Author: Sam Warner

NME

Alan Partridge has been criticised by viewers for a joke made about Ukrainian refugees.

The Steve Coogan character was part of a Comic Relief sketch on Friday (March 15), where he and Sidekick Simon (Tim Key) read out callers’ most and least charitable things done.

Revealing one, Simon declared: “Grant in Briston says his most charitable act was taking in a family of Ukrainians for a year.”

Partridge then asked: “And the least charitable?”, before Simon replied: “Turfing them out, he’s got rid.”

“Marvellous, well actually a friend of mine did that for a family of Ukrainians,” Partridge added. “Still friends with them, they still wash his cars.”

The sketch has since received criticism on social media amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, one viewer writing on X (formerly Twitter): “WHAT was that Ukraine joke on the Alan Partridge sketch…? Come on BBC.”

“Alan Partridge sketch was awful,” another added. “Especially the stupid comments about #Ukraine refugees. Not impressed.”

A third said: “On the day when 20 Ukrainians killed in a missile attack in Odesa, jokes about Ukrainian refugees not really that funny.”

“I’ve never ‘got’ Alan Partridge but this is particularly unfunny tonight…,” another said.

Last week’s Comic Relief saw comedian Sir Lenny Henry take part in his final Red Nose Day, where he performed a parody of Barbie hit ‘I’m Just Ken’ called ‘I’m Just Len’.

Henry co-founded the charity with Richard Curtis in 1985, and previously explained that he would be stepping back as it was “time to hand on to the new generation”.

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Cillian Murphy‘s old teacher has opened up about what the actor was like at school.

The star won the Oscar for Best Actor last week for his work in Oppenheimer, having gotten his first shot at acting in his home city of Cork, Ireland.

Pat Kiernan taught drama at the school that Murphy attended, and said that while he didn’t initially recognise his acting talent, he was taken by how seriously Murphy took his band Sons of Mister Green Geneshe. He also used to see the star around town, with Murphy later taking an interest in his theatre company Corcadorca.

“He’d say, ‘Man, it’s great what you’re doing, I’d love to be involved,’” he recalled to The Times.

Recalling the now-Oscar-winner being inspired by a production of A Clockwork Orange that they put on, Kiernan revealed: “It was a really exciting piece of theatre and Cillian has told me [in later years] that it blew his mind and made him want to be an actor.”

He ended up casting Murphy in 1996 play Disco Pigs after he’d finished school, though was initially hesitant, admitting: “I said to [playwright] Enda [Walsh], ‘There’s a young guy who seems really keen and I think he might be good in the part.’ But I said, ‘He’s a bit of a pig,’ meaning he’s kind of goofy-looking. Clearly I didn’t recognise the beauty of the man.”

He added: “Cillian is really smart. Even at that age he was really clever and capable of inhabiting a character. What’s more, it was clear early on just how hard-working he was.

“Even back then, he was practical in his approach to work. He believed it needed to be researched, thought about, and he needed time to construct what he was doing. He seems to be applying all of this still.”

Speaking about his pride in seeing Murphy win an Academy Award, Kiernan revealed: “I was talking to him a few times during the week and he said: ‘I blame you.’”

He continued: “It’s a remarkable achievement for him. He has followed his own way of working and it has got him to where he is today.”

Kiernan also noted that fame hasn’t gone to Murphy’s head: “Even listening to his Oscar speech the other night, I wouldn’t notice any difference to how he was 20 or 30 years ago. He’s just the same lovely guy.”

During his Oscars acceptance speech, Murphy said he was “a very proud Irishman”, before reflecting on Oppenheimer‘s themes.

“We made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb and, for better or worse, we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world,” he said. “So I’d really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere.”

As well as Best Actor, Oppenheimer took a further six awards during the night including Best Picture and Best Director for Christopher Nolan.

Meanwhile, Murphy recently said he would be open to returning to the role of Tommy Shelby in a Peaky Blinders film.

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Robert Carlyle has shared his delight after The Simpsons included a nod to Trainspotting.

The actor famously played the role of Begbie in the 1996 Danny Boyle film, which is based on the novel by Irvine Welsh.

In the recent Simpsons episode Ae Bonny Romance, which originally aired in December, the family journeys to Scotland to find Groundskeeper Willie, learning that the Scottish character is about to get married.

In one scene, audiences are shown an airline called “Planespotting”, with the plane including a picture of Carlyle’s character Begbie on its tail.

Responding to a fan pointing out the reference on X (formerly Twitter), Carlyle wrote: “My life is complete..”.

As well as the nod, the episode featured the voices of actors Karen Gillan, David Tennant and Paul Higgins.

Meanwhile, Trainspotting star Jonny Lee Miller, who played Sick Boy, recently suggested he didn’t fully capitalise on the film’s success.

“It’s not something that bothers me,” he told The Guardian. “It’s just life. Everything worked out great, really. I was secretly ambitious, but I didn’t really know how to execute that or take advantage of certain opportunities. But it’s all good, because I’m here in a freezing-cold church rehearsing a play!”

Last year, Trainspotting star Ewan McGregor revealed that he used to show his kids the “worst toilet in Scotland” scene from the film “for a laugh”.

“It’s a unique situation, perhaps, for a father to be able to show his children footage of him going down the toilet,” he said at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Elsewhere, Welsh praised a viral parody video of the film’s “Choose Life” scene targeted at UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

In other Simpsons news, last year co-creator James L. Brooks announced that Homer will continue to strangle Bart, despite the show appearing to confirm that it would retire the long-running gag.

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Saltburn fans have been trespassing the real-life location where the film was shot, which has led the owner to start patrols on the grounds.

Charles Stopford Sackville, who owns Drayton House, revealed in a new interview that his home has attracted huge attention on social media since the Emerald Fennell film was released last year, despite the house not being open to the public.

These include TikToks of fans dancing to Sophie Ellis-Bextor‘s ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’, which features in the film’s famous final scene as Barry Keoghan’s character dances around the house naked.

“I never envisaged the amount of interest there would be,” Stopford Sackville told the Mail on Sunday. “It’s quite weird. I don’t take it as flattering.

“How would you feel if people were taking pictures outside your house? I’d prefer the interest to blow over but I can’t make it blow over.”

He went on to reveal that “more than 50” trespassers have strayed off the public footpath that runs through the estate, leading to patrols being enforced. “Most people are fairly good, but some get a bit inquisitive, let’s say,” he added.

Fennell previously said she wanted to film somewhere that had never been used before, Stopford Sackville adding that the fee offer from the film’s producers had “100 per cent” influenced his decision to allow filming, noting: “These houses don’t run on water.” The owner is also friends with Fennell’s parents.

It was previously reported by Vanity Fair that part of the film’s contract forbade crew members to disclose the filming location, though it has since been identified.

TikTok user Rhian Williams – whose post locating Drayton House went viral in the wake of the film’s success – has since encouraged people to stay on the public footpath.

“When I made my TikToks about the location of Drayton House, which I discovered online, I never dreamt they would get 5.6 million views,” she told the BBC. “It’s such a shame that people are trespassing as there is a public footpath through the estate that everyone should stick to if they want to visit.

“I do think it’s important that younger generations, like so many who have enjoyed the Saltburn movie, are encouraged to walk in the countryside and get fresh air, and it’s brilliant to see such a hidden corner of our beautiful Northamptonshire in such a major film like Saltburn.”

Saltburn, which follows university student Oliver Quick (Keoghan) as he visits friend Felix Catton’s (Jacob Elordi) family estate over the summer, has become a huge success since its release, notably sparking a resurgence in Ellis-Bextor’s hit.

‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ recently entered the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time, with the singer announcing a US tour last week. She also spoke to NME recently about her newfound success.

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Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy was forced to have his head “glued shut” due to an accident involving a pillow given to him by Emily Blunt.

The stars play couple J. Robert Oppenheimer and Kitty Oppenheimer in the Christopher Nolan film, and Blunt revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live that she decided to gift the sleep item to her co-star as she felt he needed good rest in making the film.

“I just felt Cillian needed, probably even more than food, was sleep on this movie,” she began. “So I got him this very beautiful pillow that I’m obsessed with. These pillows, Hästens pillows.

“I gave him this pillow, but…,” Blunt continued, before turning to Murphy and asking: “Do you mind if I tell the story?”

“He was really luxuriating in this pillow one night, and he woke up in the middle of the night – this is what he told me the next day – and he went to fluff himself back down in the pillow, misjudged where it was, the cool side, flipped it, and smashed his head open on the bedside table. So he came to work, and they had to glue his head shut!”

Revealing he turned to Oppenheimer make-up artist Luisa Abel, Murphy further recalled: “I was a bit shocked you know! I was having a great sleep, and I had this amazing pillow, strange bed, strange table, and bang.

“We were getting up before it was bright, like at 2 a.m. or something, 3 a.m. So I called her then, and I just came in, and then she glued my head, and covered it all up, and you don’t even see it in the movie, I think.”

Oppenheimer, which documents the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II, was released last year to huge critical and box office success.

The film is currently dominating awards season, over the weekend winning the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, as well as acting wins for Murphy and Robert Downey Jr..

It won seven BAFTAs at last weekend’s ceremony, including Best Film, and is favourite to take Best Picture at next month’s Oscars, where it is nominated for 13 awards.

Meanwhile, Murphy recently revealed the touching note that director Christopher Nolan left on his Oppenheimer script.

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Nick Offerman has hit out at “homophobic hate” in reaction to his The Last Of Us storyline.

• READ MORE: ‘The Last Of Us’ soundtrack: every song and when it’s played

The actor won an Independent Spirit Award last night (February 25) for his performance in the HBO drama, where he played the role of Bill in the standalone episode Long, Long Time.

In the acclaimed episode, his character tries to survive in his hometown as he crosses paths with Frank (Murray Bartlett), with the episode documenting their love story over two decades.

During the Spirit Awards, Offerman won Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series, and took to the stage to share his thanks.

“Thank you so much Film Independent. I’m astonished to be in this category, which is bananas. Congrats to all of you, this is crazy,” he began.

“Thanks to HBO for having the guts to participate in this storytelling tradition that is truly independent,” Offerman continued.

“Stories with guts that when homophobic hate comes my way and says, ‘Why did you have to make it a gay story?’ We say, ‘Because you ask questions like that. It’s not a gay story it’s a love story, you asshole!’ So more of that.”

Offerman has won numerous awards for The Last Of Us, including an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Emmy.

Co-showrunner Craig Mazin recently ruled out a spin-off series focused on Bill and Frank, telling Deadline: “There won’t be more Bill and Frank.”

The Last Of Us‘ first season was released a year ago, and the show is currently gearing up for its second season, with production expected to start in the spring for a 2025 release.

Stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are returning as Joel and Ellie, while a number of new cast additions were recently announced, including Schitt’s Creek star Catherine O’Hara in an undisclosed role, alongside Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse and Kaitlyn Dever as Abby.

Speaking about casting the latter, who previously auditioned for the role of Ellie, showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said: “Our casting process for season two has been identical to season one: we look for world-class actors who embody the souls of the characters in the source material.

“Nothing matters more than talent. And we’re thrilled to have an acclaimed performer like Kaitlyn join Pedro [Pascal], Bella and the rest of our family.”

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Killers Of The Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone has appeared to call out the Kansas City Chiefs for “misrepresentation” of Native American people.

• READ MORE: ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ review: Martin Scorsese’s heartbreaking true crime chiller

The team won last night’s (February 11) Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers, and ahead of the game, Gladstone – who is of Siksikaitsitapi and Nimíipuu heritage – referenced the controversy around the team and the Native American community.

Speaking while being honoured at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Virtuosos Awards, the actress reflected on the “long overdue” milestone of becoming the first Native American performer to be nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award.

The star noted that “some of the first filmmakers [and] the first film footage was shot by native people documenting our way of life”.

She added: “But that’s a lot of history and a lot of years of exclusion or misrepresentation, and I mean Super Bowl’s tomorrow. We haven’t come that far if we look at one of the teams that’s playing.”

Likely referring to the Kansas City Chiefs, the team has long faced a backlash over its name and arrowhead symbol, as well as the “tomahawk chop” gesture and chant, which Native American leaders have said perpetuate racist stereotypes and devalue Native American traditions.

When the Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2023, protestors gathered outside the stadium demanding a stop to the “tomahawk chop” and for the team to change its name.

Previously, the Chiefs banned fans in 2020 from wearing headdresses and certain face paint, though some fans have still done so anyway.

It comes after the now-titled Washington Commanders NFL team previously changed their name after their last moniker was long deemed a racist slur against Native Americans.

Meanwhile, last month Gladstone made history as the first Native American actress to win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for Killers Of The Flower Moon, and delivered part of her speech in Blackfoot language.

Last year Gladstone criticised TV series Yellowstone as a “delusional” and “deplorable” portrait of the American West.

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