Actor Brian Tyree Henry is talking about his love for villains and how he says there’s always more than meets the eye behind these characters as “Transformers One” is set to be released in theaters on Sept. 20 in the U.S.
Henry voices a young Megatron, also known as D-16. The movie tells the origin story of rivals Megatron and Optimus Prime, who were once friends.
Henry, an Oscar, Emmy and Tony-nominated actor, said he’s been fascinated with villains for most of his life.
“When I was a kid, my parents always got me the villain toys … but I played with them like they were heroes. I always feel like villains are so misunderstood,” he told “CBS Mornings.” “We’re always presenting them to be dark and evil, but they got there some way, like what happened?”
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That’s why taking on the role of young Megatron was important for Henry.
“I wanted to get to the heart of who Megatron was so people would leave the theater and be like, ‘You know what, I actually understand. I feel that. I may be Decepticon now.’”
Henry explained he tried to perceive his character as who he was at that moment in his life, saying viewers meet Megatron and Optimus Prime at what he thought was between the ages of 18 and 20.
“In this movie, you get to actually hear them as their younger selves, which means you get to hear them laugh. You get to hear them joke. You get to hear them have fears and dreams.”
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So when preparing for the role, he thought of himself at 18, when he moved to Atlanta and attended Morehouse College.
“I was just this young, precocious, incredibly hard-headed child that was trying to figure out how to be a man,” he said.
Henry also stars in “The Fire Inside,” which is set to be released in theaters in December. He said for any character he plays, he tries to focus on their heart.
“I’ve been presented a lot of characters that it’s very easy to be the people you wouldn’t invite into your living room or people that you kind of turn your back on,” Henry said. “I feel like every man that I’ve been fortunate enough to play is somebody that we know, and I feel like they deserve to be reflected.”
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“Transformers One” is distributed by Paramount Pictures, which is part of CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global.
Kelsie Hoffman is a push and platform editor on CBS News’ Growth and Engagement team. She previously worked on Hearst Television’s National Desk and as a local TV reporter in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
A Kentucky sheriff has been arrested after fatally shooting a judge in his chambers, police say.
District Judge Kevin Mullins died at the scene after being shot multiple times in the Letcher County Courthouse, Kentucky State Police said.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines, 43, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder.
The shooting happened on Thursday after an argument inside the court, police said, but they have not yet revealed a motive.
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Officials said Mullins, 54, was shot multiple times at around 14:00 local time on Thursday at the court in Whitesburg, Kentucky, a small rural town about 150 miles (240km) south-east of Lexington.
Sheriff Stines was arrested at the scene without incident, Kentucky State Police said. They did not reveal the nature of the argument before the shooting.
According to local newspaper the Mountain Eagle, Sheriff Stines walked into the judge’s outer office and told court employees that he needed to speak alone with Mullins.
The two entered the judge’s chambers, closing the door behind them. Those outside heard gun shots, the newspaper reported.
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Sheriff Stines reportedly walked out with his hands up and surrendered to police. He was handcuffed in the courthouse foyer.
The state attorney general, Russell Coleman, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that his office “will fully investigate and pursue justice”.
Kentucky State Police spokesman Matt Gayheart told a news conference that the town was shocked by the incident
“This community is small in nature, and we’re all shook,” he said.
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Mr Gayheart said that 50 employees were inside the court building when the shooting occurred.
No-one else was hurt. A school in the area was briefly placed on lockdown.
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B VanMeter said he was “shocked by this act of violence”.
Announcing Judge Mullins’ death on social media, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said: “There is far too much violence in this world, and I pray there is a path to a better tomorrow.”
Electric-vehicle makers boosted Hong Kong stocks on Friday, as major indices rose across the board in the wake of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut.
The Hang Seng index rose 1.8 per cent, with Chinese EV companies Xpeng and Geely Auto adding 9 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively.
Japan’s Topix rose 1.5 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi added 1 per cent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4 per cent, led by clinical trial groups Euren Pharmaceuticals and Telix Pharmaceuticals, which gained as much as 6.7 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively.
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On Thursday, the S&P 500 gained 1.7 per cent, hitting a new record after the Fed’s half-point rate cut announcement on Wednesday.
A picture of Scarlett Johansson features on the front of Daily Telegraph as she attends the London premiere of film Transformers One which she stars in. The paper leads on Sir Keir Starmer denying he has lost control of Downing Street “despite civil war breaking out at the centre of his government”. It adds tensions in No 10 and questions over chief of staff Sue Gray’s £170,000 salary threaten to overshadow the Labour Party conference.
A funeral in Lebanon is the main picture on the front of the i newspaper. It reports the Middle East is “steps closer to regional war” as Israel bombs southern Lebanon. Armed group Hezbollah was targeted with pager and walkie-talkie attacks. Elsewhere, it says there is a frantic hunt for the mole who leaked Sue Gray’s salary to the BBC.
The Guardian leads with Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah threatening Israel with “tough retribution and just punishment” in a speech on Thursday. He also threatened to strike Israel “where it expects and where it does not”. Hot To Go! singer Chappel Roan also features on the page, telling the paper: “My whole life has changed”.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been provided with a £10bn budget boost by the Bank of England which is increasing pressure on her to ease spending cuts and tax rises, the Times writes. The paper says Labour MPs are calling for the cash to be used to delay scrapping some pensioners’ winter fuel payments.
“Al Fayed ‘a serial rapist’” headlines the Metro as it reports on the BBC investigation into late billionaire and Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed. The papers reports the BBC’s investigation found more than 20 female ex-employees say Mr Al Fayed sexually assaulted or raped them. The Metro writes the tycoon who was “portrayed as the gregarious father” of Diana’s lover Dodi in Netflix’s The Crown “was a monster”.
“Shop of horrors” headlines the Mirror as it picks up the BBC’s story on Mr Al Fayed. The Mirror says at least 100 women are feared to have been sexually abused by the tycoon. It quotes Gemma, his former personal assistant. Speaking to the BBC about Mr Al Fayed, who she accuses of raping her, she said: “He felt like such a powerful man with so much money.”
The Daily Express pictures RAF veteran Jack Barlow who says he survived atomic bomb tests but now asks if he will survive the winter due to his winter fuel payment being “snatched away”.
The Financial Times says consumer confidence in the UK fell sharply in September, wiping out progress made so far this year. The paper observes it comes despite consumers benefiting from cheaper loans, rising real wages and a decrease in inflation. Elsewhere, it pictures people in Lebanon watching the leader of Hezbollah give a speech in which he vowed revenge on Israel.
Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick has written in the Daily Mail that mass immigration and woke culture have put England’s national identity at risk. He says the ties which bind the nation together are beginning to “fray”. Elsewhere, it reports Mr Starmer is “on the rack” over Ms Gray’s salary and freebies.
The Sun reports Snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan has split from fiancee actress Laila Rouass.
The Daily Star asks “what planet are they on?” It says minister defends “cadger PM’s £100k of freebies” as some pensioners lose the winter fuel payment.
Last week JPMorgan made headlines by announcing it planned to cap its junior bankers’ working week to 80 hours (“High pressure, long days, crushing workloads: why is investment banking like this?”, FT Alphaville, FT.com, September 13).
The media and most western professionals and other workers will see that figure as extraordinarily high — but the small print makes clear that the cap will not apply when junior bankers are working on “live” deals.
The 80-hour working week, it seems, is the routine baseline expectation.
Former investment banker Craig Coben, author of the FT Alphaville piece, outlined the history and factors that make the long-hours culture a seemingly intractable fact of life across the investment banking industry — and other related sectors such as Big Law.
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As investment banking is a bespoke service the work cannot fit into a standard nine-to-five schedule. The question is: does this bespoke service require regular “all-nighters”?
Is this really the most efficient approach? Research shows that working long hours does not improve productivity. Studies document diminishing returns after a certain threshold — typically around 50 hours per week.
Coben also pointed to the mega-salaries junior bankers earn. In the end, there is no such thing as a free lunch in life.
They know what they are getting themselves into. The reality may not be as glamorous as it seems. Assuming an entry salary of £90,000, as indicated in the article, an 80-hour working week for 47 weeks a year — admittedly a very basic calculation — junior bankers would earn a higher hourly rate by doing private tutoring!
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Yes, this is partly down to the nature of the business but it is also a self-perpetuating culture that is blocking efforts to at least mitigate its worst excesses.
Addressing this could, in fact, positively impact productivity as well.
Sonia Falconieri Professor in Corporate Finance, Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), London EC1, UK
“We asked for a thorough investigation,” says Olivia.
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“That’s definitely what they’ve done as it’s been a while now.
“I hope the FA do the right thing.
“It’s important we don’t skim over what happened.”
Regardless of the outcome, the 25-year-old says there’s no way things can stay the same in women’s football.
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“I’d like to think that after what’s happened to my sister, there’s no way there can’t be any change.
“Maddy ultimately lost her life and her spirit to football and it’s important that nobody else goes through that.”
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Before signing with Sheffield United, Maddy previously played for Birmingham, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest
Maddy’s family has launched a foundation in her name to support women and girls in football and hopes to be a voice for them too.
“You can’t bury your head in the sand,” says Olivia.
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“You need to stand up for these girls and stand up for Maddy ultimately as well.
“We just really wanted to find what was missing and give these girls a voice.”
They recently hit a £50,000 milestone, something Olivia says she “never even dreamed of”.
“It made me really proud,” she says.
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“I thought, we could really change the game here and change young girls’ lives.”
‘I’m going to be like Maddy’
Some of the money raised goes towards supporting girls like eight-year-old Neveah, who idolised Maddy.
Neveah’s mum, Beth, tells Newsbeat the love started when she was assigned the same number football shirt.
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“She’d see Maddy play and say, ‘Mum that’s me – I’m number eight, I’m going to be like Maddy’.”
Last year, Neveah was a mascot for Sheffield United and chose to walk out with Maddy, which Beth says helped to “grow her love of football”.
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Neveah would always wear Maddy’s Sheffield United shirt under her kit, her mum Beth says
When Maddy died, Beth says Neveah “took it really hard” and, in December, the foundation offered to pay for her to have new boots – something the family had done for Maddy every Christmas.
Since then it has also sponsored her kit.
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“She was very touched by that,” Beth says.
“We always get in touch with the family because she likes to tell them how many goals she’s scored for Maddy.”
Although Neveah is sometimes the only girl on the pitch, she is generally supported and encouraged in the sport, says Beth.
But she knows that might not always be the case, and that is why the work of the foundation is so important.
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“[Girls] need to know that support is available for them,” she says.
“I just hope Neveah’s journey through football, however long it is, continues to be positive.”
Olivia says her sister was “loved and adored and an inspiration to so many”.
“My main focus with the foundation is to carry that on for as long as I can and to bring her to life for as long as I can as well.”
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There will be a vigil for Maddy later and she will also be remembered at a match between Sheffield United and Derby County – the club Maddy supported – on Saturday.
“She would’ve been there for sure,” Olivia says of her big sister. “With a beaming smile.”
A spokesperson for Sheffield United told Newsbeat they were pleased to mark the anniversary with the match.
“The thoughts of everyone associated with Sheffield United Football Club remain with the Cusack family, as well as Maddy’s friends, colleagues and team-mates,” they added.
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The FA said it would not be appropriate to comment while it was still investigating.
If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this article, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.
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