Category Archives: nostalgia

Tom Hanks’ Character In Big Almost Went To Robert De Niro, Co-Star Elizabeth Perkins Reveals

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Oscar-winning actor and international treasure Tom Hanks had a huge breakthrough moment in the 1980s thanks to the success of films like Splash and Big.

However, it turns out that one of his most prolific performances of that era almost went to a completely different actor.

His former co-star Elizabeth Perkins has revealed that not only was Robert De Niro originally cast in the lead role of Big, the whole film completely changed in tone when Tom signed on.

Speaking to Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, Elizabeth explained that while De Niro had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict, she actually auditioned with him when she auditioned for her part.

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Robert De Niro at last year’s Ocsars

“[De Niro’s interpretation of the character] was more moody,” she explained. “It was a little more of a horror movie… Robert De Niro wandering around the streets of New York. 

“What Tom Hanks brought to it was so much lighter.”

Big went on to give Tom Hanks his first Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination in 1989.

While he didn’t win the Oscar that year, he eventually scooped two consecutive Academy Awards in 1994 and 1995, for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, respectively.

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Tom Hanks and Elizabeth Perkins in Big

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Friends Star David Schwimmer Teases What’s In Store For Reunion Special

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David Schwimmer has teased what fans should expect from the long-awaited Friends reunion special, which is to begin filming in a matter of days.

It was first confirmed back in February 2020 that the cast of Friends would be recording a nostalgic look back at the show for US streaming service HBO Max, but due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, filming has been pushed back on a number of occasions.

On Friday night, David – who played Ross Geller in the hit 90s sitcom – made an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, and lifted the lid on what we have to look forward to in the one-off special.

He told the host: “We’re going to be shooting a Friends reunion next week so I’m hopping on a plane this afternoon. I’m gonna see everyone next week for the first time in many years.”

Dave J Hogan via Getty Images

David Schwimmer

David continued: “There’s nothing scripted. We’re not in character, we’re all ourselves – the real people.

“We are all ourselves, although there is one section of it that I don’t want to give away, but we all read something.”

The actor also confessed that it’s been a long time since he actually sat down and watched Friends, joking: “I should have genned up on old episodes, but I just haven’t been able to bring myself to catch up on the 236 shows.

“I guess I need to watch a lot over the next five days!”

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The cast of Friends pictured ahead of the show’s last series in 2004

Last month, David revealed that special measures were being taken to ensure that filming went ahead safely in the pandemic.

He explained: “Finally, I mean, we figured out a way to film it safely and there’s going to be a portion of it that we filmed outside because of, you know, for safety protocols.”

David declined to reveal who would be on hosting duties for the unscripted episode, but ruled out Ellen Degeneres and former Friends guest star Billy Crystal.

Back in January, former cast member Lisa Kudrow revealed she’d “already shot a little something” for the special, teasing: “It is not a reboot, it is not like a scripted thing, we are not portraying our characters.

“It is us getting together, which just doesn’t happen and has never happened in front of other people since 2004 when we stopped.”

Watch more of David’s Graham Norton interview below:

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Hugh Grant Does Some Serious Oversharing Recalls Debilitating Stomach Bug On Set Of Early Film

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Hugh Grant has shared a graphic memory of being struck down with some pretty alarming stomach issues while filming one of his earliest films.

Back in the late 1980s, Hugh appeared in The Bengali Night, opposite John Hurt Supriya Pathak, which required him to spend three months filming in Calcutta.

In a recent interview on the podcast WTF With Marc Maron, the Bafta-winning star revealed he became ill “on day three” of filming, with a debilitating (and “explosive”) case of food poisoning that never really got any better as the weeks went on.

He recalled: “On that film, I was there for three months and I didn’t leave the lavatory except to shoot my scenes – and then I had to go back to continue with my explosive diarrhoea.”

Arnaud BORREL via Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Hugh Grant on the set of The Bengali Night in 1988

During the same interview, Hugh also discussed a day he found himself stuck in traffic in Calcutta, only to discover his car was “next to a dead body on a stretcher”.

The British star was similarly candid last year, when he revealed he’d contracted Covid-19 in the early days of the pandemic.

“It started as just a very strange syndrome where I kept breaking into a terrible sweat. It was like a poncho of sweat, embarrassing really,” Hugh said.

“Then my eyeballs felt about three sizes too big and this feeling as though an enormous man was sitting on my chest – Harvey Weinstein or someone. I thought, ‘I don’t know what this is’.”

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Hugh at a press event for The Undoing in March 2020

Hugh continued: “Then I was walking down the street one day and I thought, ‘I can’t smell a damn thing’. And you start to panic – by then, people were just starting to talk about this as a symptom.

“I started sniffing flowers, nothing. And you get more and more desperate. I started sniffing in garbage cans. You know, you want to sniff strangers’ armpits because you just can’t smell anything.

“I eventually went home and I sprayed my wife’s Chanel No. 5 directly into my face. Couldn’t smell a thing, but I did go blind.”

Listen to Hugh Grant’s full interview on WTF With Marc Maron here.

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Only Fools And Horses Star Reveals The Comeback That Nearly Was But Never Happened

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Only Fools and Horses fans were nearly granted a revival to celebrate the show’s 30th anniversary, one of its stars has revealed.

John Challis, who played Boycie in the hit BBC sitcom, said that writer John Sullivan was working on a comeback episode but died before completing the script. 

The episode would have seen Del Boy celebrate his retirement in the Nag’s Head.

BBC

Only Fools And Horses stars Nicholas Lyndhurst and David Jason

Speaking to The Sun, Challis said: “The 30th anniversary was coming up and John was in the process of getting together a Christmas special or something.

“It was going to be Del Boy’s 65th birthday, he was going to retire and there was going to be a bit of a get-together in the Nag’s Head. But unfortunately he (John) got ill and didn’t come out of it.”

Sullivan died after contracting viral pneumonia in April 2011, five months before the 30th anniversary of Only Fools And Horses’ debut. 

Recalling his death, Challis said: “It was a complete shock to everybody. We got a phone call from the producers giving us the bad news.”

Radio Times via Getty Images

The cast during filming for the 1988 Christmas special of Only Fools and Horses

Sullivan wrote all 64 episodes of Only Fools And Horses, which ran between 1981 and 2003. 

Over 19 million people tuned in to see its final episode on Christmas Day in 2003. 

Sir David Jason, who played Del Boy in the show, recently admitted he had watched an old episode of Only Fools And Horses during lockdown, and was left in fits of giggles at the iconic moment when his character fell through a wine bar hatch. 

He told The Mirror: “It gave me great joy. The hatch scene still makes me laugh out loud. Normally I’m very critical of what I do, I don’t enjoy watching very much. But that one just works.”

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Phoebe Waller Bridge And Donald Glover To Star In Mr & Mrs Smith Reboot Series

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Mean Girls: 30 Things You Didn’t Know, As The Film Makes Netflix Return

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Here’s What The Stars Of Popstars Have Been Up To In The 20 Years Since The Show Debuted

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Here’s Our Definitive Ranking Of All 23 Pixar Films

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The Vicar Of Dibley: 10 Unforgettable Moments That Still Have Us In Stitches

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The Best Christmas Films And TV Specials Streaming On Disney+ Now

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