A 30-year-old woman who feels like she’s in the body of a 70-year old — and then magically, she is! That’s the premise of the new body-switching comedy Mack & Rita, in theaters now, starring Diane Keaton, Elizabeth Lail and Taylour Paige.

Lail plays the younger woman, Mack, who works in social media, though she tells ABC Audio she has a love-hate relationship with the digital world, admitting that she deletes it off of her phone “pretty constantly.”

“There’s like the artist inside that doesn’t want to participate in that way, that doesn’t want to be a part of commercialism specifically,” she explains. “But you do want to make movies and you want to be seen and you want to be a part of big things.”

Likewise, Paige, who plays Mack’s best friend — the two of them young women caught up in chasing clout on social media for work and for fun — has been rethinking her online presence.

“Sadly…we all live and breathe like this thing called capitalism and brands and studios…So yeah, it’s fine to be like, look at this guy that I’m looking at. But like at the end of the day, they’re like, ‘But, can we sell our face wash or would she wear the bag?'”

Director Katie Aselton agrees, adding, “No one’s posting pictures for their friends and to share where they’re at, what they’re doing…it’s really, I think, turning into more of like a promotional tool.”

She adds, “The world sort of tries to shoehorn us into a mold that isn’t necessarily meant for us. And it is our job and our journey and our struggle to sort of break out of that and really find who we are and let that person shine.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

It’s time to hit the field once again with the Rockford Peaches!

The movie A League of Their Own is now a TV series, debuting Friday on Prime Video, starring D’Arcy Carden and Melanie Field as 1940s women who just want to play ball.

Fans of the 1992 film are sure to be fans of series as well, according to Carden, who tells ABC Audio the series was able to “kiss the movie.”

“We’re doing our own thing. But there’s a lot of, I always think of it as like little kisses to the movie. And winks,” she says. 

One nice thing about the series is that there is more time to explore the storylines.  

“Like so much of the league was queer. There was such a vibrant Black baseball, and really amazing pitchers like Toni Stone, Mamie Johnson, Connie Morgan, who played in the Negro Leagues,” Destra Tedros Reff, one of the writers and Executive Producers of the show, explains. “And the movie, just to tell a sports of sports movie about females at the time was sort of revolutionary. And so this, it’s really the opportunity we have right now to really step deeper into the story.”

While the series does make nods to the film, it’s not a copy. 

“The world doesn’t need this movie again. The movie’s so good,” Will Graham, another one of the writers and Executive Producers, says. “What we wanted to do was really take that platform and widen the lens and just tell a deeper range of stories but with the humor and heart and flawed characters and the comedy that Penny (Marshall) and the cast brought to this story.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The new movie Luck is all about, well, Luck!

The Apple TV+ film hits the streamer Friday, and Jane Fonda stars as a dragon who is one of the creatures who controls all the luck in the world. While the premise seems simple enough, Fonda tells ABC Audio the film has a strong message. 

“Good luck makes no sense without bad luck. The two, in a way, go together symbiotically, they’re the opposite sides of the same coin,” she explains.  “Don’t reject bad luck. You can learn from it. It can turn into good luck if you’re willing to learn the lessons from it.”

Fonda adds, “You know, there’s a there’s an expression that I love – God doesn’t come into us through our successes and our awards…God comes into us through our wounds.”

So can you actually control your own luck?

“I think that if during your lifetime you are intentional about the way you live that you are creating your own luck,” the Academy Award winner shares, adding that wisdom doesn’t come from experiences alone, but from reflecting on those experiences.

Whoopi Goldberg also lends her voice to the film as a character who works at the place in the universe where all the luck is made and distributed. She believes luck isn’t permanently good or bad, it ebbs and flows.

“I think we sometimes just assume things are going to continue on the way that they are. You know, whether it’s bad or good. And you find yourself going, is the moon in retrograde? Is this ever going to get better? And then suddenly you wake up and you think, wait a minute, this is a pretty good day. Hey, this is all right. You know, and you live in that for a while.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The pandemic era love story Alone Together has officially hit theaters.

Written, directed by, and staring Katie Holmes, it follows June, a food critic who leaves New York City to quarantine during the pandemic, and she finds love in an unexpected place.

It’s Holmes’ first feature film wearing all three hats and shared some of her influences for the project, telling ABC Audio, “Well, I love this the style of filmmaking of John Cassavetes, of like Woman Under the Influence and Shadows – some of those scenes were just all improve.”

“And then like just the idea of that, you know, finding, not being afraid to improv something, finding moments,” she adds. “And then specifically is like Manhattan, Annie Hall, When Harry Met Sally, things like, you know, a lot of Diane Keaton.” 

Holmes also shared that one of her goals in making Alone Together was to “create a time capsule story.”

“You know, like for all of us, to remember those little things that we were all doing to cope with what was happening in the world,” the actress explained. 

“I also wanted to create a love story with hope and the idea of this disaster as our backdrop, but a disaster that we all experienced and where, you know, two people kind of or do make the best of it and really do have something beautiful come out of it.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The new Disney+ docuseries Light and Magic debuts Wednesday, taking you inside the creation of Industrial Light and Magic, or ILM, the special effects company founded by George Lucas to make Star Wars, which has become the industry leader.

It’s directed by Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark writer Lawrence Kasdan, who tells ABC Audio he wanted to focus less of the effects and more on finding the answer to questions like “Who are the people in ILM? Where did they come from?” and “When did they decide this is what they wanted to do?”  

He adds, “There was no such thing really, when George first assembled them in 1976…so they discovered this sort of dreamland for them, because so many of them, as you see in the show, started when they were eight years old making these effects movies in their backyard and in their garage.” 

Not only did the film business benefit from ILM, but the daily lives of many people too, with Kasdan noting, “In the case of John Knoll, you know, he created a whole world with Photoshop.”

Recalling what it was like at the start of ILM, Oscar winner and Senior Visual Effects Supervisor and Creative Director of ILM Dennis Muren says, “There was no protective environment, like you stay out of here, this is my department. So it was a great literally spirit of the 60’s coming together.”

There’s a quote in the series where someone says despite what people might assume, Lucas isn’t the most technically savvy guy but Muren doesn’t “give a hoot about that.” “

“You know, life is shorter. And I think it’s important to do what you love,” he says. “I’m sure he knows how to use a cell phone and a computer to a certain extent.” 

Star Wars is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Terminal List, out now on Prime Video, stars Chris Pratt, as a Navy SEAL whose colleague is ambushed while on a mission.

Constance Wu also stars in the series, playing journalist Katie Buranek. She tells ABC Audio the show takes audiences on a journey and is far from predictable. 

“It’s not a static story,” Wu shares. “…There’s a lot of twists and turns and things you don’t expect.”

“You just have so many questions and there’s so much mystery and every time you get a different clue, you’re like, whoa, it like blows your mind,” she explains. “I think that Jack Carr and the writers of the scripts for Terminal List did a really great job of really making it unexpected because that’s what makes it fun.”

The script wasn’t the only thing that made working on the series fun. Jeanne Tripplehorn, who portrays Secretary of Defense Lorraine Hartley in the action-thriller, dished that Pratt liked to joke around on set. 

“When we’re in a scene, he knows he’s not joking around…But he definitely has a light spirit and keeps the atmosphere…doesn’t get too heavy,” she says.

LaMonica Garrett, whom audiences will know as Commander Cox in the series, shared a similar sentiment about their costar, stating that Pratt maintained the same excitement from beginning to end. 

“It was a long, hard shoot, long days, long nights. And I was there from the first day to the end,” she recalls. “But the last day of working, he still had that same enthusiasm, the same energy and the same kind of zest for coming to set. And everyone involved with that from the cast, the crew, the crafty, everyone, you know, it just makes the days better. But he keeps that same enthusiasm.” 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Terminal List, out now on Prime Video, stars Chris Pratt, as a Navy SEAL whose colleague is ambushed while on a mission.

Constance Wu also stars in the series, playing journalist Katie Buranek. She tells ABC Audio the show takes audiences on a journey and is far from predictable. 

“It’s not a static story,” Wu shares. “…There’s a lot of twists and turns and things you don’t expect.”

“You just have so many questions and there’s so much mystery and every time you get a different clue, you’re like, whoa, it like blows your mind,” she explains. “I think that Jack Carr and the writers of the scripts for Terminal List did a really great job of really making it unexpected because that’s what makes it fun.”

The script wasn’t the only thing that made working on the series fun. Jeanne Tripplehorn, who portrays Secretary of Defense Lorraine Hartley in the action-thriller, dished that Pratt liked to joke around on set. 

“When we’re in a scene, he knows he’s not joking around…But he definitely has a light spirit and keeps the atmosphere…doesn’t get too heavy,” she says.

LaMonica Garrett, whom audiences will know as Commander Cox in the series, shared a similar sentiment about their costar, stating that Pratt maintained the same excitement from beginning to end. 

“It was a long, hard shoot, long days, long nights. And I was there from the first day to the end,” she recalls. “But the last day of working, he still had that same enthusiasm, the same energy and the same kind of zest for coming to set. And everyone involved with that from the cast, the crew, the crafty, everyone, you know, it just makes the days better. But he keeps that same enthusiasm.” 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The new Chris Pratt drama The Terminal List, debuting Friday on Prime Video, is intense — a drama about a Navy SEAL who loses his unit, his family is being threatened, and he’s not sure who he can trust. 

Not only is the series intense, so was making it, with Pratt telling ABC Audio, “It was intense. It’s a surprise. Hopefully it’ll be unlike anything anyone has ever seen me do.”

Those intense moments were punctuated with moments of levity, though, because that’s what Navy SEALS do.

“They’re cracking jokes. They’re saying inappropriate [things] in the middle of combat…surrounded by destruction and death and uncertainty,” Pratt explains. “They’re still checking in with each other by being funny.” 

The Terminal List is based on the bestselling book from Jack Carr. Carr, a former Navy SEAL himself, says he wrote it with Pratt in mind and “he crushed it.”

“I got to see that transformation in Parks and Rec to playing a steel operator in Zero Dark 30. So that’s what initially kind of cued me off,” Carr shares, adding that this was before Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World, and Avengers. “I thought Chris Pratt is the only person to bring this to life.”

As for what to expect — expect the unexpected.

“I think Chris called it early on tradecraft set against paranoia, and it was that tone that makes it very different than other conspiracy thrillers or military thrillers that you’ve seen before,” showrunner Dave DiGilio teases. “There’s a lot more layers to this show.”

And, if you thought the show might not seem relatable, the themes certainly are, according to director Antoine Fuqua.

“Empathy, love, revenge, justice. There’s certain things that don’t change,” Fuqua says. “That’s the thing that we all relate to.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

They’re back, to solve another murder! Only Murders in the Building returns Tuesday on Hulu for season 2, with stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez on the case again. 

Last season ended with the Arconia Board president being murdered, and Martin tells ABC Audio that’s exactly where things pick up. 

“We’re set on solving the crime that ended last season,” he shares. “But one of the biggest changes is, you know, in terms of story is now that our podcast has hit big, we’re all three getting a little bit of notoriety that we didn’t have before.”

“So we will walk down the street and maybe get noticed by people. And we have to set about solving a crime while being kind of famous. Not really famous. Just kind of famous. Like we are now,” Martin laughs. 

More specifically, the season begins with the trio’s characters being interrogated by police. So, who would be the first to flip on the others in real life?

“Me!” Gomez quickly admits, before Martin calls out Short.

“I think Marty would sell us out at a second,” he says — and Short doesn’t deny it.

“I think definitely I would in one second, to survive in one second,” he says. “But I think before I could get the words out, Selena would have sold us out.”

Despite the first season being a huge hit, Short reveals he didn’t feel a lot of pressure going into season two because “a sequel is actually easier because you now know the characters.”

“Well, you have to understand one thing, Marty has never done a second season,” Martin teases, to which Short rebuttals with their movie Father of the Bride 2.

“Oh, that’s true,” Martin acknowledges, “But I’m talking about television.”

“Oh, touché,” Short responds.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.