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 TODAY’s 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 ‘America’s Sweethearts’ Season 2
The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders gave TODAY fans a glimpse into their legendary “Thunderstruck” 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 “America’s Sweethearts.”
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 “with the world. It’s a very real time for us.”
Nothing about the latest episodes “shocked” the two DCC, they say, but Mclean notes that she didn’t expect to hear such emotional stories from her teammates.
“Honestly, it’s just more tears,” she says of watching Season 2. “I think that I wasn’t expecting a lot of people’s stories that — even our own personal teammates — that we hear them speaking their stories, and it touches us because we weren’t there to hear them talk about it.”
Weaver agrees, adding that it was “special” for her to “hear what other people’s experience was, how they’ve come to this dream and how they got here.”
Charlize Theron Details Intense Training for Sword Fighting in ‘The Old Guard 2’
In “The Old Guard 2,” Charlize Theron stars in the action-packed thriller, fighting alongside the sequel’s 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 “night and day different.”
“I mean, personally, I like to do, like, an hour four times a week, but this is a real commitment,” she says. “You have to be very consistent and show up every day.”
Theron says she would typically train for three to four hours per session “of everything.”
“Working with swords and figuring out fights — we wanted to really elevate the fight scenes,” she continues. “So 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.”
“And nobody got hurt,” she adds.
20 Years After ‘Pride & Prejudice,’ Rupert Friend Reflects on Why Beloved Film Still Resonates
The beloved early aughts rendition of “Pride & Prejudice” 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, “Jurassic World Rebirth,” Friend took a moment with TODAY.com to consider why “Pride & Prejudice” resonates with such a loyal audience years later.
“I think it’s Jane Austen,” he says. “She’s one of the greatest writers. She wrote a story for the ages, and the characters are complicated, and you get into the story, but they’re not straightforward, and I think it all comes from that book.”
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 “Jurassic World” movie: the filming locations.
“We went to some of the most beautiful country houses in the United Kingdom. So, it was like a history tour,” he says. “My 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.”
Luna Blaise on the Challenge of Shooting the ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ Water Scenes
The latest installment in the “Jurassic Park” franchise drops Wednesday, July 2 and, like its predecessors, “Jurassic World: Rebirth” 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 “Jaws.”
TODAY.com sat down with Luna Blaise, who plays Teresa Delgado in the new movie, and asked about filming one of the film’s biggest action sequences, which takes place on a boat.
“Filming on water is a challenge to begin with. You’re at the mercy of Mother Nature, it’s not even up to you. So, you’re just rolling with punches in that way, especially filming the water sequences,” 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.
“It 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,” Blaise says.
“It 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.”
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