Alison Brie plays wide-eyed ingenue Amber in the new dark comedy Spin Me Round, which parodies the classic adult novel formula.

Amber works for an Italian food chain and is selected to fly to Italy for a “luxurious” immersion program, but things spiral into chaos when she catches the eye of the hunky CEO Nick, played by Alessandro Nivola.

Amber is swept into Nick’s fancy world and, up until the very end, she misses all the ominous red flags signaling his perverted ulterior motives. His sordid fantasies are finally revealed when Amber is asked to participate in a massive orgy.

So, what was it like to film the X-rated scene?

“I did not mentally prepare myself — and it was jarring!” Brie told ABC Audio. “It’s funny when you write a scene like that, so you know what’s coming.”  

She added of when she saw the live set for the first time, “That was certainly a new one for me.”

Dirtiness aside, in addition to Spin Me Round flipping common adult novel tropes on their head, Brie revealed the movie was partially inspired by real-life events. 

She said director Jeff Baena came up with the movie after reading an article about an “Italian food chain in America that sends their managers to an exemplary managers program in Italy to experience food, wine and culture” — but the trip turns out being a week spent “living in dorm style housing … learning how to make a Bolognese.”

“I think we just thought there’s something really inherently funny about thinking that you’re going on a really exotic European adventure, only to find this sort of lackluster, still very Americanized experience,” the actress added. 

Spin Me Round — also starring Molly Shannon, Tim Heidecker and Aubrey Plaza — is now streaming on AMC+.

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13: The Musical is streaming now on Netflix and the movie’s stars, Debra Messing, Josh Peck and Rhea Perlman, spoke to ABC Audio about what makes this movie so special.

The film stars Eli Golden as Evan, a New Yorker who moves to Indiana following his parents’ divorce. He’s determined to make his bar mitzvah the talk of the town, fearing he’ll become a social pariah if it fails.

The film expands on the Broadway musical 13, which only starred kids. The roles Messing, Peck and Perlman play were written specifically for this movie.

Peck stars as Rabbi, a role he says is “redefining” the rabbi trope by putting a “millennial spin” on it.

“Usually we imagine these older, stately fellows with long beards, sort of musing and stoic,” he noted of his “cool” character, who guides Evan on his journey to adulthood. “We’re pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone to accept [that] our preconceived notions aren’t always right about people.”

Aside from challenging stereotypes, Messing understands how “tricky” it is to adapt a Broadway musical into a movie that will satisfy its original fans. Despite the “little changes” that were made to the script, Messing is “fully confident” it’ll live up to their expectations.

Added Golden, “It’s hard to not smile while you’re watching it.”

Perlman noted the magic of the musical is its young cast: “They’re everything in the movie.” The legendary actress said 13: The Musical is nothing short of “remarkable” in terms of its cast, songs and dance numbers. 

Perlman, who stars as Grandma Ruth, joked the role was “natural” to her because “I’ve been a grandmother since before I was 40!” — a reference to the character Carla she played on Cheers. 

13: The Musical is streaming now on Netflix.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

13: The Musical is streaming now on Netflix and the movie’s stars, Debra Messing, Josh Peck and Rhea Perlman, spoke to ABC Audio about what makes this movie so special.

The film stars Eli Golden as Evan, a New Yorker who moves to Indiana following his parents’ divorce. He’s determined to make his bar mitzvah the talk of the town, fearing he’ll become a social pariah if it fails.

The film expands on the Broadway musical 13, which only starred kids. The roles Messing, Peck and Perlman play were written specifically for this movie.

Peck stars as Rabbi, a role he says is “redefining” the rabbi trope by putting a “millennial spin” on it.

“Usually we imagine these older, stately fellows with long beards, sort of musing and stoic,” he noted of his “cool” character, who guides Evan on his journey to adulthood. “We’re pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone to accept [that] our preconceived notions aren’t always right about people.”

Aside from challenging stereotypes, Messing understands how “tricky” it is to adapt a Broadway musical into a movie that will satisfy its original fans. Despite the “little changes” that were made to the script, Messing is “fully confident” it’ll live up to their expectations.

Added Golden, “It’s hard to not smile while you’re watching it.”

Perlman noted the magic of the musical is its young cast: “They’re everything in the movie.” The legendary actress said 13: The Musical is nothing short of “remarkable” in terms of its cast, songs and dance numbers. 

Perlman, who stars as Grandma Ruth, joked the role was “natural” to her because “I’ve been a grandmother since before I was 40!” — a reference to the character Carla she played on Cheers. 

13: The Musical is streaming now on Netflix.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Selena Gomez is about to add another exciting project to her expansive resume: she’s reviving the beloved 1980s movie Working Girl.

Deadline reports the recording artist, actress, and producer is in final negotiations with 20th Century to produce the reboot, as she is pictured as the “perfect partner for the project.” The movie is predicted to premiere on Hulu, which is already home to Selena’s other project — the Emmy-nominated Only Murders in the Building.

Ilana Peña, whose past works include Diary of a Future President and Angry Ex-Girlfriend, is currently working on the script.

Not much else is known about the forthcoming revival, but it seems Hollywood is clamoring to reboot beloved titles from the ’80s and ’90s thanks to the massive success of Tom Cruise‘s Top Gun: Maverick.

Working Girl hit theaters in 1988 and starred Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver. Griffith starred as Tess, a receptionist whose savvy business idea is stolen by her boss, Katharine — played by Weaver. After Katharine suffers a major accident, Tess exacts revenge by masquerading as her boss and initiating a deal with Jack, an investment broker.

The movie was nominated for six Academy Awards — including Best Actress for Griffith and Best Supporting Actress for Weaver and Joan Cusack. The film won Best Original Song for Carly Simon‘s anthemic theme “Let the River Run.”

An exact date for when fans can see the Working Girl reboot has yet to be announced.

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Joshua Bassett knows why people adore High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and it has everything to do with the cast.

“It’s the people and the relationships and the characters,” Bassett, who plays Ricky, told ABC Audio. “You can have the craziest storylines. You can have the best writers on the planet. But if the chemistry isn’t right… Then it doesn’t work.”

“You can feel the love we have for each other that comes through the screen. You can feel the heart that this show has,” the 21-year-old actor continued. “And it’s doing a lot of brave things!  I think people are drawn to it because we’re pushing the envelope for Disney.”

Adds Matt Cornett, who plays E.J., “Everybody can relate to this show, no matter where you come from or how old you are… I think it’s awesome that kids get to see more of themselves on screen!”

Dara Reneé, who returns as Kourtney, agrees representation is a major bonus of the beloved series, but she says the driving force is how the cast gels together. She said she knew the show was going places when she sat down for the first table read.

“I just knew that I had something special when I got to meet everybody. People like Sophia [Wylie] and Olivia [Rodrigo] — everybody just opened my heart,” she raved. “I was so grateful.”

Wylie, who stars as Gina, says the cast’s strong bond does shine through the screen. “We all flowed with one another,” she explained. “It makes every day on set really fun.” 

“We’re, like, The Real Housewives of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series without the drama,” Reneé laughed. 

Season three is now streaming on Disney+.

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The new season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series premieres July 27 on Disney+, which sees the return of Disney Channel vets Corbin Bleu and Jason Earles.

Speaking to ABC Audio, the two said it was a no-brainer for them to be part of the beloved series. “It’s very smartly done,” noted Bleu, who plays himself this season. Earles, who will play camp commander Dewey Wood, added, “It’s the most animated show on television.”

Both actors also heaped praise on the show’s “incredibly talented and hardworking” young cast for teaching them some valuable lessons.

“I learned to … find it in myself the organic love of performance,” said Bleu, who admits to being “such a perfectionist.” He said the young actors helped him step away from that mentality.

“They just grab a guitar [and] start singing. They’re just dancing. That love of performance as a form of expression is such a great reminder of what it can do,” the Broadway star said. Bleu added the young cast helped him perform “in a way that that I don’t think I’ve actually ever done before,” which “did a number on me.” 

“They’re very free. They’re very uninhibited,” Earles agreed.  “It almost inspires you to throw your inhibitions out the window.” Earles also shouted out one star in particular.

“One actor that consistently just blew my mind no matter what they were doing in a scene was Sofia Wylie,” the Hannah Montana alum said as Bleu nodded along. “She’s our youngest cast member, and she would make these choices that made my head explode … and I would be moved to tears at her performance.”

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season 3 premieres Wednesday, July 27, on Disney+.

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Zombies 3 sings and dances its way onto the Disney+ streaming service this Friday, and its main stars say this installation is both satisfying and supernatural.

Milo Manheim, who plays the zombie Zed, tells ABC Audio the movie not only picks up right where Zombies 2 left off — with aliens landing in their hometown of Seabrook — it drastically ups the ante. “It becomes otherworldly this time,” he teased.

Much like the theme of the previous two installments, with the humans of Seabrook learning to live life with another species, Manheim added of Zombies 3, “We’re still exploring those themes of acceptance, but there’s just a little twist on this one.”

“We realized that it’s important to have conflict because conflict leads to conversation, which leads to progress and growth,” he continued. 

Aside from the “important message” of learning acceptance, Meg Donnelly, who plays the human cheerleader Addison, notes there’s plenty of entertaining numbers that’ll get the audience moving. “There’s so many amazing dance number songs,” she gushed.

This third and final chapter will also finally solve the mystery of Addison’s brilliant white hair, which began glowing at the end of the second movie. Donnelly said fans will be “really, really happy” to learn the truth, hinting, “It’s very satisfying.”

“Addison finds where she belongs,” Manheim added of the “impactful” reveal. “That’s been a theme throughout the whole franchise … She finds out who she is in this movie.”

Donnelly noted this is a welcome arc for her character because she’s spent the past two films accepting others for who they are. “I really look up to her. She’s such an amazing role model for young kids,” she grinned. “I can only hope to be as good as a person as she is.” 

Zombies 3 arrives on Disney+ this Friday, July 15.  

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