Author: Jackie Strause

September 02, 2016 11:00am PT by Jackie Strause

D Dipasupil/FilmMagic; C Flanigan/Getty Images

Lena Dunham, Amy Schumer

In a Lenny Letter interview, the ‘Girls’ creator also revealed that the ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ star and ‘Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo’ author auditioned for the role of Shoshanna on the HBO series.

“If there’s scandals, can’t they be about me?” Amy Schumer asked Lena Dunham in a wide-ranging interview for the Girls creator’s Lenny Letter that came out on Friday.

Dunham interviewed her friend, the Inside Amy Schumer comedian, via Skype for a Q&A that touched on “plus-size” labels (“The media body-shames women of healthy, normal sizes,” said Schumer), their mutual discomfort at the Met Ball, Schumer’s new book and the Comedy Central star being dragged into a recent controversy with one of the writers on her series.

The writer, Kurt Metzger, went viral over his offensive comments mocking rape accusers, and fans looked to Schumer for answers about his behavior.

“First I was like, f— Kurt,” said the Trainwreck star. “It’s been years that he’s been doing this. He’s one of those guys, like a lot of the guys that I’m friends with, who are degenerates. Kurt was saying this awful stuff, and in previous years, I would be like, ‘You’ve got to shut up.’ He’d be like, ‘All right.'”

She continued, “This time, it was just so bad. But also, why are these women treating him like he raped someone? He’s not Bill Cosby; Kurt has never raped. What he was saying was horrific, and he was being a troll. He can be an internet troll. The fact that I had to answer for it … I was like, ‘Ugh, why this week?’ [Jokingly:] I was like, if there’s scandals, can’t they be about me?”

Schumer admitted that she understood the connection, being his employer, but found herself feeling resentful that she hadn’t earned enough trust from her fans.

“Have I earned any good will with you guys?” she said. “Do you believe that I feel that rape victims should be shamed on the internet? Have I built up any sort of good will?”

She added, “Can we focus on the rapists? What about the guy actually raping? How about that guy?”

Dunham also asked Schumer about her book, The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo, and the chapter detailing the 2015 movie-theater shooting at a screening for Trainwreck that left two women dead.

“Knowing it was my movie, and … that they went and they bought tickets and wanted to go see this movie, it just crushed me,” she said about victims Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson. “I felt so powerless.”

Saying she was “f—ing f—ed up by it,” she admitted that she wanted to fly to the family, but worried that they wouldn’t want to see her right away. 

She then credited pal Jennifer Lawrence for helping her climb out of the rabbit hole: “That day she texted me, ‘It’s your fault.’ And in times like that only jokes make you feel a little better.”

The pair also spoke about their mutual support for Hillary Clinton and Dunham revealed that Schumer had auditioned for the role of Shoshanna (played by Zosia Mamet) on Girls six years ago.

“When she left the room, the vibe was very ‘Someone give that lady a show, STAT!'” Dunham wrote.

Read the full interview here.

Inside Amy Schumer

September 02, 2016 9:30am PT by Jackie Strause

Juan Pablo Gutierrez/Netflix

‘Narcos’

The drug cartel drama dropped on Netflix Friday, Sept. 2.

The hunt for Pablo Escobar is on.

The second season of Narcos released all 10 episodes on Netflix Friday, setting up a marathon-viewing Labor Day Weekend for many followers of the Colombian kingpin saga.

While the first season spanned more than a decade of Escobar’s life, the second season of the cartel drama narrows its focus to the action-packed nearly 16 months between his escape from La Catedral in the finale to his death. (For a refresher on season one, head here.)

With history as their spoiler — Escobar was gunned down in 1993 — showrunner Eric Newman said Narcos‘ plan was always to tell Escobar’s story in two seasons. Both he and Wagner Moura, the actor who plays Escobar, announced the end would be coming well ahead of season two’s release.

“We want people to join in mourning him right away, because it’s hard to say goodbye to him,” Newman explained to The Hollywood Reporter in a lengthy interview about the decision. But knowing the ending, Newman promised, won’t make the journey any less enjoyable. “One thing I love is that there are going to be just as many people rooting for his death as there are for him rooting to get away. I think they’re going to be pretty conflicted.”

Using the real buddy DEA agents portrayed on the show — Steve Murphy (played by Boyd Holbrook) and Javier Pena (played by Pedro Pascal) — as series consultants, Narcos, which Newman says is 50 percent real and 50 percent fiction, will also be revealing never-before-told details about the infamous Escobar manhunt, as well as his death.

THR has seen all of the new season and — without giving away any spoilers — recommends the best way to heed Newman’s advice. Here’s an episode guide on how to best soak in the madness of Moura’s Escobar while plowing through the action-packed, enlightening and riveting fall of the legendary villain. 

Episodes 1-4

The premiere picks up right where the finale left off, with Escobar all but walking out of his custom-made prison after taking President Cesar Gaviria’s right-hand man, vice minister of justice Eduardo Sandoval, hostage. The ensuing military assault on La Catedral provides Escobar with the opportunity to escape through his network of underground tunnels. No longer caged, Escobar is back to doing what he does best: Avoiding capture and staying 10 steps ahead of the Search Bloc and Colombian special forces trying to bring him down.

Coast through these first four episodes as they chronicle the first phase of the manhunt and introduce many new players. Episode three sees a welcome character return, and episode four delivers a game-changing event that closes the chapter on this part of the story, providing a perfect spot to hit the pause button and digest what just happened.

Episodes 5, 6

With their backs against the wall as the manhunt continues, some of your Narcos favorites will continue to blur that line between the good guys and the bad ones. As Newman teased ahead of its release, much of season two focuses around the alliance of the bad guys who merged together to take Escobar down. These middle episodes spend time with those bad guys, with the infamous Los Pepes reaching their full potential by episode six. Episode seven sees a major shift in power and though tensions remain high, Narcos also narrows its lens on the personal lives of the main characters viewers thought they knew well from season one. 

Episodes 7, 8

The network of players involved in taking Escobar down goes far beyond the DEA, Los Pepes and even the borders of Colombia. As these forces begin to close in on el patron, episodes seven and eight chronicle Escobar’s end of days with a humanizing lens. But just as Newman promised, the moment you begin to feel empathy, Narcos reminds you that you are sympathizing with a murderous narco-terrorist.

Episode 9

The ninth episode plays like a mini-movie within the fast-paced and nonstop season. Enjoy this one as standalone viewing.

Episode 10

Though Narcos has yet to be officially renewed for a third season, the final episode delivers on the promise that Newman has been making since confirming Escobar’s death: “There’s a reason why we call this show Narcos and not Pablo Escobar.”

Without spoiling which episode Escobar’s death will arrive, Narcos will accurately depict who fired the fatal shot to his head, something that has been the subject of conspiracy theories. “I was there,” the real Murphy told THR. “I’m the only American who was there that saw Pablo Escobar’s body.” 

With Escobar out of the picture, his successor, the Cali cartel, rises. And the finale makes the dangers ahead all too clear.

All 10 episodes of season two are now streaming on Netflix. Keep up with all of THR‘s Narcos coverage here.

Narcos

August 26, 2016 12:01pm PT by Jackie Strause

Peter Burns, Booger McFarland and Jordan Rodgers on ‘SEC Now’  @jrodgers11/Instagram

‘The Bachelorette’ winner and fiance to JoJo Fletcher began his first week as a college football analyst on the SEC Network.

Jordan Rodgers is back on TV — only, this time, for a slightly different audience.

The Bachelorette winner began his new job providing college football commentary for ESPN’s SEC Now on Wednesday. Rodgers, who was a quarterback at Vanderbilt from 2010-2012, made his debut live on the SEC Network’s sports news show, alongside cohosts Anthony “Booger” McFarland and Peter Burns. 

“For some reason, I just want to give you a rose and call you a homer right now,” Booger said as they went through Rodgers’ picks for the first week of the show’s fantasy draft.

First SEC NOW Live at 7 EST! Solid crew

A photo posted by Jordan Rodgers (@jrodgers11) on Aug 23, 2016 at 3:54pm PDT

The younger brother of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (the pair are estranged) also shared a behind-the-scenes video from his first day at the office. The footage showerd Rodgers, 27, getting glammed up before his on-screen debut, a nod to his coiffed hairstyle that Bachelorette viewers know all too well.

“We get it, you have nice hair,” says Burns.

While his other cohost referred to him as a “pretty boy.”

After proposing to Joelle “JoJo” Fletcher on the most recent cycle of ABC’s Bachelorette, the engaged pair are now living in their new home in Dallas, hometown to Fletcher. Rodgers, who dabbled in sports broadcasting before appearing on the show, announced his SEC Now gig the day after the finale.

“We began planning for the upcoming college football season in February and Jordan was one of our first calls,” ESPN Senior Vice President Stephanie Druley said at the time. “He had a unique perspective as a quarterback at Vanderbilt University and we were immediately impressed with his intelligence and passion for the game.”

Rodgers joins a rotating studio talent line-up that includes Tim Tebow, Greg McElroy, Marcus Spears, Dari Nowkhah, Laura Rutledge and Paul Finebaum.

While Rodgers analyzes the upcoming college football season, Fletcher told The Hollywood Reporter that the reality TV couple will also be busy buying furniture and settling into normalcy as they begin to plan their wedding.

Rodgers’ interest in a TV career was a sore topic for the couple as the show aired. The show’s “villain” Chad Johnson, as well as some of the other housemates, accused Rodgers of only coming on the show to further his career.

“We don’t want to have to defend ourselves,” Fletcher told THR about the accusations being heavily covered in tabloids and on social media. “Now that we’re able to be together, our relationship in itself will speak volumes and that’s what we’re looking forward to.”

In celebration of his first week, Fletcher took to social media to congratulate her “loving, kindhearted and selfless man.” 

So proud of this boy right here– Not only is he the most loving, kindhearted and selfless man.. But also unbelievably hardworking and driven. Congrats on your first week w/ the SEC Network bubbi! You deserve it.

The Bachelorette