In Greenroom Confidential, reporters and editors at TODAY.com share a look at what actors, authors, performers and more guests told us behind the scenes at TODAY.
Plenty of celebs came through TODAYโs Orange Room on their way to Studio 1A, including the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, Charlize Theron, Luna Blaise and many more. Discover some of the best moments right here.
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Reece Weaver and Jada Mclean Give First Reactions to โAmericaโs Sweetheartsโ Season 2
The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders gave TODAY fans a glimpse into their legendary โThunderstruckโ performance right here on the Rockefeller Center plaza at 8 a.m.!
Just before they headed out, DCC members Jada Mclean and Reece Weaver chatted backstage with TODAY.com about the highly anticipated Season 2 of โAmericaโs Sweethearts.โ
Despite starring in the Netflix docuseries, Mclean says the cheerleaders were given a look at the first two episodes just a week before the new season’s premiere June 18. The remaining five episodes they watched โwith the world. Itโs a very real time for us.โ
Nothing about the latest episodes โshockedโ the two DCC, they say, but Mclean notes that she didnโt expect to hear such emotional stories from her teammates.
โHonestly, itโs just more tears,โ she says of watching Season 2. โI think that I wasnโt expecting a lot of peopleโs stories that โ even our own personal teammates โ that we hear them speaking their stories, and it touches us because we werenโt there to hear them talk about it.โ
Weaver agrees, adding that it was โspecialโ for her to โhear what other peopleโs experience was, how theyโve come to this dream and how they got here.โ
Charlize Theron Details Intense Training for Sword Fighting in โThe Old Guard 2โ
In โThe Old Guard 2,โ Charlize Theron stars in the action-packed thriller, fighting alongside the sequelโs villain, played by Uma Thurman.
When asked about how training for impressive stunts in the film compared to her everyday workouts, Theron laughs, telling TODAY.com that her preparation was โnight and day different.โ
โI mean, personally, I like to do, like, an hour four times a week, but this is a real commitment,โ she says. โYou have to be very consistent and show up every day.โ
Theron says she would typically train for three to four hours per session โof everything.โ
โWorking with swords and figuring out fights โ we wanted to really elevate the fight scenes,โ she continues. โSo we wanted to be able to play 7 to 8 seconds, 10 seconds without a cut. And to do that, you have to really, really get it down perfectly, otherwise people get hurt.”
โAnd nobody got hurt,โ she adds.
20 Years After โPride & Prejudice,โ Rupert Friend Reflects on Why Beloved Film Still Resonates
The beloved early aughts rendition of โPride & Prejudiceโ aired Nov. 11, 2005. Nearly 20 years later, Rupert Friend is taking a walk down memory lane.
While in Studio 1A on June 23 to promote his new film, โJurassic World Rebirth,โ Friend took a moment with TODAY.com to consider why โPride & Prejudiceโ resonates with such a loyal audience years later.
โI think itโs Jane Austen,โ he says. โSheโs one of the greatest writers. She wrote a story for the ages, and the characters are complicated, and you get into the story, but theyโre not straightforward, and I think it all comes from that book.โ
Austen’s still-relevant novel was published in 1813, over 200 years ago. Friend portrayed her character George Wickham in the 2005 movie.
When asked about his favorite aspect of playing Mr. Wickham, Friend says the same reason he loved filming the new โJurassic Worldโ movie: the filming locations.
โWe went to some of the most beautiful country houses in the United Kingdom. So, it was like a history tour,โ he says. โMy father is an art historian, so I was sort of brought up, I guess, loving that kind of world. And so to get to do it for a job was great.โ
Luna Blaise on the Challenge of Shooting the โJurassic World: Rebirthโ Water Scenes
The latest installment in the โJurassic Parkโ franchise drops Wednesday, July 2 and, like its predecessors, โJurassic World: Rebirthโ is an action-packed adventure with plenty of prehistoric jumpscares.
No spoilers here, but eagle-eyed fans are sure to notice the many nods to executive producer Steven Spielberg, including to his legendary blockbuster โJaws.โ
TODAY.com sat down with Luna Blaise, who plays Teresa Delgado in the new movie, and asked about filming one of the filmโs biggest action sequences, which takes place on a boat.
โFilming on water is a challenge to begin with. Youโre at the mercy of Mother Nature, itโs not even up to you. So, youโre just rolling with punches in that way, especially filming the water sequences,โ Blaise explains.
Even so, the newest addition to the Jurassic family says she enjoyed traveling to the various locations to shoot the movie, which included Thailand and Malta.
โIt was just so fun. (Being) given the gift of filming in these real locations and being able to just be even more in the story instead of being on a soundstage,โ Blaise says.
โIt adds so much more realism to the movie and not only just to the film, but to us as actors. Being able to be in the environment, it adds so much more. It was amazing.โ