Guilty pleasures
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John Krasinski named People magazine’s 2024 Sexiest Man Alive
LOS ANGELES | Let the office debates begin — John Krasinski is People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2024.
The magazine announced the actor-writer-director as its pick Tuesday night during “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
Krasinski starred in “The Office” before launching the “Quiet Place” franchise and leading the action series “Jack Ryan.” He joked in an interview with the magazine that he’s hoping his wife, fellow actor Emily Blunt, makes good on a promise to plaster the cover as wallpaper at their home.
He takes the mantle from last year’s honoree, Patrick Dempsey.
Krasinski, 45, told People that his immediate reaction to the honor was “just immediate blackout, actually. Zero thoughts.” He added that he thought he might be getting pranked.
He burst to fame playing the floppy-haired, lanky Jim on the U.S. version of the mockumentary “The Office,” and transitioned into the clean-cut, muscular action star on Amazon’s “Jack Ryan,” playing the Tom Clancy character previously portrayed by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck on the big screen. He also co-wrote, directed and starred in “A Quiet Place,” which has grown into a three-film franchise, and created the short-lived but immensely popular pandemic-era webseries “Some Good News.”
Earlier this year, he debuted his sixth directorial effort, “IF,” a film about imaginary friends that also featured Blunt.
The couple have two daughters together.
Krasinski told People in the issue that’s on newsstands on Friday that the honor is likely to result in more than just jokes at home.
“I think it’s going to make me do more household chores,” he quipped.
Now in its 40th year, the first Sexiest Man Alive was Mel Gibson. Other past recipients include Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John F. Kennedy Jr., David Beckham, Michael B. Jordan, John Legend, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Rudd and Pierce Brosnan.
Timothy West, acclaimed British actor dies aged 90
LONDON | British actor Timothy West, who played the classic Shakespeare roles of King Lear and Macbeth and who in recent years along with his wife, Prunella Scales, enchanted millions of people with their boating exploits on Britain’s waterways, has died, He was 90.
In a statement Wednesday, his children said that West died “peacefully” in his sleep “with his friends and family at the end.”
“After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening,” his children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph said.
During his long career, West was a regular presence on stage and screen, his versatility allowing him to play a broad range of characters. He excelled as a leading actor in numerous Shakespeare productions, including playing Falstaff in a 1996 production of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV” opposite his son Samuel, who played Prince Hal. Other notable performances include his portrayal of Claudius in a 1977 production of “Hamlet,” in which Derek Jacobi played the titular role.
An array of credits on stage and screen, including short stints in British television’s two most popular soap operas, “Coronation Street” and “Eastenders,” kept him in the public eye in later life.
“Timothy West was an icon of British drama, and at the BBC we feel incredibly privileged that he was on our screens across the decades,” said Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama.
West, who was born in the north England city of Bradford, made his London stage debut in 1959, before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s, where he earned his acting chops.
On television, he had roles in adaptations of Charles Dickens’ novels, including “Bleak House” and “Hard Times,” the latter which was parodied in ITV’s “Brass” from 1982 to 1990, in which West played a ruthless self-made businessman.
He clearly had the look, as well as the depth, to play Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill three times, first in 1979’s “From Churchill and the Generals”, then in “The Last Bastion” five years later and finally in “Hiroshima” in 1995.
West, who was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1984 for his services to drama, was married for 61 years to actress Prunella Scales, who is most famous for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the classic 1970s BBC comedy “Fawlty Towers.”
The couple had two sons, actor Samuel and Joseph. West was also married to actor Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961, and they had a daughter, Juliet West.
Their long romance was showcased over ten seasons of Channel 4’s “Great Canal Journeys,” when both were mainly in their 80s. The program, which ostensibly was a love letter to narrowboats and of the British countryside, was widely praised for the way it honestly depicted Scales’ slow deterioration with dementia.
The Carers Trust, which provides help and support to those caring for their loved ones, praised West for being a “devoted carer” for his wife, who is 92.
The Canal & River Trust, which cares for the 2,000 miles of waterways in the U.K., praised West for inspiring countless people to get out there and enjoy the country’s water network.
“He was a dedicated supporter and a compelling advocate for boating who will be sadly missed,” the charity’s chief executive Richard Parry said.
Thailand’s baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng now has an official song
BANGKOK | In case you can’t get enough of the little pygmy hippo Moo Deng from Thailand, there’s now an official song featuring the internet’s favorite baby animal — released in four languages for her global fans.
The upbeat 50-second song “Moodeng Moodeng,” available in Thai, English, Chinese and Japanese versions, features simple lyrics like “Moo Deng Moo Deng, boing boing boing/ Mommy mommy, play with me.” Its music video consists of short clips of the baby hippo bouncing, playing with her keeper or hanging out with her mom Jona.
The catchy number was produced and written by well-known Thai composer Mueanphet Ammara, and released by one of Thailand’s largest music companies, GMM Music.
Moo Deng — the name literally means “bouncy pork,” a type of meatball, in Thai — became a global phenomenon just a month after she was unveiled on Facebook by the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand’s southern Chon Buri province.
Fans say her name compliments her chaotic personality. Moo Deng likes to “deng,” or bounce, and her giddy bouncing has appeared all over social media in countless memes. Her image has been used by sports teams and businesses.
The hippo, now four months old, has drawn a huge amount of visitors to the zoo, which is around two-hour drive away from the capital Bangkok. The zoo estimated it has received 3,000 to 5,000 visitors a day on average in the past few months, and it’s selling clothes, bedding and other merchandise based on Moo Deng.
Zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi has said the increasing income from Moo Deng will help its breeding programs for many endangered species like the pygmy hippopotamus, which is threatened by poaching and loss of habitat. The species is native to West Africa and there are only 2,000-3,000 of them left in the wild.
The zoo sits on 800 hectares (almost 2,000 acres) of land and is home to more than 2,000 animals.
All four versions of the Moo Deng song is available on YouTube and streaming platforms including Spotify and Apple Music.
—From AP reports
