Entertainment
10 Most Perfect Miniseries of the Last 30 Years
Every streaming service on Earth has figured out that if you call something a “limited series,” audiences will actually finish it. Fair enough. But the form is harder than it looks. You can’t hide a weak middle act behind the promise of a better season to come, and you can’t pad a four-hour idea into ten without people noticing.
The shows on this list understood the assignment, whether that meant condensing a Russian tome into six hours, turning a game of chess into appointment television, or making you deeply afraid of a nuclear reactor you already know exploded. They picked a story, told it, and left before anyone could demand they stay.
10
‘War & Peace’ (2016)
Andrew Davies adapted Tolstoy’s 1,200-page novel into six episodes for BBC One which, on paper, is an absurd proposition. Paul Dano, Lily James, and James Norton anchor the three families at the story’s center, moving through ballrooms and battlefields in a production that somehow cost a fraction of what it looks like it did. The scope is enormous, the costuming is gorgeous, and Davies’ script makes the Napoleonic-era social politics surprisingly easy to follow, even if you skipped your mandatory reading in college.
The story follows three aristocratic households through Napoleon’s wars — Dano’s Pierre, a wealthy bumbler searching for meaning; Norton’s Prince Andrei, a disillusioned soldier; and James’ Natasha, the young woman who complicates both their lives. Davies keeps the love triangles, the carnage, and the philosophical detours all moving at the same clip, so you’re never stuck in one place long enough to get restless. And the show does something most prestige adaptations fumble: it actually ends. Six episodes to tell one of the longest novels in Western literature without feeling rushed or truncated? It’s a small-screen miracle.
9
‘Midnight Mass’ (2021)
Mike Flanagan‘s seven-episode Netflix series is set on Crockett Island, a dying fishing community that gets a jolt of new energy when a charismatic young priest — Hamish Linklater, giving the performance of his life — arrives to fill in for the aging monsignor. Strange things start happening at the parish. People are getting healthier. The island’s faith is surging. And Flanagan, who built his reputation on haunted-house stories, is interested in something harder to pin down than a jump scare.
Midnight Mass asks its audience to sit through monologues. Long ones. Characters talk about their relationship to God, death, and addiction, all while supernatural stirrings happen in the background. That’s a heavy gamble that would sink a lesser series, but Flanagan writes dialogue that makes every word feel alive, almost antsy. And the ensemble — Zach Gilford, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli — commits fully. The final two episodes are wild, and the fact that it wraps in seven hours means Flanagan never has to dilute the dread.
8
‘Generation Kill’ (2008)
David Simon and Ed Burns followed up The Wire by adapting Rolling Stone reporter Evan Wright‘s account of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and they brought the same institutional skepticism with them. The seven-episode HBO series follows First Recon Marines through the early weeks of the war, and it’s less interested in heroics than in the grinding bureaucracy of combat. Orders contradict each other and officers with no field instincts make calls that endanger their own men.
The cast was almost entirely unknown at the time, and everything feels so lived-in that it’s easy to forget you’re watching actors and not a documentary crew’s footage. Generation Kill never became a cultural phenomenon the way Band of Brothers did, partly because it refused to give its audience a clean emotional arc. The war it depicts is chaotic, stupid even, and the series lets that marinate without trying to resolve it into meaning. Almost two decades on, it might be the most honest war story American television has produced.
7
‘Angels in America’ (2003)
Tony Kushner adapted his own Pulitzer-winning play into six episodes for HBO, directed by Mike Nichols with a cast that borders on ridiculous. We’re talking Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Jeffrey Wright, Mary-Louise Parker, and Emma Thompson. Set in 1985 New York during the Reagan era and the AIDS crisis, the story follows Prior Walter (Justin Kirk), a man visited by an angel after his diagnosis, alongside the closeted lawyer Roy Cohn (Pacino, absolutely unhinged and loving every second of it) and a tangle of relationships fracturing under political and personal pressure. It’s a big, unwieldy, sometimes operatic piece of television, and it knows it.
Kushner’s script shifts between realism, hallucination, and full-on magical surrealism without warning, and Nichols lets the actors match that energy. The whole thing could easily tip into prestige-TV self-importance, but Kushner keeps it grounded, and the show is unexpectedly funny. Angels in America is twenty-plus years old now and still feels like it’s ahead of a lot of what’s on television right now.
6
‘The Queen’s Gambit’ (2020)
There is no good reason a show about chess should have become one of Netflix’s biggest cultural events, but Scott Frank’s seven-episode adaptation of Walter Tevis‘ 1983 novel turned the game into the most watchable sport on television for about three weeks in the fall of 2020. Anya Taylor-Joy plays Beth Harmon, an orphan and chess prodigy with a pill dependency and a preternatural ability to visualize the board. The show makes her rise through the chess world feel thrilling, which, logically, shouldn’t be given that most of the action involves two people staring at a table.
The production design does a lot of heavy lifting here. Beth’s costumes evolve with her confidence, the period details are meticulous without being fussy, and the tournament sequences are shot with the pacing of a sports movie. But the reason The Queen’s Gambit became the kind of show your mom texted you about is Taylor-Joy, who makes Beth’s loneliness and brilliance feel specific rather than archetypal. If you don’t know what a Sicilian Defense is now, just wait seven episodes. You will.
5
‘Adolescence’ (2025)
Stephen Graham co-created and stars in this four-episode Netflix series about a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a classmate, and the family left trying to understand what happened. Each episode of Adolescence is filmed in a single continuous take. That sounds like a gimmick until you realize how much it changes the viewing experience, locking you in with no cut to relieve the tension, no scene transition to give you a breath. The camera follows characters through police stations, schools, and homes in real time, and the effect is suffocating in a way the show clearly intends.
The brevity is doing real work here too; there’s no B-plot about a detective’s home life, no episode devoted to backstory that could have been a flashback. Graham is devastating as the dad, and the young cast is shockingly good, but the structural discipline is what elevates this above the standard true-crime-adjacent limited series. It asks one question and follows it all the way down the rabbit hole without flinching.
4
‘Station Eleven’ (2021–2022)
Patrick Somerville adapted Emily St. John Mandel‘s novel into ten episodes for HBO Max, and the result is one of the most unlikely pandemic-era successes in recent memory. The story spans decades, following a handful of loosely connected characters before, during, and after a flu wipes out most of civilization. A traveling Shakespeare troupe, a vengeful prophet, a child actor, an air traffic controller who becomes a kind of accidental community leader. On paper, it sounds scattered. On screen, every thread pulls toward the same emotional center.
Station Eleven refuses to be bleak about the end of the world, and that’s the whole trick. There’s grief everywhere in this show, real and specific grief, but the overall effect is somehow warm, almost comforting. The performances from Mackenzie Davis, Himesh Patel, and especially the young Matilda Lawler are wonderful, and the non-linear structure rewards patience. Ten episodes is long for this list, but Station Eleven uses every one of them effectively.
3
‘Watchmen’ (2019)
The usual move with a beloved comic is to adapt it faithfully and hope nobody gets mad. Damon Lindelof went the other way entirely. His nine-episode HBO series translating Alan Moore‘s source material isn’t a retelling. Instead, Watchmen is set decades after the original story, in an alternate-history Tulsa where cops wear masks, squid falls from the sky, and a blue god has relocated to Mars.
Regina King anchors this weird reality as Angela Abar, a detective whose family history turns out to be tangled up in the original Watchmen mythology in ways the show takes its time revealing. The surrounding cast is stacked with names like Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Hong Chau, Jeremy Irons, and Jean Smart, and Lindelof gives each of them room to do something genuinely surprising. What separates Watchmen from the pile of superhero IP cluttering every platform is that it has a real argument. The show is interested in how America confronts its own history of racial violence, who gets to wear a mask and why, and what happens when the people in power decide vigilantism is fine as long as it’s state-sanctioned. Those are big, unwieldy ideas, and Lindelof doesn’t always land them cleanly, but the swings are so ambitious that the near-misses are more interesting than most shows’ bull’s-eyes.
2
‘Band of Brothers’ (2001)
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg produced this ten-episode HBO adaptation of Stephen Ambrose‘s nonfiction account of Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, from training through the end of World War II in Europe. The cast is staggering in retrospect: Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Fassbender, Tom Hardy, Simon Pegg, James McAvoy, all of them relatively unknown at the time. Each episode focuses on a different phase of the war and shifts perspective to a different soldier, giving the series an almost anthology-like structure within a continuous narrative.
25 years later, Band of Brothers remains the high mark for the war miniseries as a form. It cost a fortune (reportedly $125 million in 2001 dollars), it looks like it cost more, and the emotional payoff of that final episode, when the real veterans appear on-screen, is devastating no matter how many times you’ve seen it.
1
‘Chernobyl’ (2019)
HBO’s five-episode reconstruction of the 1986 nuclear disaster works because Craig Mazin, against all odds, figured out how to make bureaucracy feel like a ticking clock. The reactor has already exploded when the show begins, so the question isn’t whether things will go wrong, it’s how many people the Soviet government will sacrifice to avoid admitting they already have. Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgård play the scientist and the party official forced into an uneasy alliance to contain the damage, and Emily Watson rounds out the leads as a composite character representing the researchers who refused to let the official story stand. The three of them carry the show with a kind of grim, worn-down intensity that never feels put on.
There’s a sequence involving the “liquidators” — the men sent onto the reactor roof to clear radioactive graphite in 90-second shifts — that is as tense as anything we’ve seen on TV. Mazin’s script is meticulous about the science without ever making you feel like you’re being lectured, and the five-episode runtime means there isn’t a single scene that exists just to fill space. Chernobyl trusts its audience to sit with the discomfort of history book horrors made real by never diluting the human ignorance and complicity that combined to create a tragedy.
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Called an “unrivaled cinematic spectacle” in Joe Schmidt‘s review for Collider, and earning near-perfect scores from both critics and audiences on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Christopher Nolan‘s historical epic The Odysseyhas risen to the huge expectations set by the master of the 21st century blockbuster. After a successful third weekend at the box office, The Odyssey has now hit an enormous $911 million worldwide, and is set to become the third billion-dollar film in Nolan’s catalog, after The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.
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Sunglasses have a way of completing an outfit, and the Nader sisters know a thing or two about pulling out a look. So, we’re not surprised that Brooks, Mary Holland, Grace Ann, and Sarah Jane partnered with Quay to release a sunglasses collection that reflects each of them individually and as a family. You can shop the many styles now starting at $49.
This Made to Be Seen collection offers a range of colors and silhouettes — some new to Quay — so even if you’re a fan of the brand, you’ll find sunglasses you don’t already own. We love that there are familiar neutral colors, like black, tortoise and tonal finishes. But you’ll also find pops of pink and green for when your outfit needs a fun boost.
Get the Quay x Nader Sisters Eyewear Collection starting at $49 at Quay!
When it comes to silhouettes, there are oversized options like Nightfall Remix, No Comment, and Clock It. For more narrow picks, there are smaller styles like Nevermind, Hit Single and Aura Points. We know that it can be tricky to select sunglasses online, but Quay offers a “Try on Virtually” feature, so you can see what you’d look like in a particular pair.
“This collection is really a reflection of who we are individually and together,” said the Nader sisters in Quay materials.
“Each of us has such a different personal style, but sisterhood has always been at the center of everything we do. We wanted these frames to feel fun, confident, versatile and like the perfect finishing touch no matter your vibe.”
Whether you prefer square sunglasses or oval ones, these picks are all about being seen and feeling confident. The new styles are already getting a thumbs up for just how good they look.
“They’re so fashionable, comfortable and durable. They also don’t leave the imprint on your nose when you take them off. They’re so cute, I think I may purchase the brown-colored ones,” one five-star reviewer wrote about the No Comment style.
Quay is an Australian sunglasses brand known for its high-quality yet reasonably priced sunglasses, so you won’t find a single pair above $125 is the Nader sisters’ set.
Get the Quay x Nader Sisters Eyewear Collection starting at $49 at Quay!
Few sci-fi franchises have successfully reinvented themselves as dramatically as this acclaimed military space opera did back in the early 2000s. Reimagining a cult classic that had long divided fans and whose production company was sued by Star Wars‘ 20th Century Fox over alleged similarities, the reboot abandoned the original’s light-hearted space adventure in favor of a darker, post-apocalyptic drama. The result was a groundbreaking series that reshaped audiences’ expectations of sci-fi television through its exploration of religion, artificial intelligence, politics, and humanity’s fight for survival.
From Star Trek veteran Ronald D. Moore, the 95%-rated Battlestar Galactica premiered as a three-hour miniseries on the Sci Fi Channel in December 2003 before expanding into a four-season series that concluded on March 20, 2009. In the years following its dramatic 2009 finale, the genre-defining political drama has bounced between streaming services, making it difficult for new viewers to watch the complete saga in one place. However, now, fans have another opportunity to own the entire series.
According to MovieWeb, Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series returns on Blu-ray from Universal on August 11, 2026. The 21-disc collection includes the complete four-season series along with the original miniseries, totaling 4,171 minutes of content. While this is not a new 4K restoration, the set presents the series in 1080p high definition with its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles.
How Does ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Hold Up?
Starring Edward James Olmos as Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin, Battlestar Galactica follows the last survivors of humanity after the robotic Cylons launch a devastating genocidal attack on the Twelve Colonies. Forced into exile aboard a ragtag fleet led by the older titular ship, apparently the only military capital ship that survived the Cylons’ attack, the survivors set out in search of the mythical Thirteenth Colony: Earth.
Unlike most space operas, Battlestar Galactica features no alien civilizations. Instead, its central conflict revolves around humanity’s war against the Cylons, human-made sentient machines. The series also distinguishes itself with a grounded approach to combat, favoring ballistic weapons, rail guns, and missiles over the energy weapons commonly associated with the genre, like lasers. Beyond its military action, the space opera examines the moral choices survivors must make as they deal with the decline of the human race and their war with the Cylons.
Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series arrives on August 11. Preorder yours here.
- Release Date
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2004 – 2009-00-00
- Directors
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Wayne Rose, Michael Nankin, Rod Hardy, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Edward James Olmos, Robert M. Young, Jeff Woolnough, Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Jonas Pate, Allan Kroeker, Anthony Hemingway, Jean de Segonzac, Marita Grabiak, James Head, Paul A. Edwards, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Brad Turner, Ronald D. Moore, Bill Eagles
- Writers
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Carla Robinson, Michael Taylor, Bradley Thompson, David Weddle, Jane Espenson, Mark Verheiden, Michael Angeli, Anne Cofell Saunders, Jeff Vlaming, Michael Rymer, Dawn Prestwich, Nicole Yorkin, Seamus Kevin Fahey
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Whoopi Goldberg said it best: “I don’t want somebody in my house.”
Following one of the strongest debut seasons in Marvel Animation history, X-Men ’97 faced enormous expectations entering Season 2. Fortunately, the first three episodes prove the series hasn’t lost any momentum, delivering another thrilling blend of superhero action, emotional storytelling, and deep comic book lore.
Rather than easing viewers back into the world of the X-Men, Season 2 immediately picks up after the explosive finale of Season 1. With the team scattered across three different time periods, the opening episodes follow multiple storylines simultaneously while laying the groundwork for Apocalypse‘s rise.
It’s an ambitious approach, but one that largely succeeds.
Episode 1 centers on Cyclops, Jean Grey, and the future timeline, adapting elements from The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix. Their reunion with Nathan, better known as Cable, provides some of the strongest emotional moments of the season so far. The episode reminds viewers that beneath all of the time travel and mutant battles, X-Men ’97 continues to thrive because of its characters.
X-Men 97′ Season 2 [credit: Marvel Animation]
Episode 2 shifts gears with a fun, action-packed adventure featuring Cable, Jubilee, Sunspot, and the formation of a new X-Force. While the episode embraces the over-the-top style of the classic ’90s comics, it also explores the moral differences between Cable’s hardened worldview and Jubilee’s optimism. Their dynamic creates one of the season’s most entertaining character pairings.
The third episode may be the strongest of the bunch, taking audiences thousands of years into the past as Magnetoencounters a young En Sabah Nur, the mutant destined to become Apocalypse. Rather than presenting the iconic villain as a one-dimensional conqueror, the episode explores his origins in a surprisingly thoughtful way. The conversations between Magneto and En Sabah Nur are among the most compelling scenes in the series, adding emotional complexity to a character fans thought they already knew.
Visually, X-Men ’97 remains one of Marvel’s most impressive productions. The animation captures the spirit of the original 1990s series while elevating every action sequence with fluid movement, vibrant colors, and cinematic direction. Whether it’s mutant powers colliding on the battlefield or quieter emotional moments between teammates, every frame feels carefully crafted.
The voice cast also continues to shine, bringing authenticity and heart to these beloved characters. Even with multiple storylines unfolding simultaneously, each episode finds time for meaningful character moments that remind viewers why the X-Men have endured for generations.
The biggest criticism of these opening episodes is pacing. Episode 1 in particular moves through a significant amount of story in a short amount of time, and several of the timelines could have benefited from an extra episode to further develop their characters and emotional beats. It’s less a flaw in storytelling than a reminder that there’s simply so much happening at once.
X-Men 97′ Season 2 [credit: Marvel Animation]
Even so, those concerns do little to diminish what has been an outstanding start to Season 2. Marvel Animation has once again found the perfect balance between nostalgia and fresh storytelling, honoring classic comic arcs while keeping longtime fans guessing about what’s coming next.
Three episodes in, X-Men ’97 is already shaping up to be one of the year’s best animated series. If the remaining episodes maintain this level of quality, Season 2 has every chance of surpassing its already exceptional predecessor.
Verdict
X-Men ’97 wastes no time reminding fans why it became one of Marvel’s biggest success stories. While the opening episodes occasionally move too quickly through their ambitious storylines, the outstanding animation, emotional character work, and faithful adaptation of beloved comic arcs make for an exceptional return. After three episodes, Season 2 is firing on all cylinders.
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Since Mia Thermopolis became a princess 25 years ago, Anne Hathaway has gone on to become the queen of Ithaca.
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You’d think after staring at chic summer clothes all day — and successfully restraining ourselves — we’d be strong enough to resist Zara’s magnetic pull. Well, we’re not. But this time is different; after discovering Amazon’s late-summer selection, we’re ditching our Zara carts (well, for now at least). These summer-to-fall staples are just as polished, and start at only $6!
If you ask Us, you can’t tell the difference between the two elevated styles. These dresses, blouses, pants and more have all the signature signs of the cool-girl label. We’re talking about crisp fabrics, clean lines and billowy silhouettes. Boho and sophisticated, our favorites whisper ‘old money’ from across the room. Scroll on to see the 17 lookalike pieces that’ll make you do a double take!
17 Zara-Style Amazon Pieces — From $6
Zara-Style Dresses
1. Our Favorite: Nothing says ‘put together’ like a striped shirtdress. This midi number is a complete outfit with simple white sneakers and a tote.
2. Runner-Up: Polka dots are everywhere this season, and this mock-neck maxi dress nails the aesthetic.
3. Flattering Find: By balancing loose and structured elements, this button-front midi creates the illusion of an hourglass figure. No shapewear required!
4. Cottagecore Cute: Let this be your sign to snag a trendy gingham-print sundress. This Amazon Essentials find pairs equally well with summer flip-flops and fall booties.
5. Everyday Outfit: Calling comfort connoisseurs! This tank-style midi dress is made with stretchy fabric that truly feels like loungewear.
Jennifer Lawrence sure loves to wear airport-friendly loungewear, but the style can feel more relaxed than put together. At least, that’s what we thought until we saw the actress carrying around a luxe bag style while wearing a tee and sweatpants. The whole travel look appeared elevated and chic, so we went on a hunt […]
Zara-Style Tops
7. Our Favorite: Ruffles, pleats, crochet! This flowy babydoll top looks much more expensive than it is.
8. Runner-Up: This sleeveless sweater, otherwise known as a knit tank top, bridges the gap between warm and brisk weather like a champ.
6. Mock-Neck Maven: Sassy, stunning and secretly airy, this dressy mock-neck blouse checks every box and more.
9. Elevated Tee: Ribbed-knit material takes this comfy tee from casual to polished, so you can wear it with jeans, skirts and dress pants alike.
Zara-Style Pants and Skirts
10. Our Favorite: Silky satin fabric and polka dots come together in one epic skirt. This classy pick is a number one bestseller for a reason.
11. Runner-Up: Wide-leg pants has its merits, but rich moms reach for these straight-leg jeans for a more tailored look. We love that they come in petite sizes, too.
12. Secretly Stretchy: An elasticized back waistband makes these wide-leg dress pants as comfortable as they are professional.
13. Corporate Queen: Something between a skirt and trousers, this office-friendly pick belongs in any workwear rotation. It just dropped and is destined to sell out!
14. Trendy Trousers: When buttons feel like too much, opt for these breezy palazzo pants that deliver all of the style and none of the squeeze.
Zara-Style Cardigans and Layers
15. Our Favorite: Cool nights and chilly mornings call for this cropped utility jacket. It keeps you temperate without adding bulk.
16. Runner-Up: Swap your go-to cardigan for this classy blazer and feel like a CEO without even trying. According to shoppers, the fabric is exceptionally silky.
17. Nearly Half Off: This refined, ultra-lightweight cardigan is essential for grocery runs and in-office days. At only $20, we’re grabbing two colors.
As a fashion writer, this isn’t the first time I’ve covered the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. However, it is the first time my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw these dresses from Reformation, Farm Rio, Treasure & Bond and more marked down to Black Friday-level lows. The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is still going strong with […]
Samantha Morton‘s journey to the top was not smooth sailing!
The actress recently recalled the rough paths she went through from her younger days, with experiences that shaped the strong woman she is today. Her journey, leading up to landing the hit role on “The Odyssey,” has been an experience of a lifetime.
Samantha Morton was not born with a silver spoon, but through hard work, dedication, and experience, she has made a name for herself despite her background.
Morton revealed that her childhood was far from a bed of roses. The actress got candid about her parents’ struggles with different vices, which in turn affected her life as a child. The entertainer’s mother, Pamela, who died in 2017 from lung cancer, struggled with mental health issues.
Her father, Peter, who, on the other hand, passed away last year, battled with alcoholism. The combined effect of her parents’ issues landed Morton in the system. “I went pillar to post with foster families, homeless hostels, sleeping by the bins at the back of the Co-op,” she disclosed.
The state of affairs also had a personal effect on the English actress, shaping how she viewed life. “I have made choices that have always been about survival, because I watched my mum trying to survive and I watched my dad trying to survive,” Morton told The Sunday Times.
The 49-year-old movie star shared that she was described as “resilient” when she was younger, an attribute she gained from her life. To Morton, it was a no-brainer: you had to be resilient “because if you are not, you’re dead.”
The Actress Spent Her Teenage Years Being The Life Of The Party
Over a decade ago, the actress who plays the sorceress Circe in “The Odyssey” got candid about her upbringing, sharing that she lived between her parents’ separate homes until the age of eight, when she was placed as a “ward of court.” Her mom was a factory worker while her dad was a coal miner.
Being a ward of court means that a person is placed under the legal guardianship of the U.K. Court of Protection. Morton shared that she was abused as a child “by various people,” which made her form the view that “violence is irrational.”
The TV personality told The Guardian at the time that she moved between several foster parents and care homes before leaving school at the age of 13 to lead a different lifestyle.
The actress disclosed that she spent most of her early teenage years “raving, taking ecstasy and hallucinogenics with older children and young adults, lawless and lost.”
Morton revealed that she was homeless for almost a year as a young teen. She got by spending nights in bus shelters or at friends’ houses.
Samantha Morton Said Landing Circe In ‘The Odyssey’ Was A ‘Dream Job’
Morton is no newbie to screens and acting, but she has rarely been offered projects on the scale of the 2026 action-fantasy hit. She previously disclosed the surge of emotions she experienced when Christopher Nolan reached out to her about the part. “I got a phone call saying that Sir Christopher Nolan wanted to meet and I actually wept,” she shared.
After landing the role, the English actress decided not to research what Homer scholars have written about Circe over the years, but rather to get into character by living in the moment on set. Morton drew inspiration from the filming location and her Scottish roots.
Another key aspect of her personal life that seeped into the role was her experience with magic. Raised in the English foster-care system, Morton joined a drama group for working-class teens and even spent a summer as a magician’s assistant.
According to the Central Oregon Daily News, she was excited when she learned that Nolan would use practical effects such as puppetry and prosthetics during Circe’s spellbinding sequence. “It’s proper movie magic. It’s all in camera; what you see is real. So this was a dream job for me; I got to do all the things that I love,” Morton explained.
The TV Personality Continues To Work On Her Craft
Morton, in a recent interview with PEOPLE, shared that the opportunity to work with one of Hollywood’s giants changed her life. She praised Nolan for being a master of his craft, adding that even at her age, she feels privileged to learn from him and improve at her job.
“It was incredible, and for Christopher to give me that opportunity; I’m 49, and you don’t know that those roles are ever going to come your way again,” she said, expressing gratitude to the director for giving her the part. The iconic actress also added that the whole experience has become one stamped in her mind, which she would hold on to for the rest of her life.
For Nolan, Morton was not a choice but the choice. It was a classic case of opportunity meeting talent. The Oscar-winning filmmaker previously disclosed that he wanted Morton because of her talents and limitless performance. To ensure she was part of the project, he even built a filming schedule around her availability.
Inside Samantha Morton’s Trail To ‘The Odyssey’
The mom of three joined the Central Junior Television Workshop at 13 and made her first TV appearance in the 1991 series “Soldier Soldier”. She continued acting in a number of television series, such as “Band of Gold,” in which she starred as Tracy Richards from 1995 to 1996, and the miniseries “The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling.”
Morton voiced Ruby on the series “Max and Ruby” for over a decade, from 2002 to 2013, and has starred in several movies. She played the leading role, Iris, in the independent drama “Under the Skin,” which was on the list of British Best Films from 1984 to 2009.
The actress made her directorial debut in 2009 with “The Unloved” and won a BAFTA TV Award. She won a Golden Globe Award in 2008 and has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Having started as a young homeless teenager, Morton has risen to success and now has a net worth of $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has officially cemented its place in the history books.
After a record-breaking opening day, the latest Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures collaboration has delivered an astonishing $355 million domestic opening weekend, making it the second biggest opening weekend of all time, trailing only Avengers: Endgame‘s $357 million debut. Worldwide, the film has already soared to an incredible $927 million, instantly becoming the biggest launch of 2026.
The film’s massive debut is another milestone for Tom Holland, whose fourth solo Spider-Man outing has exceeded even the phenomenal opening of Spider-Man: No Way Home. It also reinforces Spider-Man’s status as one of Hollywood’s most reliable box office franchises during a time when many recent superhero films have struggled to attract audiences.
Credit : Brianna Bryson/WireImage
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Brand New Day picks up after the events of No Way Home, following Peter Parker as he embraces life as a truly anonymous, street-level Spider-Man. The film also stars Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Mando, and Tramell Tillman.
Internationally, the film has proven just as dominant. It earned $572 million overseas, including an impressive $121 million in China, where it posted the country’s biggest superhero opening in years.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day [credit: Marvel Studios]
The historic opening is especially significant given recent questions surrounding the superhero genre’s staying power. While several comic book films have underperformed over the past few years, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has demonstrated that audiences will still turn out in massive numbers when excitement, strong word of mouth, and a beloved character come together.
With overwhelmingly positive audience reactions and one of the strongest starts in cinematic history, the film is now positioned to become one of the highest-grossing movies of all time if it maintains momentum over the coming weeks.
Ethan Slater’s breakup with Ariana Grande will not lead him back to his ex-wife, Lilly Jay, despite recent speculation surrounding their relationship. A source close to Jay has shut down rumors that the former spouses could be heading toward a romantic reconciliation following Slater’s split from his “Wicked” co-star. While Ethan Slater and Lilly Jay remain connected through their child, the insider emphasized that their current relationship is focused entirely on raising their family.
A source close to Jay told TMZ that she and Slater are “absolutely not” getting back together. The insider also denied that Slater is attempting to revive his marriage to the clinical psychologist following the end of his nearly three-year relationship with Grande. Instead, the former couple’s relationship is reportedly “strictly about coparenting.”
Slater and Jay were together for 11 years and married for nearly five before their relationship ended. Their divorce attracted considerable public attention after news of his romance with Grande emerged. The Broadway actor and pop star met while working together on the movie adaptation of “Wicked” in 2022.
Their relationship became public in July 2023, shortly after both stars separated from their respective spouses. Grande had previously been married to real estate agent Dalton Gomez.
Ariana Grande Reportedly Reconciles With Ricky Alvarez
The denial surrounding Slater and Jay comes shortly after reports that Grande has rekindled her romance with former boyfriend Ricky Alvarez.
Grande and Alvarez initially began dating after meeting in 2015, when he was working as a backup dancer during her Honeymoon Tour. Their original relationship lasted approximately one year.
The singer reportedly revealed that they had reconnected by changing lyrics and giving Alvarez affectionate shoutouts during performances of “Thank U, Next” on her current concert tour.
Ariana Grande Has Pushed Back Against Public Scrutiny
Grande’s relationships have remained the subject of intense interest throughout her career, something she directly confronted through her 2024 single “Yes, And?” In the song, the former Nickelodeon star pushed back against strangers commenting on her body and questioning her private relationships.
Grande has repeatedly made it clear that she does not believe the public is entitled to speculate about her appearance, health, or romantic choices simply because she has spent much of her life in the spotlight. That scrutiny intensified following the July 31 release of “Petal” and its accompanying music video.
Although the project generated attention for Grande’s music, some of the online conversation shifted toward her appearance and prompted unsupported speculation about her health. No diagnosis or medical information supporting those theories has been publicly disclosed.
Some social media users made extreme comparisons between Grande and deceased musicians Amy Winehouse and Karen Carpenter.
Meghan McCain joined the discussion on X by comparing the public reaction surrounding Grande to the scrutiny Winehouse received before her death in 2011. Another user shared an image of Carpenter alongside Grande and wrote, “This is singer Karen Carpenter, a month before she DIED of anorexia at only 32 years old.”
Carpenter died in 1983 at age 32 following complications associated with anorexia nervosa. However, comparing Grande’s appearance to Carpenter’s does not establish anything about Grande’s health.
Ariana Grande Plans To Step Away From The Spotlight
As the comments continue, one of Grande’s representatives told PEOPLE that the singer intends to reduce her public presence after completing her “Eternal Sunshine Tour.” Grande’s team framed the decision as a response to years of relentless attention surrounding her appearance and personal life. The “Wicked” star will be “taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour,” her representative said.
“She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny,” the rep added. “This tour has been a beautiful experience for her. She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.”
The statement did not disclose any health diagnosis or indicate that Grande’s planned break was caused by a medical issue.
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