A select group of journalists submitted questions before a virtual press conference over Zoom for Netflix’s dark comedy “Don’t Look Up”. The panel included Director Adam McKay, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Tyler Perry, and Kid Cudi, moderated by astronomer Amy Mainzer.

On her character: There were so many places to take things from, because there’s so many preposterous people who’ve put themselves in public places recently. And shamelessly. It was fun to put together this character that was just pure id, just what her appetite wanted. And about amassing power, money, more power, and more money, and that’s pretty much- and nice hair and nails to top it off. But no fellow feeling. Unfortunately, that is the cost of being a public servant now, that you really have to make a big sacrifice. Your family makes a sacrifice, and you have to be willing to do that. It’s amazing that we get good people to do it. We need them right now more than ever.

On facing a possible armageddon: There are a lot of chilling moments. One just – I don’t know why – but it really hit me was the scene in the bar with Tyler and Cate when everything’s going to shit outside. And she says, “I just want, you know, to get drunk and talk shit about people.” I know lots of people like that, that’s not an unusual reaction. But it kinda chilled my bones. And then the one where they’re in the car and Timothée Chalamet proposes an idea to Jen and she goes, yeah. And it’s so clear, there’s just no way it’s ever gonna happen. You know, but it’s just that glimmer of the human dream where we hope something good is going to happen, even though we know something bad is. And that’s sort of the kernel of truth of this is that we push this information away. Smart people, people who don’t have a scientific background, everyone pushes it away, because it’s just too painful.

Fantastic news to look forward to this Sunday. Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio and director Adam McKay talk about the Netflix production “Don’t Look Up”, their careers and more in an interview with correspondent Tracy Smith for “CBS Sunday Morning,” to be broadcast December 5 on CBS and streamed on Paramount+. The film has an all-star cast and revolves around a scientist (DiCaprio) trying to warn the world that a comet is heading toward Earth and will destroy the planet. Streep plays the president who won’t take him seriously. The comet is a metaphor for climate change with the world split between believers and skeptics. But can a movie make a difference? “Hopefully,” DiCaprio told Smith. “But at this point, I’m a Debbie Downer with the system. So, you’re asking the wrong guy. To me, it’s about a little less, you know, conversation, and a lot more action.” The film was shot at the height of the pandemic’s impact on the entire world, which made it more meaningful to DiCaprio: “And that’s why it connected with this screenplay that was about the climate crisis that we’re all going to go through – we’re all going to feel the ramifications of this,” he said. “And what we’re seeing right now, with the wildfires and the massive hurricanes and all these catastrophes, doesn’t get better than this, okay? … It doesn’t get better than this. It slowly becomes worse.” Edit: You can now watch the full segment below and in the video archive, while screencaptures have been uploaded to the photo gallery.

On Thursday, Meryl Streep was among the many guests to congratulate Jeremy O. Harris at Broadway’s re-opening night of “Slave Play”. According to W Magazine and their coverage of the after-party, the provocative production made Tony Awards history with 12 nominations and established Harris as a critical darling. Naturally, there was an after-party, and the scene at Tao Downtown in New York City following the show at August Wilson Theater appears to have been almost pre-pandemic. (Harris noted that negative Covid-19 tests were required on Twitter.) A couple of pictures from the after-party have been added to the photo gallery.

We’re only two weeks away from the theatrical release of “Don’t Look Up” (and less than a month from its Netflix premiere on December 24) and the first batch of news outlets have been published. Alongside reviews from Entertainment Weekly, People and The Denver Post, there’s a lovely new cover story from the Polish Pani magazine. Unfortunately I have only found the cover, maybe some of our Polish visitors can help out with the article :-) Thanks to Alvaro for sending in the mentioned reviews. Enjoy your weekend.