Movies

Annie Wersching -- famous for roles in a number of hit TV shows over the years -- has died.

Her publicist confirmed the news to Deadline -- and her husband, Stephen Full, issued a statement. He writes, "There is a cavernous hole in the soul of this family today. But she left us the tools to fill it. She found wonder in the simplest moment. She didn’t require music to dance. She taught us not to wait for adventure to find you. ‘Go find it. It’s everywhere.’ And find it we shall."

Full adds, "As I drove our boys, the true loves of her life, down the winding driveway and street, she would yell BYE! until we were out of earshot and into the world. I can still hear it ringing. Bye my Buddie. ‘I love you little family…’"

Wersching was diagnosed with cancer in 2020, and continued to act thereafter. It's unclear what sort of cancer she was battling ... she kept her diagnosis private for a while.

She'll perhaps be best remembered as Renee Walker on "24," for which she appeared in 35 episodes. Wersching has starred in several other TV series, though -- including "Timeless," "Runaways," "The Vampire Diaries," "Bosch," "General Hospital," "Dallas," "Extant," and more.

Other famous shows she's had guest spots on include "Charmed," "Frasier," "Angel," "Boston Legal," "Supernatural," "CSI," "NCIS," "Hawaii Five-0," "Revolution," "Blue Bloods" and others. She also voiced Tess in "The Last of Us" video game ... which just got made into a series.

More recently, she had acted in "The Rookie" and "Star Trek: Picard" -- that last show is bitter sweet, as "Star Trek: Enterprise" is noted as her first acting gig on IMDb.

She had 48 credits to her name dating back to 2002. She survived by her husband, her 3 children and extended family. A GoFundMe has been started for her loved ones.

Wersching was just 45.

Zachary Levi said something that Twitter's taking as an anti-vax stance -- which could spell trouble for Warner Bros. Discovery ... 'cause he's got a blockbuster movie to promote.

The actor -- who plays the lead in the "Shazam!" franchise -- replied to a question posed on the bird app by Lyndon Wood, who asked ... "Do you agree or not, that Pfizer is a real danger to the world?" ZL's response made no bones about how he feels, "Hardcore agree."

There's not much more context beyond that, and right away ... Twitter users started bashing the dude and labeling him as a right-winger spewing anti-vax rhetoric. This also prompted people to pull up old clips of Zach that they view as problematic -- including a Joe Rogan interview he did a few years ago, where they talked about Elliot Page and Jordan Peterson.

Of course, the jokes also started to fly in regards to WBD and how the execs there might be reacting to this news ... on its face, it comes across as a PR nightmare -- especially with "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" on the horizon and a press tour that'll undoubtedly come with it.

Welp, Zach caught wind of all the hubbub and attempted to clarify ... tweeting a link to a 2009 DOJ press release touching on a fraud case Pfizer was involved in at the time, when they agreed to pay a $2.3 billion settlement. He says this is what he was referring to.

In other words, he's now trying to make it seem like he was expressing a view against corruption in big pharma -- but, frankly, Twitter isn't really buying it ... especially amid the latest Project Veritas drop, which has been top of mind in much of conservative media.

Time will tell how this might affect things with the water tower team. One could argue WBD had a way bigger scandal on its hands with Ezra Miller ... and they ended up salvaging that pretty nicely. Their movie isn't canceled -- it's actually due to come out later this year.

Of course, it all comes down to what James Gunn and Peter Safran wanna do with "Shazam!". They're at the helm of DC now, and they've scrapped A LOT in recent months.

"Pitch Perfect" star Skylar Astin has fallen victim to a crime that appears to be happening all too frequently in Hollywood ... his home was hit by thieves during a trip away.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Skylar's Los Angeles-area pad was broken into late Wednesday night. We're told the crook(s) made their way inside after breaking a rear window and then tore the place up ... presumably looking for valuables.

Our sources say Skylar got an alert to his phone about suspicious activity inside his home, so he sent a friend over to check things out, who in turn discovered evidence of a break-in and called the cops.

As of now, it's unclear what may have been stolen from the home, but once Skylar makes it back home, he'll assess the damage and figure out what, if anything, is missing. We're told the house was equipped with security cameras ... so it's possible the criminals will be caught.

Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis seem to have waived their white flags following a drama-filled year in the wake of their split -- because they're out here looking very simpatico.

The former couple -- who share two children together -- hugged it out in public Friday here in L.A. ... this after a meeting we're told they attended together, which apparently went really well. Check out the photos for yourself ... they're straight-up embracing and smiling.

OW and JS were dressed down, but their spirits seemed to be pretty high ... chit-chatting in the parking lot and eventually going in for the big hug before going their separate ways.

It's startling to see this ... in a good way. Remember, they had a tumultuous 2022 -- Olivia, especially -- which was chock-full of low blows and finger-pointing from both sides in the wake of their breakup, not to mention what was said about their relationship by outsiders.

It all started with Olivia being served legal papers at a public event in April ... which turned out to be sent on behalf of Jason, who was trying to get her to respond to custody matters.

He denied that he'd done that intentionally, but she went on to call it a "vicious" move ... so, at the time, it seemed like there was no love lost between them -- even more so with Harry Styles in the picture, whom Olivia had been dating for at least a couple years by then.

Adding insult to injury ... their ex-nanny started to spill alleged dirt about their breakup, plus their pet tendencies. They came together for that one, though, and denied the claims.

Looming large over all of this was Olivia's "Don't Worry Darling" spat with Florence Pugh ... and Shia LaBeouf. Since then, she and Harry have split -- and the dust has settled, it seems.

Sorry, Joe Burrow ... Brad Pitt is definitely NOT in the Bengals' corner this weekend -- saying Thursday night he's still ridin' or dyin' with his hometown team!!!

The "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" star made the not-so-shocking football pick after finishing up filming some scenes for his new flick with George Clooney out in NYC ... saying, as expected, it's Kansas City or bust for him this year.

"Chiefs, baby!" he said of his Super Bowl selection as he got into his ride.

Of course, Brad's been a longtime supporter of the Chiefs ... while he was born in Oklahoma, he moved to Missouri at an early age and was raised just a few hours from Arrowhead Stadium.

In fact, he's been seen sporting K.C. gear multiple times over the years, even rockin' a Chiefs cap at an awards show back in 2020.

In order for Pitt's championship dream to come true, the Chiefs have got to get through Burrow and the Bengals this weekend -- before they'll take on the winner of the Eagles vs. 49ers in Super Bowl LVII.

American actress Mimi Kirkland was only 8 years old when she played the role of Lexie -- the smart and loving daughter who is seeking a mother following her mother's passing -- in the 2013 romance/drama "Safe Haven."

Mimi shared the big screen with Josh Duhamel as the recent widow, loving dad and local grocery store owner, Alex Wheatley, Julianne Hough as the woman who flees from her abusive husband and falls in love with Alex, Katie Feldman and David Lyons as the alcoholic husband and police officer who is trying to track down his wife, Kevin Tierney.

Michael Peña has nothing but well wishes for Jeremy Renner after his snowplow accident ... saying he hopes he makes a full recovery, after saving lives on and off camera.

We caught up with Michael at LAX and asked all about his fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe star ... who's, of course, healing after a snowcat crushed him -- shattering more than 30 bones -- while he was trying to rescue his nephew.

Michael tells us, he hopes Jeremy fully recovers soon. In his words ... 30 is whole a lot of bones to break, so he's wishing him the best of luck.

You could tell he was pleasantly surprised at how positive Jeremy's been through such a horrific situation.

In case you didn't know, both actors are part of the MCU -- Michael in the 'Ant-Man' franchise and Jeremy in the 'Avengers' flicks -- plus, they costarred in "American Hustle."

While this obviously sucks for JR ... who won't be able to work for a while ... MP says Disney should hold the Hawkeye role until he's ready to get back in action.

Rep. George Santos is truly (we think) flattered he reminds people of Leonardo DiCaprio's character from "Catch Me If You Can" -- but he's hung up on the Leo thing, and not the compulsive and convicted liar part!!!

File this hilarious clip under "Ya Missed the Point" -- but we got the embattled Congressman from New York Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill ... where our photog asked if he's seen the Leo and Tom Hanks movie about infamous con man, Frank Abganale.

Santos claims he hasn't seen the Steven Spielberg-directed film that had Leo portraying Frank conning his way through life -- pretending to be an airline pilot, doctor, teacher and prosecutor.

Perhaps not shockingly, Santos tells us he's "flattered" to be compared to Leo ... but totally ignores the real reason people are making the parallel. Y'know, the lies on lies on lies part!!!

The Congressman did latch on to one other thing besides Leo's looks, saying he wishes he had the actor's bank account. Of course, there's a good chance he's already told someone that he does!

In the movie, Leo's character is caught in the end ... and Santos has already been caught in more than a few lies. Besides his fib-packed resume, he recently admitted he DID have a drag alter ego in his youth in Brazil ... after initially denying it.

As for a movie about his lie-filled path to Congress -- doesn't sound like he's down to sell the rights. Someone should tell Georgie it doesn't work that way -- if nothing else, he's a walking Lifetime flick waiting to happen!!!

Kim Kardashian's daughter North West is headin' to the big screen ... breaking into the acting game in the same flick her mom's also got a part in.

The 9-year-old has been cast in the upcoming sequel, "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie," TMZ has confirmed, lending her voice alongside Kim, who's reprising her role as Delores from the 2021 film.

Kim and North won't be the only ones in their family with a part ... we're told North's little brother, Saint, will also make a cameo in the movie.

Seems like Paramount's got a ton of confidence in the sequel, BTW -- Deadline reports some big names are joining North and Saint ... including Kristen Bell, McKenna Grace, Lil Rel Howery, James Marsden, and even Serena Williams.

Makes sense -- the children's film debuted at #1 in multiple countries when it dropped -- making over $144M worldwide.

Emmett Till's family is saddened and stunned the Motion Picture Academy overlooked the film about this tragic and pivotal story in American history ... and it did so in every Oscar category.

Emmett's cousin and cofounder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, Deborah Watts, tells TMZ ... the family is extremely disappointed the movie "Till" and its lead actress Danielle Deadwyler -- who plays Emmett's mom -- received zero nominations.

Deborah says Danielle "embodied and delivered the true essence of our cousin, a loving and courageous mother, Mamie Till Mobley. She reached deeply and poured her heart and soul in this role as she embraced us intimately like no other, while transforming into Mamie and bringing her true essence and story to life."

As you know, the film tells the story of Emmett's 1955 abduction and lynching in Mississippi ... which sent shockwaves across the nation when a photo of his brutally beaten body was made public.

The family's sentiment about Danielle being snubbed falls in line with a social media trend -- folks pointing out no Black women were nominated in the Best Actor category ... and this wouldn't be the first time.

Some users noted Viola Davis was another worthy contender for her performance in the box office hit, "The Woman King".

Going forward, Deborah says "The Emmett Till Legacy Family and community of supporters will ensure Emmett and Mamie's legacies and story will continue to be told with or without any awards."

Danielle has yet to react publicly -- we reached out to her reps, but the reality is, actors rarely say anything about snubs.

Austin Butler is celebrating his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Elvis Presley ... but the honor comes on the heels of tragedy.

The 31-year-old actor snagged his Academy Award nomination for best actor Tuesday for his performance of Elvis in the Baz Luhrmann movie "Elvis." Austin plays the King of Rock n' Roll from a teen up until his death.

Obviously, the nomination marks a huge accomplishment for the actor, and you have to imagine Lisa Marie would be thrilled ... so it's even more tragic she's not around to celebrate.

As you know, Elvis' famed daughter died January 12, after going into cardiac arrest ... first, at her California home, and then later the same day while she was in the hospital.

Lisa's family members, friends and countless Elvis fans just gathered Sunday at Graceland for a public memorial. The Memphis, TN estate is also where Elvis is also buried along with Lisa Marie's son, Benjamin, who she's buried next to.

A week before she passed away, Lisa Marie attended the Golden Globe Awards with her mom, Priscilla Presley, where Austin Butler won for best actor in a drama for his portrayal of the music legend.

Violet McGraw, the child actor who played one of the main characters from the smash hit horror flick "M3GAN," made a killing on the film ... and the job came with some sweet perks.

According to Violet's minor's contract -- filed in court, and obtained by TMZ -- the 11-year-old actress was paid $3,932.50 per week, and guaranteed 4 weeks of work. She ended up getting an extra 2 weeks on top of that for the government-mandated quarantine in New Zealand, where they filmed.

Violet's work also came with some extra perks, too, including gettin' to fly business class out to NZ for the project -- pretty sweet, considering it's a 13-hour trek from LAX.

The contract also says she gets bonuses based on how well the movie does at the box office -- and as it's made more than $73 mil in the U.S., Violet's potentially looking at an extra $150K!!!!

Fans of the slasher film remember Violet playing Cady, the newly-orphaned young girl who's sent to live with her Aunt Gemma ... a roboticist played by Allison Williams, responsible for designing the AI-fueled M3GAN, which turns into a killing machine.

A "WaterWorld" performer at Universal Studios Hollywood is hospitalized after taking a 30-foot drop into a tank, and not coming back up for air ... TMZ has learned.

Authorities tell TMZ ... the incident happened during a Monday show at the theme park. We're told the performer went into the water -- as planned in the show, but it was clear something went wrong when he did not immediately surface.

We don't know if the performer had a medical emergency while underwater, or if he was somehow injured by the 30-foot fall into the tank ... possibly getting knocked out on impact.

When folks noticed the performer wasn't coming out of the water, we're told employees pulled him out and he was given CPR on the spot for more than 5 minutes.

Those employees were able to get his heart beating again, and the performer was then rushed to a hospital. It's unclear what his condition is currently.

A spokesperson for Universal Studios Hollywood confirms the performer is still being treated at the hospital.

T.I. and DaBaby’s first collaboration ever will appear on the soundtrack for “Fear,” the forthcoming thriller film in which T.I. also stars ... TMZ Hip Hop can confirm.

Sources close to the film’s soundtrack tell us the song’s name is also titled “Fear” and will be featured on the big screen.

Superproducer Sean Garrett will executive produce the album, which will also have more features from DaBaby, E-40 and Freddie Gibbs as well.

Both T.I. and DaBaby performed Saturday to support the film at an event in West Hollywood … where the legendary Atlantans braved sound issues, and ripped the soundman for slacking on the cues to play the tracks!!!

Tip half-joked the DJ should be appreciative of his patience and grace ... reminiscent of when Wiz Khalifa did the complete opposite in a similar situation.

Tip, who’s still yet to do a Verzuz, blazed through several trap classics such as “24’s” and “Rubber Band Man," before passing the mic torch to DaBaby and saluting what he was able to accomplish in hip hop ... hailing from the typically untapped region of Charlotte, NC.

DaBaby graciously thanked Tip for the intro and gave an impromptu performance of his multi-platinum hit “Suge.”

Amy Winehouse's dad is backing the actress playing his daughter in an upcoming biopic ... even though a bunch of folks think she's anything but a doppelgänger for Amy.

Marisa Abela scored the coveted role in "Back to Black" ... but when the first images of her on set were released this month -- shocker -- social media was flooded with hateful comments.😲

Angry fans slammed Marisa as a low-budget Amy who looks nothing like the late singer.

But Amy's father, Mitch Winehouse -- who's also administrator of her estate -- disagrees, telling TMZ ... Marisa's a great choice for the role, even if she doesn't look exactly like Amy.

The way Mitch sees it, Marisa is Marisa and Amy is Amy ... so it's no big deal if they aren't mirror images.

Eddie Marsan is playing Amy's dad in the movie, and Mitch notes Eddie doesn't look anything like him either.

Amy's dad says there's too much emphasis on looks ... because there's plenty of Hollywood examples of actors not looking like their real-life characters.

The one that comes to mind for Mitch is "Night and Day," where the good-looking Cary Grant plays famous composer and songwriter Cole Porter, who was never considered handsome.

James Cameron joined an exclusive club Sunday -- one that includes only himself ... he's the sole director in history with three movies that have crossed a huge money milestone.

That benchmark is the $2-billion line, which his latest film -- 'Avatar: The Way of Water' -- crossed Sunday ... now marking the third such flick of his to have achieved it at the international box office. His other two crown jewels ... 'Avatar' ($2.9B) and 'Titanic' ($2.1B).

Only three other films have passed $2 bil ... all of 'em Disney-owned. There's 'Avengers: Endgame' (#2, $2.7B), 'Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens' (#4, $2.071B) and 'Avengers: Infinity War' (#5, $2.052B). 'Avatar 2' is now the 6th highest grossing movie ever.

Prior to this weekend's accomplishment, Cameron shared the space with the Russo Bros. ... who directed both 'Avengers' films -- but he's surpassed them and is in a league of his own.

Remember, 'Way of Water' only came out in theaters a month and change ago -- so it's reached this massive amount of ticket sales in a record time ... although, the Russos technically got there faster. Whereas it only took 37 days for 'A2' to cross the $2-billion finish line, 'Endgame' swallowed that up back in 2019 ... ringing that bell in an astounding 11 days.

Safe to say, JC's latest installment has become profitable ... and there'll surely be more sequels. That wasn't necessarily guaranteed though -- in fact, the flick had a slow start when it opened on Dec. 16 ... and there were doubts if it had the legs to go to the distance.