on The Challenge: Double Agents (premiering Dec. 9), and she says the franchise is "basically made for" her. "If you've watched me on Survivor, you realized that I would be good on this show," Anderson tells EW. "And there's never been a Southeast Asian chick on this show, and I was the first Southeast Asian girl to be on Survivor and I ended up winning my first season. So hopefully I can keep the luck going."

But she also knows a lot of Challenge fans won't have a clue who she is, and that means she's got a lot of work to do. "With me, it's either you're going to be super-stoked and I'm on because you've watched me, or people are like, 'Who's that random brown girl?'" she says with a laugh. "I don't think that there's a middle."

Below, Natalie breaks down what fans can expect from her on The Challenge, how she trained for the season, whether she formed a Survivor alliance with fellow alum Jay Starrett, and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Your Survivor record is impressive, but did that add any pressure to coming on The Challenge?
NATALIE ANDERSON: I embrace that pressure, but that's also hard because I'm not going on here just to have fun. I'm obviously a super-physical player; I got cast because of that. People want to see me perform, so it's a double-edged sword. It also is a lot of weight on my shoulders to live up to everybody's standards, including my own.

You've always been such a challenge beast on Survivor. Did you always want to cross over into The Challenge because of that?
No, The Challenge and MTV seemed like a world that was so far away. The merging of MTV and CBS made it possible. I had just been with CBS, and the thing that I thought I was going to go on next, if anything, was Big Brother. The MTV-Challenge thing kind of came out of left wing. I got so much feedback from fans saying, "You need to go on The Challenge. The show was made for you." Basically all you have to do is wreck a bunch of girls, and if anybody tries to eliminate you, you can always come back by performing physically. On Survivor, if anybody tried to vote me off and all I had to do was beat another girl in a challenge? I would be impossible to vote out. I would never go home! It just seemed like a win-win for me.

But obviously The Challenge is an entirely different game, so how did you prepare for this season?
I just trained harder than I normally trained. On Survivor, I knew there's a lot of endurance challenges, there's balance, I knew what I was getting into. For The Challenge, I just watched film of every challenge, every elimination, certain specific challenges like Hall Brawl. There's a lot of pulling, a lot of tackling, and I trained specifically for that. I legit bought a helmet, and my boyfriend played football in college and so I made him let me tackle him, he tackled me. I just love it. I didn't do too much mental prep, which I should have done, maybe a little bit more math and equations. [Laughs] I just trained specifically for physical eliminations, tackling, balance, grip strength, so I would be competent at the things I could control.

It sounds like you're more prepared for a season of The Challenge than most rookies are, and even some vets.
Yeah! I have videos of me doing tackle practice, and I'm going to post those on Instagram. On Survivor there's no real one-on-one battles, nothing where you're just like, "Holy s---, this is do-or-die. I need to do everything in my power to run through this chick at any means necessary!" We have really intense challenges on Survivor, but they're really different. I was nervous, but that nervousness was really exciting. I'm happy that I did what vets do because clearly the vets know how to prep for these seasons.

Did you talk with Jay before the season began to get any tips on how to survive The Challenge?
Yeah, I talked to Jay. But clearly, I was taking everything with a grain of salt because he didn't do too well his first season. [Laughs] It was almost like, "Jay, what you did is what we must not do!" But I was really excited to have a plus-one going in with Jay. I had to trust somebody, and Jay was the only person that I could trust going in because of our history; I'd never met him before the show, but we had this unspoken bond with Survivor. He and I touched base on the phone and I was like, "I'm your girl. You can trust me, I can trust you." I was excited that he had my back. And there was never a moment in the game that I doubted him.

Aside from this Survivor alliance, who did you want to work with at the start of the season?
I gravitate to chicks like myself, so I saw that Lolo Jones might be on and I was hoping I could work with her. I remember watching her Olympics, and for me, if there's going to be a girl that is as strong as Lolo on the season, I want to be with her — I don't want to be against her. All the vets were mysteries for me. I loved watching Aneesa [Ferreira], but I didn't know if we would get along in real life. Everybody else I was just going to play by ear.

This is your rookie season, but in the extended trailer you're seen huddled up talking strategy with a lot of the vets. Who did you end up working with?
I'm a chameleon this season because technically I could have played the rookie card whenever I needed to. But at the same time I have this ability to hang with the veterans, not only because of my age but also because of my experience. I'm considered a vet in the ways that I've been on multiple reality TV shows, I've won a competition reality TV show, and so I could morph between the two groups, which was awesome for me. I can work with a lot of people so as far as alliances go, just know that everybody that I worked with, it was not that deep. It was just me testing the waters and always realizing that you can't trust anybody in the house, no matter what.

What surprised you about what it's actually like competing on The Challenge?
Definitely living in a house with a bunch of crazy people, and realizing that we are all sharing a space and that I can't just leave everybody and go swimming to get away. We are in a confined area and there's no way for me to be like, "I just need some time to myself." You are 24 hours a day stuck with these crazy people.

How did your time on The Challenge this season compare to your experiences on Survivor?
Survivor, we are starving and sleeping in the dirt and the cold. This last season of Survivor for me makes my first season seem like literally a vacation. [Edge of] Extinction was a different beast. I went in probably 150 pounds for Survivor and I checked out at 125 pounds. I was emaciated. The Challenge, you have a bed, you have warmth, you have food, you have a bathroom. But with all those comforts comes the dynamic of being surrounded by 30 strangers. I'm really good on the beach, in the wilderness; I can find my peace even though I'm starving. That's my jam, so that was what I was most nervous about, the close-quarters living arrangements. It was very, very, very different. It was wild for me to be in a bed and realize I can't complain because I'm not sleeping with rats at night. But at the same time, there were moments where I'd miss the quietness of the ocean, of the beach, and I sometimes wished I was back on Survivor instead of being in that house. Sleeping in that house was basically Mission: Impossible. I should have just brought my own tent and pitched a tent outside in the cold and slept outside so I could have gotten peace and quiet. I'm the most comfortable when everybody else is uncomfortable.

You’ve now done The Challenge and Survivor, competed on The Amazing Race twice, survived the Edge of Extinction. What's the hardest show to compete on?
Regular Survivor is a piece of cake compared to Extinction. Extinction is definitely and will probably be the hardest thing I ever have to do in my life. I was also there the longest, so my perception of Extinction is very different from somebody who was there one week. I was there for 36 freaking days! I went 48 hours sometimes without eating a single thing. It is definitely harder overall, but the physical challenges of The Challenge are definitely more physical, more reckless, and it makes me more nervous than any challenge has ever made me on Survivor.

What did you learn from Winners at War that you applied to this season of The Challenge?
I took away a lot, from not only reality TV but in general and in life. You have to just go all in. You can't win if you play afraid to lose. The biggest thing that I did on Survivor that cost me $2 million was playing scared at the end. I should have taken Tony [Vlachos, the winner] out in fire and I would have won that $2 mil. But I played scared. So I just knew on The Challenge, it's no regrets. It's better to say, "Holy s---, I f---ed up," than to say, "What if?"

What do you think is going to surprise Survivor and Amazing Race fans about seeing you on this season of The Challenge?
It's going to be weird for people to see me in regular clothes! I'm definitely not like the other Challenge girls where they were dressed up every day. I was like, "Holy crap, I can wash my face and brush my teeth while I'm filming a TV show? This is weird!" The girls brought all these cute outfits, and all I had was workout clothes. [Laughs] On Survivor and Amazing Race, I was a hot mess start-to-finish. I'm still a hot mess on The Challenge, though. [Laughs]

What are you most excited for people to see from you this season?
Probably testing my skills in this new kind of gameplay. I know Survivor, I know how it works. The politics of The Challenge are very different. I'm excited to perform in a new and different social game. Everyone knows that I'm physical, so I'm excited for everyone to see me show out in physical challenges, but I think it will be cool for to see me test the waters in a different political platform.

Get a sneak peek at the new season with the preview episode The Challenge: Double Agents Declassified on Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. The premiere will follow two nights later.

Related content:

• The Challenge: Double Agents extended trailer reveals crazy injuries and fights (exclusive)
• First trailer for The Challenge: Double Agents teases 'bigger and crazier' game than ever
• MTV announces The Challenge: Double Agents for season 36

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Sydney Bucksbaum

Secret agents, rogue agents, and double agents, oh my! Season 36 of The Challenge is really going all-in with the spy thriller theme, and EW has your exclusive first look at The Challenge: Double Agents "super" extended trailer featuring three minutes of all-new footage.

Along with host TJ Lavin revealing that there are only 10 skulls this season — meaning the first 10 players to win an elimination are the only ones eligible to run the final — the super trailer shows how the stakes have never been higher. From shocking injuries to angry outbursts, new hookups and old rivalries rekindled, this season just might be the craziest yet.

The trailer appropriately opens with Big T being thrown out of an airplane, and things just get bigger and better from there. CT's laughing with an evil look on his face, Fessy is screaming at Josh about how he plays scared every season, returning veteran Theresa cries to Jay about having to be here with her old rival Wes, newcomer/Survivor winner Natalie is shown making alliances with veteran heavy hitters, and Tori drops a bomb that BFFs Cory and Fessy could be thrown into elimination against each other. Multiple dudes punch walls in anger, fights break out in the house, and Wes says, "This is the most paranoid game I've ever been a part of."

And speaking of those shocking injuries, why is Kyle throwing up blood? Is that why Tori is shown screaming, "Get a f---ing medic!" during an elimination? Or will there be multiple disqualifications due to medical reasons this season?!

Whatever the case may be, Nany puts it best: "All hell is going to break loose."

Watch the full super trailer below:

Get a sneak peek of the new season with a special preview episode The Challenge: Double Agents Declassified airing Monday, Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, two days prior to the premiere airing Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV. 

Related content:

• First trailer for The Challenge: Double Agents teases "\'bigger and crazier' game than ever
• MTV announces The Challenge: Double Agents for season 36
• Johnny Bananas talks winning The Challenge: Total Madness: 'It still keeps me up at night sometimes'

• The Challenge: Double Agents extended trailer reveals injuries, fights, and more
• CoNic wedding first look! The Resident stars Matt Czuchry and Emily VanCamp tease season 4 premiere
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This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Sydney Bucksbaum

Nancy Drew (2019 TV series)

• TV Show

• The CW

• Mystery

How does Nancy Drew have the bandwidth for another mystery? The Drew Crew is about to find out just how much the titular redheaded teen sleuth can handle in season 2.

Nancy Drew (Kennedy McMann) is back for even more intrigue in the first trailer for the new season, even though she and her friends are still reeling from seeing visions of their own impending deaths via portents because they didn't pay the toll to the Aglaeca spirit. They all thought Owen's (Miles Gaston Villanueva) death was the Aglaeca curse coming to claim its victim, but it turned out he was murdered by an ordinary human, so the deadly consequences have yet to come to pass. And based on the new season 2 footage above, the Aglaeca is coming for them all now, in horrific ways.

"There is a lot more to come in the premiere of season 2," showrunner Noga Landau previously told EW about the Aglaeca curse. "[The] very cool Aglaeca-related [season 1] ending makes us really up the stakes for what's about to happen as a consequence of them not paying the toll."

And showrunner Melinda Hsu Taylor told EW that "the question of season 2 is how much of your fate has been set in motion before you have any kind of hand in it and how much of it can be changed through free will?"

Nancy Drew season 2 premieres Wednesday, Jan. 20, on the CW. Watch the new trailer above.

Related content:

• The CW developing Nancy Drew spinoff Tom Swift for expanded 'Drew-niverse'
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• Nancy Drew showrunners reveal exclusive finale sneak peek, tease season 2's mystery

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Sydney Bucksbaum

 Cara Delevingne and Jaden Smith are bringing the love to the holidays this year with Life in a Year.

The young adult romance from director Mitja Okorn stars the two actors as a couple facing insurmountable odds as fiery, spontaneous Isabelle (Delevingne) has only a year to live, and driven, sheltered Daryn (Smith) promises to give her their entire life of milestones together in the time she has left. And during a Zoom call with each other (shared exclusively with EW), Delevingne praised the tearjerker for showing "what real love means."

"Right now, it coming out, it's just such a crazy time. That movie, the whole meaning of it, it's very real," she tells Smith during their conversation about the film. "It teaches you about love and what real love means and that love can be painful and it can be devastating but it's also the thing we need the most and that will save the world. I don't think anyone can watch this movie and not bring a tear to your eye, but it also makes you laugh, it also makes you just feel a lot. I think that's so important."

And Smith agreed. "That's what I really love about it too," he says, adding that while he had never cried seeing himself onscreen before like in The Pursuit of Happyness, he actually lost it while watching Life in a Year. "I remember crying in the beginning when I wasn't supposed to be crying," he says. "I cried at multiple different times in the movie. And I usually don't get that type of effect from a movie that I'm in... it just really got to me."

Watch the video above to see their entire conversation about the movie, all the celebrity cameos, why they were excited to star in the film together, and more.

Life in a Year begins streaming Nov. 27 on Amazon Prime.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly’s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

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Author:Sydney Bucksbaum - Source: EW

"Dance what you feel" and "Dance the s--- out of it!" are sentiments that all dancers (and dance movie fans) know well. But it's time to take an unflinching look at the real-life drama and struggles behind the glossy veneer of films like Center Stage in the new Disney+ docuseries On Pointe — and EW has your exclusive first look at the trailer.

Launching Dec. 18, the six-part series follows young ballet dancers vying to become prima ballerinas (for the girls) and premier danseurs (for the boys). Think Cheer, but instead of cheerleading, it centers on ballet — a.k.a. the "unforgiving art form" — and the dancers who "can't live without it."

The show will feature unprecedented access to New York's prestigious School of American Ballet, upon which Center Stage's fictional American Ballet Academy was based. Chronicling the lives of world-class students age 8 to 18 pursuing their dreams of becoming professional ballet dancers in an uber-competitive environment, the series reveals what it's really like to make it as a professional dancer, including all the highs of success and the very low lows. While older students rigorously train for professional careers, younger students are put through their paces as they rehearse and perform in New York City Ballet's holiday classic George Balanchine's The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center.

On Pointe is produced by Imagine Documentaries and DCTV, with Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, and Matthew O'Neill serving as executive producers, and Larissa Bills directing and producing.

Watch the trailer above.

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• Meet your maker: Uncle Frank director Alan Ball on his biggest influences
• First trailer for Disney+ ballet docuseries On Pointe is like a real-life Center Stage
• Meet the new Saved by the Bell revival cast members roaming the halls of Bayside High

Author:Sydney Bucksbaum - Source: EW

Justin Bieber was nominated for multiple Grammy Awards on Tuesday morning, but he didn't exactly celebrate the milestone.

After the 2021 nominations were announced, the singer posted a statement on Instagram that revealed he was actually feeling "weird" about how his album Changes is nominated in the pop category and not R&B.

"I am very meticulous and intentional about my music," Bieber wrote. "With that being said I set out to make an R&B album. Changes was and is an R&B album. It is not being acknowledged as an R&B album which is very strange to me."

Bieber went on to explain that he "grew up admiring R&B music and wished to make a project that would embody that sound" and "for this not to be put into that category feels weird considering from the chords to the melodies to the vocal style all the way down to the hip hop drums that were chosen it is undeniably, unmistakably an R&B Album!"

He also wanted to "be clear" that while he "absolutely" loves pop music, "it just wasn't what I set out to make this time around." And he still has "gratitude" for "feeling respected" and he feels "honored to be nominated either way."

"Please don’t mistake this as me being ungrateful, these are just my thoughts take em or leave em," Bieber wrote in the caption. "Thank you to the people who fought for me to even have any noms."

Read his full statement below:

Along with Changes being nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, Bieber is also nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance for "Yummy" and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Intentions" featuring Quavo.

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Author:Sydney Bucksbaum - Source: EW

A holiday-set romantic comedy wouldn't be complete without "lecherous holiday canaries," "cutthroat competitive pogo stick riding," and a "bonkers Rainforest Cafe." At least that's what the Happiest Season cast and filmmaker came up with during a fun round of Mad Libs with Entertainment Weekly.

EW rounded up writer-director Clea DuVall and the film's stars Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, and Mary Steenburgen for a holiday-themed version of Mad Libs where they had to describe the plot of their upcoming queer Hulu rom-com, and it's safe to say that things went off the rails — what else would you expect?

Watch the video above to see what wacky differences the cast and director came up with and how a few different verbs and nouns can change an entire movie, for better or for worse.

Happiest Season (streaming Nov. 25 on Hulu) stars Davis and Kristen Stewart as a young gay couple, Harper and Abby, about to spend their first holidays together. They're traveling to Harper's suburban home for her conservative family's annual Christmas party, but on the way there, Harper drops the bomb on Abby that she hasn't come out to her parents (Steenburgen and Victor Garber). Classic holiday shenanigans take on a new twist as Abby is forced to hide her real identity while trying to make a good impression on her girlfriend's family.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly’s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

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Author:Sydney Bucksbaum - Source: EW

In need of a good, cathartic ugly cry? Stock up on Kleenex because Life in a Year checks that box ... and then some.

The new film, streaming on Amazon Prime beginning Nov. 27, stars Cara Delevingne and Jaden Smith as a young couple facing insurmountable odds as fiery, spontaneous Isabelle (Delevingne) has only a year to live, and driven, sheltered Daryn (Smith) promises to give her their entire life of milestones together in the time she has left. The sweet coming-of-age story is romantic, inspiring, and heartbreaking in equal measure, and Delevingne warns EW that you'll be "ugly sobbing" even more than you expect with a story centered on love and illness.

"It's definitely not a pretty sobbing film," she says with a laugh. "It gets you right in the gut. Oh my gosh, I cried all the time [during filming]."

The film is Slovenian director Mitja Okorn's first U.S. movie, and he's a self-admitted fan of tearjerkers. "I love to cry at movies myself," he tells EW. "It's such a good, cleansing moment. I always choose emotions over logic. It’s such a lovely thing to see people crying, taking out their handkerchiefs while watching a movie. That makes me cry, when people are touched as well!" So when the script for Life in a Year, produced by Will Smith's company Overbrook Entertainment along with Sony Pictures, landed on Okorn's desk, and he cried while reading it, he knew he "needed" to direct it.

"This kind of film sometimes feels very mechanically made, like somebody put all the elements in the computer and out comes a young adult movie about sickness," Okorn says. "In Hollywood, they even really badly call them 'sick-lit,' like 'chick-lit.' And I said, 'No, this should be from the heart. It should be not pretentious. It should be life.'"

During the first group script reading with the stars and producers, Okorn knew he was making the movie with the right people when he saw how Will handled the emotion of the story. "Once the script reading started, everyone started hiding that they're going to cry, and then Will Smith didn't care and just cried," he says. "I'm like, 'Oh, great. I can work with this.' And when we were shooting all these emotional scenes later, Will Smith is sitting behind me sobbing."

Delevingne had worked with Will previously on Suicide Squad, so she already had a relationship with her onscreen costar Jaden. But it was the script that had her "obsessed" with playing Isabelle.

"As an actor, to be a vessel to understand what it takes to have something like stage three ovarian cancer, it's not a dream role obviously but in a way, it's an incredible gift to be given, especially when you put in the work," Delevingne says of the role. "[I worked with] this girl who survived stage three ovarian cancer ... and to be able to meet these people and to show a story of strength and struggle and family, community, and support and what it takes, to dive into that it was really special to me."

And she adds, "Isabelle was special to me specifically because of her strength. No matter what she went through she was always going to make light of it; she was always going to keep living like she didn't have something like this curse on her back. The way she led her life was just very inspirational."

While the movie required Delevingne to shave her head to accurately portray Isabelle's chemotherapy journey, Jaden also had to do the same. "He had to cut his dreadlocks," Okorn says, and Delevingne reveals that moment brought the two of them even closer. "I love Jaden so much, I adore him with all my heart," she says. "He is a phenomenal artist but I'm so glad that people are going to be able to see him as an actor like this. And us having to shave our heads at the same time, he’ll be in my life forever."

While Okorn says that Life in a Year was "made for Jaden," finding the right Isabelle wasn't as easy. And he admits with a laugh that he didn't even know who Delevingne was when her name was brought up for the role. He watched all of her movies and still wasn't sure she was the right choice. It wasn't until he went down a "YouTube rabbit hole" of her funniest moments on video that he saw the character of Isabelle in her.

"There's such an amazing energy coming from those videos. All night, I was just watching those videos and I was falling in love with Isabelle," Okorn says. "She’s funny, she has crazy, unpredictable energy, she drums, she can do everything. I was immediately like, 'Why is no one using her energy like that in movies?' It seems like she’s always being held back from the energetic, wild Cara [I saw]."

Okorn was relieved that Delevingne loved the script. But her love for the character went deeper than he expected. "She was like, 'This is awesome. I want to shave my head and my eyebrows,'" Okorn says. "And I was immediately like, 'Oh no, don't do the eyebrows! Your eyebrows are so special. What if they don't grow back the way you have them now? They probably are worth more than the whole movie if we would have to insure them!' But we liked that passion that she had."

Delevingne reveals that she "really wanted to embody her" fully when it came to shaving her hair. "I wanted to do as much as I could to do it authentically as much as I could," she says. "And during the whole process I actually got quite sick. I think that's the power of the mind; I was so wrapped up in every day thinking about life and death. I'm not a method actor but it really became all-encompassing; I had no hair, going to these hospitals all the time, it was a lot and I felt quite ill. I cried a lot and I felt depressed during the whole thing. It felt quite bleak but I still wanted to thrive and be on fire."

It's that heavy emotion that Okorn is most excited for people, especially young teenagers, to see. "This movie is going to be a first for, like, that 14-year-old who never saw Fault in Our Stars, who never saw Notebook, or Titanic, like we did, all those movies we cried over," he says. "When you’re 30, 40, 50, and you’ve seen 17 of those movies, it never touches you as much as the first one does. So while you might say, 'We’ve seen this [story] before,' we have to know that for a 14-year-old, they might never have seen something like this. And whoever likes a good tearjerker is going to love it too."

As for how much Kleenex viewers will need to watch? Delevingne laughs. "A lot!" she says. "Or just a shoulder to cry on or a pillow to scream into. But at the end, there are happy tears. There’s a beautiful message in this film. It is reality, it is life, and unfortunately, it’s what we have to face, especially now. 2020 has been a really, really mad year, and with things like illness, whether it's cancer, corona, or whether it's mental illness or addiction, it's these kind of times where we have to try and live life to the fullest. Life is going to hit you with a lot of struggle and so you're going to have to find the people you love and find the things you care about and live. That's what this movie teaches you, we only have a short amount of time on this planet so use it."

Check out the exclusive first trailer for Life in a Year above now, and get ready to cry.

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Author:Sydney Bucksbaum - Source: EW

Euphoria (2019 TV series)

• TV Show

• HBO

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The wait for more Euphoria is almost over.

On Wednesday, Zendaya tweeted out an image and tease that her character Rue will be the focus of the first new episode coming next week.

The Emmy-winning series star broke the news on social media in October that the HBO series is getting two special episodes, with the first one airing Dec. 6. "We really missed them," she wrote, captioning a photo of her character Rue's reflection in an eye.

The first episode, airing on HBO at 9 p.m. ET/PT and available to stream on HBO Max, will pick up after the events of the season 1 finale. In the aftermath of being left by Jules (Hunter Schafer) at the train station and relapsing, the special episode follows Rue as she celebrates Christmas. Written and directed by series creator Sam Levinson, the episode titled "Trouble Don't Last Always" also stars Colman Domingo, who appeared in season 1. The title and date of the second episode are forthcoming, and both special episodes were produced under COVID-19 guidelines.

Back in August, Zendaya teased the possibility of a "bridge episode" during a guest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! "We're trying to figure out how to eventually be able to create a season 2 that we're all really proud of and get all the best out of it that we want but also still being very safe," she said. "So, we might end up doing a little bridge episode. I don't really know how to describe it, but an episode that we can do with a limited amount of people in a safer environment that can, I don't know, give people something."

Euphoria was renewed for a second season in July of last year but the ongoing pandemic forced them to put those plans on pause. "We were headed into season 2 and we had done table reads and wardrobe fittings and all kinds of things and then obviously everything happened and we got shut down, literally like two days before we were about to start the first day of shooting," Zendaya said.

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Euphoria (2019 TV series)

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Author:Sydney Bucksbaum - Source: EW