In Greenroom Confidential, reporters and editors at TODAY.com share a look at what actors, authors, performers and more guests shared behind the scenes at TODAY.
Even though summer doesn’t officially begin for another week, things were definitely heating up in Studio 1A. From Bryan Cranston and Orlando Bloom to Leighton Meester and Christina Hendricks, the summer season kicked off with a variety of guests. TODAY.com got plenty of updates on some of their latest and most memorable projects. Read all about it right here.
Greg Kinnear Imagines an Alternate ‘Sabrina’ Ending
Veteran actor Greg Kinnear stopped by Studio 1A to talk about his latest role as a fire chief in the crime thriller “Smoke,” a new series dropping on Apple TV+ on June 27. Also starring Taron Egerton, Jurnee Smollett and John Leguizamo, the show tracks a pair of arsonists wreaking havoc in a small, Pacific Northwest town.
Based on a true story, Kinnear told TODAY.com that like a fire, the series starts small and gets bigger. “It’s a hell of a story and it’s a hell of a great cast of actors and everybody has a lot going on in terms of their journey,” he said.
Of course, TODAY.com couldn’t resist asking about “Sabrina,” the romantic comedy he starred in back in 1995. “That was my first film,” recalled Kinnear.
“Sydney Pollack put me in it to play Harrison Ford’s younger brother … no pressure,” he laughed.
Ford naturally ends up with the girl, but according to Kinnear, his character, playboy David Larrabee, should’ve gotten her instead.
“I definitely think they should have ended up together,” he said, jokingly. “I think it would’ve ended in a quick annulment, but it would’ve been a wonderful four days before she realized, ‘What the hell have I done?’ So, good for her.”
Mamie Gummer on the ‘Trauma’ of Inherited Wealth in ‘We Were Liars’
Mamie Gummer joined the TODAY co-hosts on Tuesday and chatted about working with her mother, Meryl Streep, in the 2015 movie “Ricki and the Flash,” as well as her on-screen debut as a toddler in the 1986 movie “Heartburn,” which also stars Streep.
While she didn’t rule out joining the Oscar winner once again in some kind of “family affair” project down the road, Gummer had plenty to say about her current role as Carrie Sinclair in “We Were Liars.”
The new Prime Video series is a thriller, revolving around a wealthy family with plenty of hidden secrets. Based on the bestselling novel by E. Lockhart, Gummer sat down with TODAY.com to talk about why shows that reveal the dark underbelly of extreme wealth (think “Succession”) are currently having a moment.
“It’s sort of a dismantling of that kind of aspirational wealth and about the inherited trauma that comes with inherited wealth, specifically,” she said.
“It’s a little like, ‘Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it,'” she continued.
Gummer also said that family drama is something just about everyone can relate to. “When I go home, my family gets together, (and) you kind of tend to regress into an adolescent state or you’re more petulant, not your best selves,” she said with a laugh.
Gerard Butler on Reprising a Familiar Role in a ‘Whole New World’
Fifteen years after lending his voice to “How to Train Your Dragon,” Gerard Butler is reprising his role in the story for the 2025 live action adaptation, which hit theaters June 13. In both films, Butler plays Stoick the Vast, chieftain of a Viking village and father to teenage Hiccup struggling to find his place.
When it comes to reaching fans of the original film and kids encountering this story for the first time, Butler told TODAY.com with the live action format, “we had a chance to make things richer, more nuanced, to maybe push the drama a little more.”
He credited the film’s effects with creating “a whole new world everybody had to be entranced by.”
“It felt like people who knew the animated, who love the animated, I think we were all richly confident that they would go inside, and within five minutes, they’re not thinking about the animated movie,” he added. “This just sucks you in, and it becomes its own story in its own world.”
Christina Hendricks Appears on TODAY in a Dress She Designed
Just a few days before “The Buccaneers” returns for Season 2, Christina Hendricks stopped by Studio 1A to preview what’s ahead for the romantic, historical romp.
While appearing on TODAY, Hendricks wore a patterned V-neck dress, with slightly puffed sleeves and floral decorations. After her interview, Hendricks revealed to TODAY.com the dress is part of her upcoming collaboration with Joanie Clothing.
“I did a capsule line of 12 dresses that I designed, and to wear it on (TODAY) is — I’m going to get teary-eyed — it’s like a dream come true,” she said. “It’ll be out in the fall.”
Set in the 1870s, “The Buccaneers,” based on the unfinished novel by Edith Wharton, follows a group of American girls who travel to London for marriage prospects. Hendricks plays Patti St. George, mother to Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse) and Nan (Kristine Froseth).
Season 2 will pick up at the same moment where Season 1, which premiered in 2023, left off: at Nan’s wedding to Theo, the Duke of Tintagel.
“Patti’s still at the wedding because we pick up in the exact same moment,” Hendricks said, adding that her character’s time back in New York, without her two daughters, is set to be rocky.
“New York isn’t a welcoming place for Patti right now because she makes this big announcement at the end of Season 1 that she’s going to proceed with a divorce,” she said. “We really dive into the divorce trial this year.”
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