The Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott

When ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ opened in 2002, it made its star and writer, Nia Vardalos, a celebrity overnight. “I’m somebody ordinary that something extraordinary happened to,” she told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. Now, after the 2016 sequel, Vardalos is bringing the Portokalos family back with ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3’ (September 8). Part of what has kept us coming back to the family is that “...

There’s just something about ‘Law & Order: SVU,’ right? It’s the mix of drama and true crime (and maybe just a little romance). Considering it’s been on for more than 20 years, people can’t seem to get enough ‘SVU.’ Which is why Liza Treyger and Kara Klenk started ‘That’s Messed Up: An SVU Podcast’ on the Exactly Right podcast network. They join Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott to discuss what it is a...

I was raised Mormon, got some cancer, and then converted to Judaism. Why? Well, it’s complicated and it’s the basis for the documentary film ‘Latter Day Jew,’ available soon on video on demand on a number of platforms. Today I’m sharing my story, because it’s a weird one, but it’s also how I became H. Alan Scott. I’ll be joined by writer, comedian and my best friend, Eliot Glazer (‘Broad City...

Cobra Kai ’s Xolo Maridueña is going from kicking butt on Earth to doing so in the multiverse in the latest DC Comics film ‘ Blue Beetle’ (August 18). “I'm so excited about people meeting this character for the first time,” Maridueña told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. This is not only the young actor’s big screen debut and, the film is also the first DC Comics movie to focus solely on a Latin superher...

When Casey McQuiston’s novel ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ was published in 2019, it was an instant bestseller. Now the story of a romance between the U.S. president’s son Alex (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and British Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine) is a new Amazon Prime movie (August 11). “I really didn’t know the magnitude of it,” Perez told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott about the popularity of the book....

Christian entertainment has been on the rise in recent years. With the popularity of the new film ‘Sound of Freedom’ and the show ‘The Chosen,’ it does feel like Christian stories are gaining more and more mainstream prominence. Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott spoke with Paul Pond, the author of the Newsweek cover story ‘Jesus Takes Hollywood,’ about what he found in his reporting. We’ll also chat with J...

Last December, fans of the series ‘ Minx’ were dismayed when streaming service Max announced it was canceling the show about a ’70s erotic magazine for women. “We had heard ramblings,” says the show’s star, Ophelia Lovibond told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. But Starz stepped in and saved the series. (The second season premiered July 21.) “People are tweeting and sending messages, expressing their out...

If anyone in Hollywood has experienced every aspect of the business, it’s Jamie Lee Curtis. “I’ve been doing this for a long time with very little expectations. I’ve just had a really good time doing what I get to do, when [and] with who I get to do it with. You just never know when someone’s going to really love something,” Curtis told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. Fresh off her Oscar win for ‘...

If you ask Tiffany Haddish if she's a fan of a good crime story, the immediate response you'll get is, "Baby! I'll be watching. I love a good mystery." Which makes her the perfect person to play the detective in the Apple TV+ comedy-mystery series ‘The Afterparty’ (July 12). The second season of the series focuses on a murder at a wedding, with each episode told from the perspective of a different...

Andrew Rannells, best known for his roles in ‘Girls’ and ‘The Book of Mormon,’ asks a very important question in his new book: when will we ever feel like an adult? In ‘Uncle of the Year,’ Rannells writes about acting, aging, mental health, bad jobs, and much more. Are we all just pretending to be adults? And why are so many of us skipping out on things like marriage and children? Rannells chatted...

On today’s episode, we’re talking Hollywood health fads. If there’s one thing the west coast lives, it’s a hot new alternative medicine, treatment, or spiritual experience. We’re talking things like Ozempic—the weight loss drug taking Hollywood by storm—naked retreats and hallucinogens. Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott talks with Thomas Fairman, director of WYLD, a naked retreat for men in nature that hel...

A new season of ‘And Just Like That’ is here and Evan Ross Katz joins Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott to talk all about it—and spill some insider knowledge. There’s just something about ‘Sex and the City’ that has captured our attention ever since the HBO series started in 1998. (Can you believe it’s been around since 1998?!) Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha have gone on to represent little bits o...

One of the most compelling villains to come out of ‘ The Walking Dead’ was Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan, and now he’s back in ‘ The Walking Dead: Dead City’ (June 18 on AMC). “Since we’ve last seen him, he’s not doing great,” Morgan told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. The story picks up two years after the original series, where Negan and Maggie (played by Lauren Cohan) came to a truce after Negan...

Everything has a story, including Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. In fact, the story behind the person who claims to have invented the flavor, Richard Montañez, was so good it warranted a film. “We worked very hard to make sure that it was entertaining as well as telling Richard’s story,” Jesse Garcia, who plays Montañez in the new Eva Longoria-directed film ‘ Flamin’ Hot’ (June 9), told Newsweek’s H. Alan S...

Asian food is one of the fastest growing dishes in popularity, and that’s almost exclusively because of its popularity on social media, particularly TikTok and Instagram. On today’s episode, Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott will chat with three experts on Asian cuisine: Kim Chi (RuPaul’s Drag Race) and Jon Kung from the podcast ‘1 For the Table,’ and Jimmy Guo, who came in second on Sweden’s Master Chef....

Do you have what it takes to win Survivor? It’s a question millions of people ask themselves every season. Over the course of season 44 of the long-running CBS reality series, three players won the hearts of viewers: Carolyn, Yam Yam, and Carson. They started in the same tribe, and over the course of the season formed an alliance that took all of them to the end.   Today Carson Garrett j...

For Melissa McCarthy, playing Ursula in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid (May 26) started with terror. “That song [“Poor Unfortunate Souls”] looms so large for me that if I can't do it, I shouldn't be doing it,” McCarthy told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. Fortunately for us, she did it—and did it well. That’s partly because she saw Ursula as more than just a villain. “She’s not just ostrac...

Fresh off their Oscar wins for Everything Everywhere All at Once , Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan aren’t wasting time. They’ll next be seen in American Born Chinese (May 24 on Disney+). Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang, the series follows teenager Jin Wang (Ben Wang) who is trying to find his own identity when he’s introduced to Chinese mythological characters that over...

For Patrick Ta, a makeup artist and founder of Patrick Ta beauty, diversity and inclusion is central. Ta says it is “really important for me to make sure everyone is accounted for in campaigns or the product we make.” This direction comes from personal experience; growing up gay and Asian American, Ta says he rarely saw himself on billboards. “I wanted to make products that would empower people to...

The pool of people who can call themselves talk show hosts is very, very small, and Tamron Hall is keenly aware of that. “For me, it’s not about being highbrow or low,” Hall says about the Tamron Hall Show. “We are a celebrity daytime talk show, of course, but we have real people layered in.” And that’s part of the reason why Hall’s four-time Emmy winning show has been a success. “I don’t care if...

Are you smart enough to be on Jeopardy? This week Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott chats with Buzzy Cohen, Jeopardy champion and host of the new podcast ‘This Is Jeopardy! The Story of America’s Favorite Quiz Show.’ The two talk about the show’s legacy, Alex Trebek, and how exactly does one prepare to be on Jeopardy (turns out, some physical fitness is involved).  Check out the podcast: https://great...

When you’re in a film adapted from a beloved young adult novel like ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’ (April 28), every aspect of the movie has to be just right, so obviously directors turn to Kathy Bates. “I think the heart of acting is dress up...you play dress up and finally this character appears,” Bates told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. She plays Sylvia, Margaret’s grandmother, one of many...

Characterizing Keri Russell’s new show ‘The Diplomat’ (Netflix, April 20) is difficult, but that’s part of its charm. “The drama of politics, the absurdity of that kind of politics, the pomp and circumstance mixed in with a complicated marriage,” Russell told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. Sounds intense, but in fact “it’s a bit saucy.” Russell plays Kate Wyler, a career diplomat “plucked from the Midd...

For the past year or so, there’s been a spotlight on drag in the United States, and not just because of the popularity of ‘ RuPaul’s Drag Race .’ From state to state, legislators have been introducing and implementing legislation that would restrict drag performers from many facets of life, particularly in the presence of children. Is it legal for legislators to do this? Is this just a culture war...

Hello Tomorrow! on Apple TV+ is both familiar and something we’ve never seen before. “It’s representing materially and metaphorically, America as it once was, America as it will be and America as it is now,” Billy Crudup told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott about the new series, currently streaming. Crudup plays Jack, a salesman in a retro-futuristic United States, tasked with selling condos on the...