PARADE • MARCH 5, 2023

On growing up in Wales, life with Keri Russell and playing everybody’s favorite crime-�ghter

Matthew RHYS PLUS Nick Kroll &

Mel Brooks, p. 3

“This is not your father’s Perry Mason”

Personality

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Has humor changed since the original film came out in 1981? I grew up watching the original History of the World over and over.My family owned it on VHS, and it was a very seminal movie for me in forming my sense of humor from the rhythms that Mel Brooks has. And so I watch it now and it still makes me laugh, but like all comedy, there are jokes that worked 40-some-odd years ago that don’t work now. There are jokes that I told 10 years ago that aren’t funny anymore because the references don’t make sense; the language is not the language that you use currently. But ultimately, what Mel was doing in that movie was poking fun at people in power, the rich. I feel like in a lot of that movie, the people in power are dumb and greedy. And I think that ethos still applies today, and we tried to carry that through into this series.

NICK KROLL

The League and Big Mouth star, 44, said yes to working with one of his heroes—Mel Brooks—in the upcoming sketch comedy variety series

History of the World: Part II. It’s been over 40 years since the release of the �lm. Now the series will continue the funny and twisted look at di�erent periods of human history with a stellar cast that includes Kroll, Brooks, Wanda Sykes, Josh Gad, Ike Barinholtz, Johnny Knoxville, Taika Waititi, Jack Black and many more.

So, it’s the comedy version of Succession? Yes, although one could argue Succession is a comedy as well. But yeah, someone recently said comedy is like fashion, there are things that we thought looked cool 30 years ago that

(March 6 on Hulu)

aren’t great today. But then things come back around and become retro and you go back to references. But there’s always Mel Brooks. If you want to keep the analogy going, it’s like Gucci; it’s just timeless.

Mel Brooks is 96, and he narrates this. Did he contribute in other ways? We started to bring ideas to Mel, different versions of what the show could be, and he had very clear thoughts on that. And he also had jokes. There are jokes throughout the show that Mel pitched.

And then I had the privilege of directing him doing his voiceover.

continued on page 4

Brooks

version,

Go to Parade.com/ mel-brooks for an interview with the comedylegend

WALTER SCOTT ASKS...

WALTER SCOTT’S

WALTER SCOTT’S

Personality

from page

And inside every episode of his narration, there are jokes that he came up with on the spot, so his fingerprints are all over it. Every single person who worked on the show, the writers and so many of the actors, were there because they grew up watching him and have been influenced by him. So, there’s a direct influence and then there’s the indirect influence of what his work meant to forming so many people’s concept of comedy.

History of the World goes from when man first inhabited the Earth to Jesus to Abraham Lincoln to Shirley Chisholm. How did you narrow it down? I brought in Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz and Dave Stassen, who’s not on camera, but serves as the other executive producer of the show, and a writer. I had decided I was interested in the Russian Revolution, which felt very much like a Brooksian area to explore. He had done this movie The Twelve Chairs but it felt like there was more to be done in that space. Ike was fascinated with Ulysses S. Grant and the Civil War felt like a very rich area to explore. And Wanda felt like Shirley Chisholm was someone who’s very important to American history but had not had a lot of exposure. And then the story of Jesus and Mary was another really rich area. In those big stories, you want to find stories that are familiar to the public, with familiar characters, but also have a lot of stuff and people that we have not seen.

The cast is incredible. Did people call you or did you do a normal casting process? It was both. When we announced it, we got some immediate incoming calls. Johnny Knoxville, who I’ve known for a long time was like, “Mel Brooks is my hero. If you need anything at all, give me a call.” So, when we were writing the Russian Revolution, we thought, Who’s better to play Rasputin than Johnny Knoxville?

So many of the people on the cast are friends, so when we were casting Sigmund Freud, we thought, Who would be better to be Sigmund Freud doing a master class than Taika Waititi? Or Mel has a long-standing relationship and is very fond of Josh Gad, and [he came up] when we were thinking, Who could be Shakespeare, but Shakespeare in what felt like a modern comedy writer’s room? Jack Black as Joseph Stalin—I have a relationship with Jack and was able to call him and say, “We have this idea,” and he was on board.

Hannah Einbinder, who’s the star of Hacks, came very early on and said, “I’m a massive fan of this movie, and if there’s anything along the way let me know.” And then we came up with the Amelia Earhart sketch. And so, people reach out saying, “We’d love to be a part.”

When did you know you were funny? I always thought I was funny. I think it took a little while for everybody else to decide I was funny. I started doing improv and stand-up in college. I remember very clearly doing my first read through of a bunch of sketches for a sketch show I had auditioned for in my freshman year in college and booked. I left that and was like, Oh, this is what I should be doing I had a really clear feeling of, This is the thing that I have been waiting for.

I had been watching Mel Brooks movies my entire life and loved comedy. But I didn’t even know that you could be a comedian—it didn’t feel like something that was in the world that I grew up in, which was filled with privilege and opportunity.

Was there a point at which you said, “O.K., this is going to work?” Yes and no. I think there’s always a feeling, if you’re a specific kind of person, that it never feels like enough or like you’ve done it. But, doing History of the World,

it’s beyond my wildest dreams that I get to work alongside my hero. That feeling in and of itself is just truly mind-boggling.That’s a truly different level of “I have made it.”

Isn’t that great to know that there are still things to achieve? Because that’s what gets you up in the morning, knowing that you have a purpose.

Of course, now you have a kid to get you up, too. Yeah, the kid is now getting me up about an hour and a half to two hours earlier than I would like to be waking up. But then you get up with them and you’re feeding this little person blueberries and you’re like, What’s more important than this?

Th The Do Don’t Miss List

Here’s what’s on our radar for the week ahead Go to Parade.com/entertainment for more

TOP CHEF

(MARCH 9 ON BRAVO)

Padma Lakshmi is heading to London with Top Chef to celebrate its 20th season with a World All-Stars competition, featuring 16 of the greatest competitors from 11 Top Chef iterations around the globe. Head judge Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons will oversee the challenges, which include prepping a picnic at Highclere Castle (of Downton Abbey fame) and going headto-head at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as well as the chefs putting their spin on iconic British staples from Beef Wellington and biscuits to pub food and afternoon tea. Then, they will be off to Paris for the finale.

“I was so thrilled to be going international for season 20,” says Lakshmi, 52. “It was also exciting to see how chefs around the world who have already competed at a very high level put their skills to test in our kitchen. The food was truly extraordinary.”

LUTHER: THE FALLEN SUN

(March 10 on Netflix)

When we last saw John Luther, the brilliant British detective was being arrested. But now, four years later, the story continues with Idris Elba reprising the role in movie format.

“He’s done so much to bend the law in order to catch the bad guys that he’s ended up in jail,” says Elba, 50. “He’s contemplating what he’s going to do with his life.” Those musings lead Luther to break out of prison to finish the case he didn’t solve before his incarceration.

THE VOICE

(March 6 on NBC)

It’s the last season for Blake Shelton, 46 New coaches Chance the Rapper and former One Direction band member Niall Horan join Kelly Clarkson If that’s not enough reason to check out the music show’s 23rd season, go to Parade. com/the-voice-season-23 for more.

FARMER WANTS A WIFE

(MARCH 8 ON FOX)

“He is just so haunted,” says Elba. “Even when Luther’s a free man, he can’t help but chase the ghosts that get into his head That’s what drives him in this film.”

lead Luther to break out of prison case incarceration free man, he can’t but chase the that get from a series to Elba would like to

It’s quite a switch from performing as half of the band Sugarland to hosting a dating show, but this spring Grammy Award winner Jennifer Nettles, 48, will be doing just that. Farmer Wants a Wife features four farmers from across the country and four women from the “big city” who meet in search of true romance. Here are some fun facts about the Georgia-born singer/songwriter.

 Nettles and Jon Bon Jovi won a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Collaboration for a country version of “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” which went to No 1 No. on the Billboard country charts charts.

 She made her acting debut in 2015 in Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors, playing Parton’s mother. She reprised her role in 2016’s sequel Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love

imagine John in Colom-

he says “That,

Now that Luther has segued from a series to film, Elba would like to take Luther international. “Can you just imagine John in Colombia, or darkest Berlin where it’s really weird and underground?” he says. “That, to me, is exciting.”

 Nettles has twice appeared in Broadway musicals: In 2015, she played Roxie Hart in Chicago, and in 2021, she played Jenna in Waitress

Books Available in bookstores and online

Complicit

by Winnie M Li

The Daydreams

by Laura Hankin

If you’re prepping the popcorn and your film-themed snacks (Glass Onion dip, anyone?) before the Academy Awards (March 12 on ABC), grab one of these fabulous reads for even more movie magic and Hollywood happenings.

BY ELIZABETH HELD

Oscar Wars by

Michael Schulman

Who’s not fascinated with the Academy Awards and all the hoopla attached to them—Glittering glamour! Envelope mixups! Audience hijinks! The New Yorker writer Schulman, author of Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep, goes behind the pomp in Oscar Wars (Harper) to reveal the stories behind the scenes, from cultural battles to industry intrigue. His firsthand accounts make for entertaining reading. $36, amazon.com

Funny You Should Ask by

Elissa Sussman

If you never miss the red-carpet gossip, grab a copy of Sussman’s Funny You Should Ask (Dell), a sizzling romance between an Alist actor and a journalist. Ten years earlier, writer Chani’s profile of Hollywood golden boy Gabe Parker went viral as readers wondered just how close the pair got during their weekend interview. Now, as part of a PR stunt, they’ve reunited for another feature, and the decade apart hasn’t cooled off the sparks. Filled with insights on celebrity, media and the internet, it’s a fun read with surprising heft. $12, amazon.com

Li’s #MeToo-inspired thriller, Complicit (Atria), follows Sarah Lai, a once-promising film producer now teaching screenwriting at a Brooklyn Community college. When a New York Times reporter reaches out to ask about her experiences with a wealthy British film producer, she decides she can no longer stay quiet. As she recounts her tale, Sarah is forced to consider her own choices and if she enabled a predator. A timely, compelling read. $23, amazon.com

BLACK HOLLYWOOD

BY CARELL AUGUSTUS

The Daydreams (May 2, Berkley), Hankin’s third novel, imagines the four stars of a beloved 2000s TV show reuniting for a special episode thirteen years after a scandalous live finale taping derailed their lives. As the reunion grows closer, long-held secrets—including the real reason for their infamous downfall—come to the surface. ‘90s kids and anyone looking for a darkly satirical take on the entertainment world won’t want to miss this one. $25, amazon.com

In this new coffee-table book (Sourcebooks), photographer Augustus reimagines iconic Hollywood scenes with Black stars Images include Vanessa Williams as Cleopatra, Corbin Bleu in Mission Impossible and Dulé Hill in Singing in the Rain Augustus spent 10 years on the book and notes, “Black Hollywood is not just a book for Black people―it’s for all people about Black people. About the dreams we were never told we could achieve About the places we were never told we could go And now, finally, about how we can get there.” $20, amazon.com

Ready for the Oscars? Go to Parade.com/movies/where-to-watch to catch up on your movie viewing

BRING IT ON BY KASE

WICKMAN

Entertainment journalist Wickman ’ s new book documents the making of Bring It

On and the iconic cheerleading film’s legacy in her new book (Chicago Review Press) The quotable flick— that launched the careers of stars Gabrielle Union, Kirsten Dunst and director Peyton Reed of Ant-Man fame, sparked a half-dozen sequels and grossed nearly $100 million almost didn’t get made Wickman takes readers behind the scenes into pitch meetings, rewrite sessions and the dorm-like hotel the cast stayed at, sharing hilarious anecdotes and insight into what it takes to make a comedy classic. $28, amazon.com

Advika and the Hollywood Wives by Kirthana

Ramisetti

Ramisetti puts a disturbing twist on the classic Cinderella tale in Advika and the Hollywood Wives (April 11, Grand Central). While bartending at an Oscars after-party, struggling screenwriter Advika Srinivasan meets legendary producer Julian Zelding. Despite their 41-year age difference, she falls for the powerful exec, and they quickly marry. A month into their marriage, Advika is shocked when Julian’s first wife, a famous actress, dies and bequeaths her a single film reel and $1 million if she divorces her husband. Juicy and propulsive. $29, amazon.com

THE MOTION PICTURE TELLER BY

COLIN COTTERILL

If you love movies, mayhem and mystery, The Motion Picture Teller (Soho Crime) has it all In 1996, film junkie Supot is a postman with the Royal Thai Mail service who spends all his free time watching classics with his best friend Ali, who owns a video store When a mysterious cassette titled Bangkok 2010 arrives at the store, it sets off a madcap adventure as the pair recognize it as brilliant, but no one has ever heard of it or even of the actors who star in it Supot’s quest to uncover the truth eventually takes him to a mysterious commune in the northern Thai countryside It’s a delightful read, with charming characters and a vivid setting $28, amazon com

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Former Nickelodeon star McCurdy takes readers into the darker side of Hollywood with I’m Glad My Mom Died (Simon & Schuster), a memoir that’s equal parts heartbreaking and humorous. McCurdy’s mom dreamed of fame and foisted her unachieved goal on her daughter. McCurdy attended her first audition at age 6. By 11, her mom encouraged “calorie restriction” even as her pediatrician warned that Jennette was dangerously thin. This memoir is raw, honest and disturbing, but also an inspiring story of resilience. $18, amazon.com

HOLLYWOOD: THE ORAL HISTORY

BY JEANINE BASINGER AND SAM WASSON

Film scholar Basinger and author Wasson drew on 3,000 interviews from the American Film Institute’s archives to craft Hollywood: The Oral History (Harper), a fast-paced and informative history of Tinseltown. With quotes from leading stars and top filmmakers including Tom Hanks, Alfred Hitchcock, Katharine Hepburn, Meryl Streep and Jordan Peele—readers will walk away with a deep understanding of the uniquely American industry $31, amazon.com

Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in American Film

by Luis Reyes

In Viva Hollywood (Running Press), film historian Reyes documents the critical role of the Hispanic and Latino community in shaping Hollywood over the past 100 years. Highlighting the careers of icon Rita Hayworth, silent movie actor Antonio Moreno and Oscar-winning makeup artist Beatrice de Alba, the book chronicles the ignorance these luminaries had to overcome and the significant influence they had on the movies. As an added bonus, Viva Hollywood includes 200 photos of luminaries. $31, amazon.com

THE CURIOUS CASE

THE OF

MATTHEW RHYS

Matthew Rhys can’t be serious—or at least he doesn’t want to be.When he’s not being intense on screen, as he is in his current role as criminal defense attorney on the hit series Perry Mason,“I’m the absolute joker,” he says.

The actor, 48, is Zooming with Parade from his home in Brooklyn, where he lives with his partner Keri Russell, 46 (they began dating while costarring in The Americans), as well as her kids River, 15; and Willa, 11, from her first marriage; and their son Sam, 6. He’s in a black-hooded sweatshirt, having just come from a workout in the park.“I take my resistance bands,”he says,“and I resist working out.”There does come a time, laughs Rhys,“where Keri’s like,‘Stop with the jokes.’ The other day she was like,‘It’s like a disease with you sometimes. I can see your mind going, How can I make a pun out of what’s being said?’”

BY AMY SPENCER

What he does take seriously is the place he first called home. Rhys was raised in Cardiff,Wales, with his older sister Rachel—“the brains of the outfit,”he says—by his mother Helen, who taught music to blind children; and his father Glyn, a headmaster at a primary school.“I think you could tip I was possibly headed for a life of performance, because I was a bit of a clown,”says Rhys.“I could impersonate and mimic.”But what also served his talent is a common Welsh trait—“the ferocity at which they will tell you how proud they are of being Welsh,”says Rhys.“Being a very small cousin next door to a very large England, you’ve had to shout and scream for your own identity.”And that strong foundation, “lends itself as kind of a springboard to pretend to be whomever you want.”After playing Elvis in high school and attending London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he’s been pretending professionally ever since. He performed on stage in London’s West End and starred in Brothers & Sisters and The Americans; in Steven Spielberg’s The Post and with Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. And now he’s back for the second season of Perry Mason (March 6 on HBO).“It’s not your father’s Perry Mason,”says Rhys of the 1930’s-based show that reimagines Mason as a private investigator with a painful military history, driven to earn his law degree. In season two, Mason builds his new law firm while taking on “thrilling cases in the same vein as season one,”says Rhys. Or, as he wrote on Twitter: “This season is like camping. IN-TENTS.” Settled in until he picks up his son from first grade, Rhys shares how he got to Hollywood and where he’s headed next.

continued on page 10

The Perry Mason actor talks about growing up in Wales, the little white lie that impressed Keri Russell and the hobby he didn’t expect to take over his life.

What did you know about Perry Mason before taking on the role? Had you read any of the Erle Stanley Gardener novels or watched the Raymond BurrTV show? I never read any of his novels but I was very aware of the show. It was huge in Britain. I had this very vague, kind of misty memory that, Yeah, that’s the show where they always confess on the stand. It was one of those behemoth shows that just ran for years.

Perry Mason begins in Los Angeles in 1931.What was the most fun about filming in that time period? The clothes always got me. I’ve always had this kind of thing for the ‘30s, I guess. It’s a period of Hollywood that is so romantic and glamorous. It was this incredible moment in L.A.’s history when the entire country was on its knees due to the Depression, and L.A. was flourishing because the one thing that did well was entertainment. People wanted to escape reality, so movies really took off. And

really treasure from my upbringing is the freedom that place allowed me, and the innocence. And in Wales the performing arts are revered—and I would say, even forced upon children.Three times a year, you compete in these cultural events where you perform, you sing, you dance; from an early age, everyone does it. It’s only at 18, when I said,“I’m gonna do it professionally,”that people were like, “No no no, it’s a hobby! You don’t have to do it professionally!”And then the wheels came off.

So was that intimidating to be up for such an iconic part? My agent left a message saying, “You want to remake Perry Mason?”I was like Remake Perry Mason?! No one should remake Perry Mason! And then I understood it was more a reimagining of the show. And when I heard the backstory they were going to give him, I was intrigued. It was a very different Mason. I saw it as the building of an antihero.The darker, the more fallible, the more human; the more life problems he has, hopefully the more interesting.

walking onto those sets and seeing...HBO, God bless them, has never done things by half, so you’d walk onto a set with four hundred extras and just feel like you were stepping back in time.

A lot of people don’t realize you’re not American.You were born in Cardiff,Wales.What do you most appreciate about how you grew up? We used to roam around like packs of feral children on bikes.We would ride to canals and play on canal locks. It was everything we were told not to do, and it’s a wonder none of us died! What I

Did your path to Hollywood go the way you imagined it or much differently? To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what the path was. I was doing a play at the Royal Court and an American agent came to see it before I went to New Zealand to do a job. He said,“On the way back, I’ll set you up with some auditions, see how you do.”So I literally stopped off in L.A. on the way back, and he got me this audition with Julie Taymor for her first movie, Titus, with Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. I was 24 and I got the part, and I was like Hollywood’s great! You turn up and get huge movies with huge movie stars. It’s brilliant! And then the next 10 years I couldn’t catch a cold. I worked in theater in London and as a busboy in a kitchen, and I would come back to L.A. every year for pilot season, and I didn’t get anything! I thought, I’m not gonna do this anymore.This is a joke. And then on my last pilot season I got Brothers & Sisters for ABC.

You played Kevin Walker on Brothers & Sisters for five seasons (2006-2011). What are your favorite memories from working on that show? Oh God, it was such a learning curve for me. I remember walking in and seeing Sally Field, and just going [high-pitched] Ah! kind of Oh, there she is! It was a powerhouse, with Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths; then Rob Lowe joined us, Beau Bridges.

It was humbling. But I learned so much from Sally, just drilling all of us: “It’s all about the work, and if it’s not, then there’s no point being here.”Dave Annable, who played my younger brother, and myself were playing a scene one evening, and [Sally] just stopped and she said,“I will smash your heads together if you don’t start focusing.”We were like “Oh…oh right, yeah.”She’s a consummate professional.

PIECES RHYS’

BOOK YOU’RE READING Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt

Vonnegut

SHOW YOU’RE BINGEING Slow Horses with Gary Oldman. It’s brilliant.

FAVORITE TIME OF DAY Sunset! I just love the end of the day. It’s like, O.K., everything’s done, there’s no more work emails, the day is done. So now we just kind of relax.

NICKNAME GROWING UP Bic. I cut myself so badly with a Bic razor that for a short period of time, I was called Bic. I was like 12, but there was nothing to shave!

BEEN GOOGLING LATELY I don’t know why I’m telling you this, because Keri doesn’t know. If she knows, she’ll kill me. But there’s no heating [in my shed] and it’s been incredibly cold here in New York, so today I was Googling a kerosene heater—which, in a wooden shed, is probably a terrible idea! Now Googling, “How likely is the shed to combust if I use a kerosene heater?”

Your next role as Philip Jennings on the ‘80s spy thriller The Americans earned you an Emmy in 2018. As you look back,what do you think really made the show such a hit with viewers and critics alike? That the whole spy element took a back seat.What it hung its coat on was that it was a show about marriage; about two people struggling to make something work.The spy premise is titillating and exhilarating, but really it was the backdrop to what that story was about: a marriage story about real life in heightened situations.

You use an American accent in so much of your work. Did you have any secret tricks

LISTENING TO The last album I listened to is Rum, Sodomy & the Lash by The Pogues. ROLE YOU’D LOVE TO PLAY There’s a Welsh Braveheart story I have been trying to get made. His name was Owain Glyndŵr; my father was named after him. He was kind of the last Welsh prince who led the rebellion against England in the 16th century. You know, big, epic sword number. I’ve been knocking on doors for years, going, “Please can we make it?”

FAVORITE WINE Either a Pomerol or a Saint-Émilion from Bordeaux. There’s a Pomerol called Château de Sales which I drink far too much of.

JOB YOU’D ENJOY AS MUCH AS ACTING Cowboy. When I lived in L.A., I became friendly with a professional rodeo cowboy. I grew up riding horses and I had my own horses when I was in L.A. I used to keep them in Gri�th Park, so I’d ride every day and I’ve spent time on ranches and just loved it.

PROJECT YOU’D JOIN FORCES WITH KERI AGAIN FOR Do you remember HART TO HART? Because they’re all coming back now. They’re remaking everything!

COMPARED TO PERRY MASON, HOW GOOD AN ATTORNEY YOU’D BE I would be terrible! I would be appalling. My admiration for what they do is tenfold. They have to be, like, eight steps ahead of the game and react to what is going on in real time. The preparation they do for those cases is just enormous. I would not be TOM CRUISE in A FEW GOOD MEN.

OWN TOO MANY... POCKETKNIVES. I used to love whittling and I started when I was a kid. I used to whittle sticks and nothingness, really. At home, in Cardi�, there’s boxes. My mother still goes, “What am I doing with these?! I probably have a hundred.” I have a hundred.”

GADGET YOU USE THE MOST

Is a co�ee grinder a gadget? I also have a LEATHERMAN MULTI-TOOL I use all the time. I understand why the pocketknife evolved. You need more! It’s usually �xing kids’ things, like “This is broken, this this tiny crack ”

Margo Martindale, left, costarred wth Russell and Rhys in The Americans

that helped? The greatest secret trick is American television.We grew up watching Starsky & Hutch, The A-Team, Airwolf,Westerns, that you go out as a kid and try and emulate those accents in the school yard.That sound is in your ear from a very early age. And then you just do the bread and butter work of vocal coaching. And CDs—remember those?—CDs in the car, you know, one thing the L.A. traffic allows you is hours of listening to your vocal coach on a CD.

Is there still an American word that’s hard for you? I still struggle with the “r” to a dark “l”—so “world”is hard. And “murder.”I was like,“I’m signing up to do Perry Mason and I struggle saying “murderer!”I’m always badgering the writers, saying,“Can we call them ‘killers’ or ‘killer?’And they’re like “No, he’s a murderer!”

You also gained a partner from The Americans in your costar Keri Russell, who you’d met years earlier.What finally won her over? Oh God, that’ll be a question for her! I’d met her 10 years earlier and she didn’t remember me, so I clearly didn’t make that much of an impression! I do remember lying about what I liked to read, because she was a big reader: “I love books, too, I love books…”Keri found out, consequently, I know nothing about books. I would just read the Idiot’s Guides to whatever she was reading.

Had you ever seen her on Felicity? What did you think? When we started filming The Americans, the crew would always joke to her about Felicity. Like, when she used to beat people up, the crew would joke “Oh my god, Felicity just beat the sh-- out of that guy!”I then watched it retrospectively and I couldn’t believe the size of her hair! I thought, Was that done in CGI or was that your real hair? People would come up to us and

PLAY ROLE

THE AMERICANS

Rhys has been nominated four times for a Lead Actor in a Drama series Emmy; once for PERRY MASON and three times for his role as spy Philip Jennings in THE AMERICANS (2013-2018). He won in 2018. He was journalist Lloyd Vogel to Tom Hanks’ Mr. Rogers in the based-ona-true story A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (2019). He played the Pentagon Papers-leaking activist Daniel Ellsberg in THE POST (2017) and Mr. Darcy in the TV miniseries, DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY (2013). His �rst big TV role was as Kevin Walker in BROTHERS & SISTERS (2006-2011), alongside Sally Field, Rob Lowe, Rachel Gri�ths and Calista Flockhart.

THE POST

BROTHERS & SISTERS

DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

What makes you and Keri a good match? There’s usually that thing where you need one person to be the calm head—that’s her. And then I’m the kind of fiery one.We balance each other, I think.We work well as a team; we have a good partnership and we make each other laugh.

say,“I can’t believe you cut your hair in Felicity,”and I used to go, What’s that about? Then when I saw her hair, I was like I understand!

Do the kids seem to have the acting bug—and if so, how do you feel about it? Disaster. Sam and Willa talk about,“Yeah, we’ll just do acting.”And I go,“Yeah, why don’t you just do that? Let’s see how you deal with the rejection—years of it!”But yeah, they definitely have a leaning towards it.They enjoy it, they’re performative and it’s kind of fun. As soon as they get older, I’ll make sure they don’t follow their dreams.

You seem to have a number of hobbies.You starred on the The Wine Show, you love wine. And you bought a wooden boat… The boat, dear God! I bought it five years ago and I still go, What was I thinking? It was an old wooden boat built in Brooklyn, the same class of boat that Hemingway had, and she was called,“Rarebit.”Do you know the Welsh dish? I was like, Oh, this is fated, it’s meant to be! I mean, it’s basically my full-time hobby now.When it’s not on the water, you’re fixing it. Everyone says “Do it! Do it!”They don’t think you’ll do it. And then you go, Oh my god what was I…I wasn’t thinking. Anyway, it’s just become a giant…thing.

What is your happy place? As much as I joke about the boat, when I am on the boat is when I’m happiest.When I’m tinkering and puttering around and fixing the little stuff, I’m happy. Or in my new shed. I’m very lucky to have a very tiny shed in the backyard full of tools to fix the boat. The greatest thing it does is offer solitude in a house that’s more and more like an asylum every day.

What’s next for you personally and professionally? We’re going to take the kids to Mexico for spring break.There’s nothing on the professional horizon. If anything, just to put an icing on the cake, what I would love to do is a play in New York.That would be my dream next step. It’s what I started out doing, and it’s something I’d like to return to.

And though you’re far from Cardiff now, do you keep any Welsh traditions close to your heart? I only speak to our six-year-old son, Sam, in Welsh and he’ll answer me in English. But really, the main thing is St. David’s Day, which is what we call “Welsh St. Paddy’s Day,”the patron saint’s day of Wales. Keri very kindly cooks me my favorite Welsh dish, which is a rack of lamb with leeks, and I make the kids wear daffodils, which is the national flower of Wales. And I usually will get misty-eyed and tell them tales of the old country.

Perry Mason returns to HBO on March 6 Want more Parade? Go to Parade.com/newsletters for daily stories.

OSCARS ON PARADE!

We celebrate some of this year ’ s Academy Award nominees who’ve appeared on our covers, and take a look back at the Oscars over the years

BY ANNE KRUEGER

BRENDAN FRASER

JULY 30, 2000

BEST ACTOR NOMINEE THE WHALE

After studying acting at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, “ my father thought I might get a job as a weathercaster at the local television station. That’s how good he thought I was, ” Fraser, 31, told Parade “I just happened to have higher standards ” After a bit part in Dogfight (1991), a movie with River Phoenix, Fraser started earning attention-getting parts, from School Ties (1992) and George of the Jungle (1997) to Gods and Monsters (1998) and The Mummy (1999) “I know how lucky I am, ” he said. “As a young man, I prayed for success Now I pray just to be worthy of it ”

COLIN FARRELL

OCT 17, 2004

ANGELA BASSETT

FEB. 17, 2002

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS NOMINEE

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER

“Don’t settle for average ” That’s the advice her mother gave her that she’ll never forget, Bassett, 43, told Parade Born in Harlem and raised in near poverty by that single mother, Bassett earned a Best Actress nomination in 1994 for playing Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It and had shone in Waiting to Exhale (1995) and How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998) Up next was The Rosa Parks Story (2002). “I decided I would like the honor of playing this woman, ” she said “Mrs Rosa Parks came along at a time when police were beating our heads in with clubs, releasing dogs and turning hoses on us She didn’t let it stop her ”

JAMIE LEE CURTIS

OCT. 29, 1989

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS NOMINEE EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

“I was a ham as a baby,” the 31-year-old daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, told Parade “It was fairly obvious that I would do something in the arts ” And that she did, on Halloween, Trading Places, Perfect and A Fish Called Wanda. On the cusp of a new TV sitcom (Anything But Love; 198992), Curtis was happy for the TV work that gave her time to be with her daughter, Annie, who was 3. “I’m a housewife, a mother, a friend, a daughter and an actress I have a lot of roles and I think I play them all fairly well.”

Love costume design? Go to Parade.com/best-oscars-fashions for 70 years of Oscar-winning costumes

BEST ACTOR NOMINEE | THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

In “A Wild Lad Chases Happiness,” Farrell, who was 28, spoke with Parade about his upcoming starring role in the film Alexander (a 2004 bomb) and his childhood years outside of Dublin where he struggled to find himself “I went from drifting moment to moment to finding a place where I belonged,” he said about studying acting at Dublin’s Gaiety School. “I take acting very seriously Everything you ever lived or breathed or you heard or read about other people’s lives exists in every role you do You become a thief of souls ”

1958 Parade hired a handicapper to calculate the odds of winning an Oscar. And they were right with their predictions of Best Picture for The Bridge on the River Kwai, Best Actor for Alec Guinness for that movie and Joanne Woodward for Best Actress for The Three Faces of Eve

1980 Another A+ for Parade’ s ability to predict Oscar winners: Kramer vs. Kramer for Best Picture, with Dustin Hoffman for Best Actor and Meryl Streep for Best Supporting Actress for that same movie. Sally Field won Best Actress for Norma Rae and Melvyn Douglas Best Supporting Actor for Being There

1982 Parade’ s headline—Will Today’s Old-Timers Win Tomorrow’s Oscar? can be answered in one word: Yes! Henry Fonda (76) and Katharine Hepburn (74) won best acting awards for On Golden Pond, which won Best Picture Supporting acting awards went to Maureen Stapleton (56) for Reds and Sir John Gielgud (77) for playing the kindly butler in Arthur The “ younger ” non-winners included Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda and Warren Beatty.

1983 Times had changed in Oscar world

since the olden days when studios could control who won Oscars by organizing voting blocs, Parade reported. Still, a lot of wining and dining of voters went on behind the scenes, writer Lloyd Shearer said Luckily, this year ’ s nominees were all deserving and his predictions for winners held up: Ben Kingsley for Ghandi, Meryl Streep for Sophie’s Choice, Jessica Lange for Tootsie and Louis Gossett, Jr. for An Officer and a Gentleman.

2006 The upset of this year ’ s Academy Awards was the Best Picture winner. Brokeback Mountain was expected to win, but Crash won instead, even befuddling presenter Jack Nicholson. Ang Lee did win Best Director for Brokeback Mountain, and Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) and George Clooney (Syriana) won as expected

2007 Cover girl Abigail Breslin was 10 when she got nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Little Miss Sunshine She picked out a $10,000 necklace to wear to the Academy Awards but she didn’t go home with the Oscar. Jennifer Hudson did, for Dreamgirls

2011 Young Hailee Steinfeld, our 14-year-old cover girl, was in awe of meeting the cast from The Social Network (Andrew Garfield! Jesse Eisenberg!) at some pre-Oscar events. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Coen brothers’ True Grit She lost to Melissa Leo (The Fighter) The King’s Speech won Best Picture.

2012 If The Artist wins tonight, Parade reported, it will be the only silent film other than 1927’s Wings to be awarded Best Picture, and the first black-andwhite movie since 1993’s Schindler’s List (Purists note that The Artist had a few moments of sound and Schindler’s List had a few spots of color ) The Artist did win, as did its lead actor, Jean Dujardin Other winners: Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Octavia Spencer (The Help)

2013 Hiring Seth MacFarlane, creator of The Family Guy and voice of Ted, to host was a risk Did it pay off for the Academy? Critical ratings were low but viewership in the 18-30 crowd went up 20 percent over the year before, when Billy Crystal was the host Argo took home Best Picture

Ask Marilyn

BY B Y M A R I LY N V O S S A V A N T MARILYN VOS SAVANT

Everyone is concerned about carbon dioxide emissions and how they may be driving climate change. Of course, we hear much about the burning of fossil fuels causing the problem. Yet humans (and all other animals, for that matter) emit CO2 into the atmosphere 24 hours a day, seven days a week until they die. How much are the billions of people now living on the earth contributing to the problem just by being alive?

—Regis

Miller, Madison, Wisconsin

The standard counter to the argument that humans are contributing significantly to climate change (merely by breathing alone) goes like this: As part of the carbon cycle, plants intake carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis. Meanwhile, carbon is stored in their tissues, such as fruit, leaves and roots. This is considered the base of the food chain. Humans eat the plants and breathe out the carbon dioxide. So we are simply moving the carbon dioxide from one place to another and thus contribute no extra emissions.

But what if the human population were half the size? Wouldn’t we be eating half that much plant food and breathing out half the amount of carbon dioxide? It would seem so. Of course, the process is more complicated than outlined above, but the point remains the same.

Regardless, if we’re going to blame humans (and ignore all the natural forces at work), why stop at breathing? Aren’t we the ones whose actions are wreaking all the havoc in the world, anyway?

CLASSIC ASK MARILYN

MARILYN’S NUMBER TEASER

In honor of Casablanca turning 81 this year, here’s an oldie from Oct. 26, 1997:

As Humphrey Bogart escorts you to your plane, he says sardonically, “We don’t add up to a hill of beans in this crazy world.” If that hill included one pound of every commercial variety of common beans, how much would you not add up to?

WORD PROBLEM

June 3, 2007

What’s so unusual about this sentence:

Was it a car or a cat I saw?

—Arthur Sweeney, Billerica, Mass.

Ask Marilyn

BY MARILYN VOS SAVANT

SOL U TIONS

That answer is that the sentence—Was it a car or a cat I saw?—is a palindrome. It reads the same forward and backward.

MARILYN’S NUMBER TEASER

You wouldn’t add up to 400 pounds. There are about 400 named commercial varieties of beans. [This was true in 1997 when this teaser was �rst published and still seems to be accurate.]

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