John Kraskinski is starring in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, an Amazon Prime original series which is coming out on August 31. It’s not my type of show but I’m a Prime member and it’s free so I’ll give it a chance. I think that’s part of the reason streaming services are coming out with so much original content – people are more willing to give those shows a chance. Krasinski covers the August edition of Men’s Health. Jack Ryan is a badass CIA analyst, so he of course kept fit for that role, although I would imagine most CIA analysts aren’t half as buff. He talked about his fitness and training regimen. He tries to stay fit enough that he can get into shape within just three weeks for any role, which sounds like a tough order. He also opened up about his career and personal philosophy.

On his career after The Office
“Jim is one of those things that, I know, at the end of my career, I’ll still be most known for. And that’s awesome. That’s an honor. But I wanted to try different things. I wanted to set myself up to explore things that were scary, and things I wasn’t sure I was going to be good at.”

On getting buff for 13 Hours in 2016
“When I went out for Captain America, people were like, ‘Really?’ Then I did 13 Hours, and people are like, ‘Okay, yeah, you can do these roles now.’ I’m like, ‘You don’t care about the acting? You just care about the physical shape?’ And they’re like, ‘Correct.’ “Not to get into the whole regime, but on 13 Hours, I did it for the role, and then I definitely got addicted to it. I take periods off. I remember my trainer saying, ‘Try to stay within three weeks, so that whatever part you get, within three weeks we can get you down.’ That’s the goal, to be able to shift back and forth. I think that’s better than saying, ‘Stay ripped your whole life.’ Because that’s really annoying, and the people who do it really easily annoy me. Yes, I’m talking to you, Chris Hemsworth.

He was second choice for Captain America
“Yes, I put on the suit. Yes, I did the screen test. But I knew they’d offered it to Chris [Evans] like four times, and eventually I got the call. ‘Chris is engaging.’ And I was like, ‘Of course he is! Look at that dude. He is Captain America!’ It’s the way I was brought up—I’ve always been a realist and I respect the situation. You can’t fight against things you can’t control. I remember we were on our way to a party for Emily’s birthday when I found out. I hung up the phone and [told her], ‘Yeah, it’s not me.’ She was like, ‘Do you want to cancel?’ And I said, ‘No, let’s go.’ ”

On how fitness has helped him
“I think mentally, it’s cleared my head for things like directing and producing. Staying really busy. If I didn’t work out a few times a week, I would start to overanalyze. It definitely takes me out of myself for a minute. And it gives me my best ideas. Your brain definitely works better when it’s all lubed up with endorphins and sweat and blood.”

His wife helped him keep perspective after A Quiet Place
“I said to Emily, ‘There’s no greater gift that the universe could have given me than to go through the biggest success of my career and I don’t have to explain to you how it felt.’ We were both in the boat. I said to her, ‘I don’t know if it can ever be like this again.’

“And—again, leave it to Emily, who is better at everything than me—she goes, ‘It can’t.’ She just so perfectly encapsulated it. ‘It can’t be like this again, and it shouldn’t. So take this and put it on a mantel, this really special treasure that we experienced together. And now go out and do something else.’”

[From Men’s Health]

I really like the way that Emily phrased that answer, that life changes and it won’t be this way again. I’ve been half studying Buddhism as I need some kind of spiritual outlook besides “everything sucks and we’re going to die.” Emily’s advice, that of course this won’t last, sounds similar to the Four Noble Truths, that life is suffering, that everything changes, and that we shouldn’t cling to the things we want. Of course I’m probably misinterpreting this, but it has helped me cope with some stuff and to realize my situation is not unique. Also exercise has helped too. Sometimes I’ll eat an entire bag of jelly beans to get through the day but at least I jump around enough afterwards to clear my head.

photos credit: WENN and Men’s Health

I actually debated whether I was giving Kendall Jenner too much benefit of the doubt when I covered the story about Kendall’s Doberman possibly nipping at a little girl at a restaurant in LA. Apparently, this is some kind of hot-button debate about the responsibility of dog owners versus the responsibility of parents. There will always be mistakes on both sides, and I could only speak as a former dog owner, and as someone who thinks it’s irresponsible parenting to not give your children the basics about how to approach strange animals. That being said, it’s absolutely irresponsible dog ownership to simply flee the situation if and when your dog gets involved in some kind of incident, which is what Kendall was accused of by TMZ’s sources. Apparently, there was a little more to the story though:

An incident involving Kendall Jenner‘s dog prompted a call to police over the weekend. An officer of public information with the Los Angeles Police Department confirms to PEOPLE that cops were called on Sunday over an alleged dog bite at the Beverly Glen Deli. According to the officer, it was determined to be a civil matter and police are not involved.

A source tells PEOPLE Jenner’s dog was “startled” but never made contact with the child and “did not bite anyone.”

“The police and emergency services did not come to the scene,” the source says. “Kendall didn’t leave until she knew the dog didn’t bite the little girl.”

[From People]

E! News also had a story where an eyewitness said “the dog didn’t actually bite the girl, he just scared her, causing her to cry. The eyewitness shares that the dog made a growling sound as the girl approached and lunged toward her, but didn’t actually bite her.” Kendall and her boyfriend Ben Simmons were sitting outside of the Beverly Glen Deli when the girl approached the dog. An insider also told E! News that the little girl’s mother ran inside to call 911 and the mom was described as “somewhat hysterical” as she told the operator “Kendall Jenner’s dog bit my daughter.” A lunging dog who doesn’t make physical contact with a child is not the same as nipping at a kid. It sounds like both the dog and the kid were quite scared of each other, honestly, and the whole thing became a massive incident because it involved Kendall Jenner.

Someone tweeted at Kendall: “Add this to the growing list of reasons why @KendallJenner is a disturbingly despicable, entitled, unsympathetic, sadistic, uncharitable and self-absorbed human being who doesn’t deserve to be idolized. (Yes, I went there.).” That tweet was deleted, but not before both Kendall and Kim Kardashian responded:

oof i’m sorry you feel that way. hope to meet you one day to show you the real me, maybe i’ll tell you a little bit about the story too. God bless ?? https://t.co/2rICVG6yCF

— Kendall (@KendallJenner) August 6, 2018

Do u know Kendall? She’s the complete opposite &is the most generous,compassionate person I know! Her being standoffish is anxiety that paralyzes her which u take as rude! Only a despicable, entitled,unsympathetic,sadistic, uncharitable @self-absorbed human would write this tweet https://t.co/9Wwd9orILO

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) August 6, 2018

she’ll get yuh

A post shared by Kendall (@kendalljenner) on May 26, 2018 at 5:08pm PDT

Photos courtesy of WENN, Instagram.

Now that we won’t be seeing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for weeks, media outlets have decided to run stories about “what Meghan should do about her terrible father.” I’ve said from the beginning that the British papers have no credibility regarding Thomas Markle: they’ve been in bed with him for months now, by purchasing the set-up photos of Thomas and then pretending they didn’t know the photos were set up, then repeatedly paying him for obviously coached interviews and then acting like it’s the worst thing in the world that… he accepted payment for the interviews. It’s enough. And maybe this month-long holiday will be a chance for the royal family to all get on the same page about how they deal with the Markles. That’s what sources tell Entertainment Tonight:

Meghan is still upset with her dad: “She has not spoken to her father in more than 10 weeks since her wedding and is still hurt by her father, who has both staged the photos and continues to give paid interviews,” the source says. “The Palace is at a loss of what to do and is re-evaluating options, including a more aggressive strategy to stem the embarrassment caused by Meghan’s dad, half-sister and half-brother.”

Meghan is completely in the royal fold: “Meghan has established a particularly warm relationship with her father-in-law and Prince Charles adores his new daughter-in-law,” the source says of Harry’s father. “He pulled out all the stops at Harry and Meghan’s wedding and Meghan was grateful to him for showing such generosity and support when her father pulled out of the wedding last minute.”

She’s going to Balmoral, and she might shoot stuff: “Meghan’s looking forward to spending time in the Scottish Highlands. [Prince] William, Kate [Middleton] and the kids [Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis] are also due to visit the Queen for their annual visit to her summer home. The vacation is filled with barbecues, hiking, and shooting, although it is unclear if Meghan will learn the sport that Kate has picked up from various visits.”

Samantha Grant on Meghan: “I speak to [Thomas Markle] every day and it’s sad but, no, they have not contacted him… There is no meeting planned, that is PR spin. The PR machines can stop trying to make out she’s making an effort — she is not. This is a heartbreaking time for him and I’m very sad watching my sister ignore him.”

[From ET]

“The Palace is at a loss of what to do and is re-evaluating options, including a more aggressive strategy to stem the embarrassment caused by Meghan’s dad, half-sister and half-brother.” The half-brother is a problem, make no mistake, but Ground Zero of Markle Shenanigans is Thomas and Samantha. Those two are the toxic twins, birds of a feather. She’s the abusive a–hole apple who didn’t fall from the toxic tree. I hope someone in one of the palace communications offices comes up with a better plan than “we’ll just ignore them and allow the public to see how toxic and awful they are.” Because that’s not working. The media is playing by a different set of rules.

Photos and screencaps courtesy of WENN, ITV, The Sun.

Here we go again. This weekend was full of contradicting information about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s divorce. “A source close to Brad” ran to TMZ to tell them that Angelina’s divorce lawyer, Laura Wasser, was dumping Jolie because Jolie is an evil villainess. Jolie’s rep told People Magazine that it wasn’t true, but that Angelina had added some new people to her legal team for the unfolding custodial battle, but that Wasser is in place as Jolie’s attorney. So what was really going on? According to Us Weekly’s sources, the lawyer drama was about “someone” choosing to “misinterpret” the addition of those new people to Jolie’s legal team. Plus, Us Weekly has the same old bullsh-t about The Leg of Doom refusing to co-parent.

Nearly two years after filing for divorce, Angelina Jolie isn’t backing down when it comes to her long-running custody battle with Brad Pitt over their six kids.

“Angie’s big issue continues to be sharing joint custody with Brad,” a source tells Us Weekly, adding that “she can’t see past her anger for Brad that he is on his way to getting joint custody.”

The insider adds that Jolie, 43, “has objected to the coparenting classes” recommended by the retired judge overseeing their case. Meanwhile, Pitt is “willing to try” the classes, according to the source.

TMZ reported on Saturday, August 4, that Jolie is pushing her divorce attorney Laura Wasser to quit as the case is becoming “too venomous.” The insider confirms to Us that Jolie and Wasser “haven’t been seeing eye to eye for a while.” However, Jolie’s rep denies the website’s claims. “I’ve spoken directly to Laura. The TMZ story is not true,” her spokesperson, Mindy Nyby, tells Us. “She’s not quitting now or in the future.”

A second source familiar with the matter says, “Laura is not resigning from the case or planning to quit. The reason this story even arose is because someone misinterpreted the fact that new experts were brought in as the case moves into a new phase. The characterization of Angelina’s attitude toward the case is not true. She’s continually working to achieve the reunification of the children with their father. It’s really now between Brad, his kids and the family court, and the court will make a decision that’s in in the best interest of the children.”

The first source tells Us that Pitt’s attorney “would object to having a new lawyer come in at this late stage because it would only drag the proceedings on longer.”

[From Us Weekly]

For all the talk about how Wasser is all about encouraging parents to get along, I have to think that Wasser probably isn’t happy at all that she’s being used by Brad and his team to bash her client. It’s true that Wasser’s divorce cases are usually handled more smoothly than this, but Wasser isn’t “above” taking on a nasty divorce case (see: Johnny Depp). As for the rejection of these “coparenting classes”… yeah, I’m ride-or-die for Jolie, but I could totally see how she would absolutely refuse to do those classes with Brad. I don’t think she can even stand to be in the same room with him. Which is what this is really about – Brad continues to punish her for being the one who walked away from him.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid.

As we discussed last week, Jennifer Aniston is the September cover girl for InStyle. She was interviewed by one of her good friends, and the piece was actually pretty long. So long, that I really had to cull the hell out of the excerpts. One part that I completely ignored was Jennifer talking about what kind of fitness routine she does now. Just know that for years and years, Jennifer would basically only talk about yoga, and maybe Pilates a little bit too. But I guess Justin Theroux wouldn’t shut up about it, so Jennifer got into something Justin talks about a lot: boxing. This is what she said in InStyle:

MM: What’s your exercise of choice?
JA: Last year I discovered boxing, and I love it. I have this trainer named Leyon, who I believe hung the moon. It’s the longest workout I’ve actually stayed with consistently other than yoga. There’s something about the mental aspect of boxing — the drills, your brain has to work, you’re not just sitting on a bike. It’s amazing.

MM: I knew you wanted to punch someone!
JA: Boxing is a great way to get aggression out. You get a mental release of all this crap you’re taking into your ears and eyes every day and have little fantasy moments imagining who you’re actually punching. I’m just grateful it’s not actually the person, even though there’s one person. You know what I mean. It’s all good.

[From InStyle]

This is such a minor quibble, but I really do hate when people say that they “discovered” something that has literally been around for centuries. I’m guilty of saying that too, like I’ll say I “discovered” some actor in a movie or something. But I hate it. Anyway, since Aniston dropped the name of her boxing trainer, The Sun did some digging and now they’re trying to make it into a thing.

Single Jennifer Aniston has hired a personal trainer 18 years her junior for boxing workouts. The former Friends star, 49, is having sessions with Leyon Azubuike, 31 — ex-sparring partner to a world heavyweight champ.

Training takes place at the £15 million LA mansion she shared with second husband Justin Theroux, 46, until they split five months ago. Bryan Laverdure, Azubuike’s business manager, said: “Leyon isn’t seeing anyone. He trains her (Jen) at her house.”

[From The Sun]

Do you see what they’re trying to say? Of course you see it. Is Jennifer Aniston, 49, banging her boxing trainer, who is a very large 31-year-old African-American man? I doubt it, but I would love it if it was true. In fact, I think I have the plot line for Jennifer’s new romantic-comedy. A very wealthy woman going through a fake divorce (THEY WERE NEVER MARRIED) hires a good looking, younger black man for boxing lessons. As they’re jabbing and toussling, they fall in love. Will society reject the wealthy white woman + younger hot black guy pairing? Will their love heal racism? They’ll call it Bantamweight: A Love Story. Jennifer, produce this movie. Hire Michael B. Jordan to play Leyon.

A post shared by Leyon Azubuike (@leyon) on Mar 16, 2018 at 9:12pm PDT

Photos courtesy of Instagram, WENN.

The Fox All-Star party at Soho House in West Hollywood last Thursday played a little free and loose with the the moniker “All-Star” (I’m looking at you Jenny McCarthy and Sinbad). Yhe fashions were hit and miss, as you’d expect at a Hollywood press event. Singer Meghan Trainor was trying hard to bring lounge wear back in a glittery robe/dress from Victoria Hayes, paired with marabou-topped sandals and obnoxiously long extensions. When I saw this, the only way I could describe this look was to steal some inspiration from one of her hits…”The robe is NO, the shoes are NO, the extensions are NO. You need to let ‘em go, need to let ‘em go. Nah to the ah to the, no, no, no.”

Two of the stars from my new favorite show, Pose, were in attendance. Mj Rodriguez, who plays Blanca, and the uber elegant Dominique Jackson, who plays Electra, were at the event (along with show writers Our Lady J and Janet Mock). Mj was looking fierce in a leather mini-dress paired with cute ankle boots. Dominique looked pretty in pink in a lovely, delicate mini-dress of her own. These women are gorgeous.

Speaking of gorgeous, let’s talk about the goddess, Angela Bassett. The 59-year-old actress looked dazzling in a black ensemble. My only complaint is why I can’t look this amazing…actually it’s the too-long pants. I love shoes and I need to see what footwear she’s working with.

Tom & Lorenzo commented that Jennifer Love Hewitt’s floral print outfit was a “booby church dress” and I can’t think of a better description. Her hair and makeup look nice, so there’s that.

And lastly, the “cutest cast award” for the evening goes to Chris Geere, Aya Cash, Kether Donohue and Desmin Borges of You’re the Worst. Their latest (and sadly, last) season airs this fall. I want to have so many Sunday Fundays with these people.

Photos: WENN

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Queen Elizabeth II is not “above” a petty beef. She didn’t care for Margaret Thatcher. She was irritated by Camilla Parker Bowles for years. I bet she’s had a few choice words for Thomas Markle and Samantha Grant too. But who knew that all this time, the Queen’s greatest enemy might be a small Scottish pony? The Queen LOVES horses. She loves all animals, but there’s a special place in her heart for dogs and horses. Dogs and horses respect their queen as well. Except for Cruachan IV, an anti-monarchist, Scottish separatist pony who sh-ts in the Queen’s general direction.

As she starts her summer vacation at Balmoral, her castle in the Scottish Highlands, Queen Elizabeth II still had a job to do: inspecting the Royal Regiment of Scotland. She walked slowly by the troops in a sky blue suit, carefully eyeing each soldier. Then, came its mascot: a pony named Cruachan IV. In apparent greeting, he delivered a pile of manure.

“Here we are again,” she reportedly said to the Shetland pony, appearing to hold her nose.

Queen Elizabeth adores horses. She breeds them, rides them, and cheers them on with vigor at the Royal Ascot. But Cruachan IV is another story. We don’t want to say a horse “disrespects” Queen Elizabeth. Because, after all, he’s a horse—he doesn’t know that the woman standing before him is the longest-reigning monarch of a powerful country, or that she’s one of the most famous people in the world. But still, he’s not exactly on his best behavior.

Last July, when Queen Elizabeth walked past him at Stirling Castle, he tried to take a big chomp out of her bouquet of posies. “Go away!” she scolded. Later that summer, they met again. At first, everything seemed to be okay. The Queen walked by him, and he just stood there. But once she turned his back, he let out a big neigh. The Daily Mail reports that in 2014 he “rolled his top lip back as the Queen approached him.”

[From Vogue]

I started laughing at “Here we are again” and I haven’t stopped laughing since. Even now, I have tears streaming down my face at the Queen’s dry retort to Cruachan IV dropping a monstrous dump just feet away from her pristine blue coat. I think the “we” is what makes it so witty, like the Queen knows that she and Cruachan IV are locked in a bitter, sh-tty dance that will destroy them both. This feud is Shakespearean. Incidentally, this is the same republican separatist pony who tried to take a bite out of Prince Harry earlier this year, when Harry took Meghan up to Scotland for her first trip. I’m shocked that the pony didn’t take a dump on the ginger one too.

In any case, do you think Cruachan IV has some kind of political agenda? Or is he just all about that PONY LYFE and he knows no one can touch him, not even Her Maj?

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

A week ago, Serena Williams suffered the worst scoreline loss of her career at the tournament in San Jose. It was her first match since losing to Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final. Serena was scheduled to play back-to-back in San Jose, Montreal and Cincinnati, but as soon as the Montreal draw came out last Friday, Serena pulled out. She cited “personal reasons,” which I thought was code for “why would I go to Montreal and play that terrible draw when I could just stay home with my baby?” Well, as it turns out, everything was more complicated than that. Serena posted this message to her social media yesterday:

Last week was not easy for me. Not only was I accepting some tough personal stuff, but I just was in a funk. Mostly, I felt like I was not a good mom.

I read several articles that said postpartum emotions can last up to 3 years if not dealt with. I like communication best. Talking things through with my mom, my sisters, my friends let me know that my feelings are totally normal.

It’s totally normal to feel like I’m not doing enough for my baby.

We have all been there. I work a lot, I train, and I’m trying to be the best athlete I can be.

However, that means although I have been with her every day of her life, I’m not around as much as I would like to be. Most of you moms deal with the same thing. Whether stay-at-home or working, finding that balance with kids is a true art. You are the true heroes.

I’m here to say: if you are having a rough day or week–it’s ok–I am, too!!! There’s always tomm!

[From Serena’s Instagram]

Serena has been hailed, repeatedly, as an icon to working moms. Deservedly so – so many celebrity women will humble-brag about the easy time they had, whether it was losing the pregnancy weight or finding the work-life balance or what have you. Olympia is clearly Serena’s world. But her world is also tennis, and coming back to tennis has been a messy emotional journey, and she continues to lay it bare for us. These feelings she’s having are natural, but they’re not always discussed. Good for Serena.

They are always staring at me ? https://t.co/hdEjJAwamO pic.twitter.com/lsuHSwUDO5

— Olympia Ohanian (@OlympiaOhanian) July 24, 2018

Last week was not easy for me. Not only was I accepting some tough personal stuff, but I just was in a funk. Mostly, I felt like I was not a good mom. I read several articles that said postpartum emotions can last up to 3 years if not dealt with. I like communication best. Talking things through with my mom, my sisters, my friends let me know that my feelings are totally normal. It’s totally normal to feel like I’m not doing enough for my baby. We have all been there. I work a lot, I train, and I’m trying to be the best athlete I can be. However, that means although I have been with her every day of her life, I’m not around as much as I would like to be. Most of you moms deal with the same thing. Whether stay-at-home or working, finding that balance with kids is a true art. You are the true heroes. I’m here to say: if you are having a rough day or week–it’s ok–I am, too!!! There’s always tomm!

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Aug 6, 2018 at 3:24pm PDT

Photos courtesy of WENN, social media.

I’ve actually been thinking a lot lately about Robert Redford, his career, his beauty and his legacy. I even mentioned Redford when I saw those photos of Brad Pitt looking stupid in late ‘60s clothes on the set of Once Upon a Time In Hollywood. You would think that Pitt + vintage clothing would equal “Redford flavor.” But you would be wrong. Redford was and is an American classic, and his beauty back then was just… otherworldly. Every film from that era, the ‘60s, ‘70s and well into the ‘80s too, he was just gorgeous and amazing, and he could actually act too. Well, no more. Redford says his new film is going to be the last one of his illustrious career.

One last job. It’s a theme that’s powered many Hollywood crime stories. For Robert Redford, “one last job” isn’t just one of the loose themes in his forthcoming movie The Old Man & The Gun: The film is quite literally his final acting gig. In an interview with EW, the 81-year-old actor confirmed he was making good on his 2016 claim that he was retiring from acting. The Old Man & The Gun is the last film in which he’ll act.

“Never say never, but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting, and [I’ll] move towards retirement after this ’cause I’ve been doing it since I was 21. I thought, Well, that’s enough. And why not go out with something that’s very upbeat and positive?” Redford said.

He noted that the “framework” and the story in Old Man helped shepherd him to this conclusion. In the David Lowery-directed film, Redford plays Forrest Tucker, the real-life career criminal in love with his self-appointed job of robbing banks and breaking out of prison. “To me, that was a wonderful character to play at this point in my life,” the Oscar winner said of Tucker, whose stickups spanned over 60 years. “The thing that really got me about him — which I hope the film shows — is he robbed 17 banks and he got caught 17 times and went to prison 17 times. But he also escaped 17 times. So it made me wonder: I wonder if he was not averse to getting caught so he that could enjoy the real thrill of his life, which is to escape?”

When it comes committing to or escaping future directing projects, Redford indicated “we’ll see about that.”

[From EW]

I think he’ll probably still direct, don’t you? And if he doesn’t, that’s fine too. Redford gave us 60 YEARS worth of incredible performances. Yes, some of them are dumb, some of them are in bad movies. But seriously, check out his filmography – Redford truly had a legendary career, and I don’t hate the fact that he can go out on his own terms. Bless him. I really need to own some DVDs of some of my favorite Redford films, like Legal Eagles and Three Days of the Condor. Damn. GAH and I forgot that he directed Quiz Show, one of my favorite films!!!

Photos courtesy of WENN and vintage promotional images & posters..

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First of all, is EVERY show getting a reboot? It’s getting hard to keep up with the never-ending list of revivals. (If anyone wants to bring back Bosom Buddies, I’m perfectly okay with this, but only if Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari sign on to reprise their roles.) But hey, I guess Magnum P.I. is back.

At the TCA summer press tour on Sunday, the new Thomas Magnum, Jay Hernandez, and some cast and crew talked about updating the beloved 1980s series. The man who originated the role of the former Navy SEAL-turned private detective, Tom Selleck, is apparently happy about the return of the show.

Jay said that “I know [Executive Producer] Peter [Lenkov] has talked to him, and the conversation went well, and he gave us his blessing.” Lenkov added “He was great. I mean, I’ve talked to him a few times since then, but when we were pitching the show, we went to him first to get his blessing.”

The new show isn’t so much a reboot as a re-imagining of the original. In addition to the lead now being played by a Latino actor, the role of his right-hand man (and butler), Higgins, is now being played by a woman, actress Perdita Weeks. Lenkov pointed out that the change was needed because “I thought [the original show] was a boys’ club. If you’re going to do it in 2018, you need a strong female lead.” Perdita echoed the sentiment, adding that adding a strong female character to the mix adds “a new dynamic” to the show.

Are we good with a Magnum PI without Tom Selleck? I do like Jay Hernandez, but is the show really Magnum now? At least Lenkov is aware of Tom’s star power, stating at the panel discussion that “I think trying to clone Tom Selleck, trying to do that Magnum, that’s a slippery slope. I don’t think we wanted to do that.”

In addition to Tom’s obvious charms, his iconic mustache is also missing from the new series, but we will find out what happened with that. Lenkov acknowledged, “We are going to nod to it in the second episode.” And if you’re still asking yourself “Why Magnum? Why now?” He explained there’s really no better time than the present to revive his story, asserting:

“I also thought that the portrayal of Vietnam veterans back then in the seventies and eighties – it was really a dark portrayal. I thought that ‘Magnum’ was a real positive portrayal of Vietnam veterans. So, you cut to 2018 and 2017 and we’re seeing a lot of movies about veterans – and of course they’re dark portrayals.

“And, I thought that if there was ever a time to bring ‘Magnum P.I.’ back and really make it relevant, it’s now because we’re really telling these positive portrayals of veterans coming back, serving as civilians without uniforms, as he’s serving and helping people.”

[Via Fox News]

I’m still on the fence about this one. Tom Selleck was so charming and I hope Jay can fill his shoes, as he’s not filling his facial hair. I guess we’ll find out when the new series debuts on September 24.

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Photos: WENN, Getty