Well, by now the whole world knows that Bristol Palin is pregnant. In case you live under a rock -- or are less than 25? -- Bristol is the 24-year-old daughter of former Vice Presidential candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Bristol made news six years ago when she had her first baby (also "out of wedlock") at age 18. She subsequently became an abstinence advocate, speaking all over the place about saving yourself for marriage. And publicly apologizing for being a normal sexual human being -- because it's a sin in the eyes of The Lord.

I'm not Christian -- so the abstinence thing is lost on me entirely -- and to be quite frank, I think Sarah Palin is sort of a moron. (I'm working on my compassion. I have my limits.)

So Bristol is pregnant. And here's what she has to say about it:

Palin wrote that she shared the news "sooner than I ever expected due to the constant trolls who have nothing better to talk about." Palin wrote that the pregnancy "has been, and will be, a huge disappointment to my family" and asked for privacy.

"Honestly, I've been trying my hardest to keep my chin up on this one," Palin wrote. "At the end of the day there's nothing I can't do with God by my side, and I know I am fully capable of handling anything that is put in front of me with dignity and grace."

Hold on. It's a "huge disappointment"?

No.

It's a baby. It isn't a disappointment, and neither are you.

This is heartbreaking, for a couple of reasons: 1. She is pre-shaming herself. Fox News didn't even have time to be assholes (which would have given me even more material). 2. Her parents have created a situation where she has to apologize for procreating, like humans do, all the time. Seriously, like daily.

This is inherited shame. It was passed from Sarah to Bristol -- and now to her babies. In the media and everywhere, they will grow up to believe they are a disappointment, a mistake. This is the Palin legacy.

And this is the very reason that abstinence education is a really terrifically horrible idea. When we tell our kids, "Don't have sex because that makes you a sinner, which makes you a horrible person and a disappointment to your whole family and the entire country," we are diminishing their worth. We are setting them up to fail. We are setting them up to feel like a failure, less than, "bad."

Bristol, you are not 'bad'. And I'm not disappointed. You are having a baby. Let's celebrate. I'll knit a hat.

Dear Sarah, If this hurts your feelings, just pause to gaze out the window at the tranquil Russian landscape. That should help.


***
This story by Joni Edelman first appeared at ravishly.com, an alternative news+culture women's website.

More from Ravishly:

5 Things Friday: Parenting Pitfalls
5 Things To Know About Vaginas
5 Things Friday: 5 Kids Edition. A View Inside My Big Family

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We were pretty bored around the midway point last year, but 2015 has given us more than enough to celebrate (and condemn). It's been a wild six months, and pop culture is no exception. Our list of the peaks and troughs ranges from a heroic coming out and a record-smashing TV debut to an embattled comedian who just won't go away and a divorce that leaves our hearts gone, baby, gone.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

NEW YORK -- When Gawker founder Nick Denton treks to St. Petersburg, Florida, to fight a $100 million lawsuit brought by Hulk Hogan, he’ll argue that the wrestler-turned-reality-star’s sex life is a newsworthy subject and that publishing a story and accompanying video clip of the act itself was, as he puts it, “good journalism.”

It’s easy to get bogged down in the salaciousness of the content. But Denton and Gawker’s defense team want jurors to conclude that publishing an edited clip of the 30-minute sex tape falls in line with what journalists do every day: provide verifiable information in response to rumors and reveal contradictions related to a celebrity’s public claims. The wrestler’s sex life was a newsworthy subject, they argue, because Hogan spoke graphically in interviews and books about his prowess and because the existence of the sex tape was covered in the media, complete with grainy screen shots online.

The Gawker-Hogan trial has been much anticipated in media circles given both the First Amendment issues and the reality show vibe. It was scheduled to begin in state court this coming Monday, until an appellate court ruled Thursday to postpone the trial over a legal technicality. A new start date hasn't yet been decided.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Denton said that "this is a trial that we’re actually happy to go into."

"This is a story we’re happy to defend because, despite two-and-a-half years of digging and examination, nobody has yet pointed out any holes in the story," Denton said. "There are no vulnerabilities in this story at all.”

The long-running dispute, which has wound its way through state and federal courts, began on Oct. 4, 2012. Then-Gawker editor A.J. Daulerio published a story and a 1.5-minute clip of the tape, which was provided by a source. Daulerio's post noted previous coverage of the sex tape and suggested that the woman appearing in it was Heather Clem, wife of DJ Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, a friend of Hogan's who can be heard off camera early in the tape. Hogan had publicly claimed he didn’t know the woman in the tape, which was shot in 2006, and had said he wouldn’t have sex with Heather Clem.

“Others used screenshots, and in that muck and confusion, lies and rumors and speculation proliferated,” Denton said. “We wrote a story which did not simply add another rumor to an already large pile of rumors, but actually sorted through those rumors and tried to establish some truth. That is the definition of good journalism, whatever you think about the subject matter.”

Heather Dietrick, president and general counsel of Gawker Media, told HuffPost that the site “wouldn’t be doing our job if we’d gotten this tape and it shows something, reveals new information and clears up a lot of misinformation out there, if we would have just taken a pass on it.”

Dietrick defended Gawker’s decision to show readers a video excerpt rather than merely telling them what was on the tape. As a result, she said, readers could make their own judgments based on the evidence. Dietrick said the principles behind publishing are “rooted in the First Amendment” and also “common sense.”

“This particular case is about a few seconds of a sex tape," she added, "but the principles that underlie it apply to almost every major news story that I can think of where there is some information that a celebrity or public figure doesn’t want to get out that becomes the basis of the story.”

Hogan’s attorneys, however, argue that Gawker violated their client's right of privacy in publishing a tape of a sex act that they claim the wrestler didn't know was being filmed.

Charles Harder, lead trial counsel for Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, said in a recent statement that “the First Amendment does not allow a website to post secretly-filmed footage of nudity and sex, without the subject’s consent.”

Despite Gawker's contention, Harder also argued that the site could have written about the sex tape, as other outlets did, without playing video from it.

“The video is private,” Harder said. “It does not become a ‘public concern’ just because Gawker and Denton want to play it (and profit from it) or because it might appeal to the morbid curiosity of a segment of the population. If that were the test, then no one would have privacy, so long as certain people have an interest in watching them naked or having sex.”

The question of privacy versus publication is still up to a jury to decide. The trial is expected to last about two weeks, with Denton, Daulerio and several other Gawker staffers taking the stand. Some journalists will surely flock to Florida to cover the proceedings, while others will be glued to the Courtroom View Network, which is making its gavel-to-gavel webcast available to members of the media.

Even preliminary judgments in the Gawker-Hogan case have received ample media attention this past week, from the decision to block the public and the press from viewing the tape when it is shown in court to Hogan's being permitted to wear only a plain bandana in the courtroom.

Gawker also recently won a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI related to its investigation into the tape, which could have ramifications on the trial. Dietrick said in a Thursday statement that the delay of the trial will allow Gawker "to find out more about the three Hulk Hogan video recordings obtained by the FBI that appear highly relevant to the facts of the case." She said one of the tapes provided that day by the FBI is "incomplete" and "there is a serious irregularity in another tape."

The media company -- which includes sites like Deadspin, Jezebel and Gizmodo -- is understandably determined to get all the evidence possible, given that a financial settlement in the realm of what Hogan is seeking could financially cripple it. “It’s a $100 million lawsuit,” Denton told The New York Times. “We don’t keep $100 million in the bank, no.”

The upcoming trial has also troubled media law experts like Lynn Oberlander, general counsel for First Look Media and part of a media coalition that recently argued for full press access to the trial.

“The biggest issue is that the jury could say, ‘No, this wasn’t newsworthy,’ and put the jury into the newsroom, making determinations after the fact what constitutes newsworthiness and what doesn’t constitute newsworthiness," Oberlander told HuffPost.

Denton considers the Hogan tape not only newsworthy, but in keeping with Gawker’s long-running editorial ethos. “Why does this company exist?” he said. “This company exists because journalists kept secrets amongst themselves. They passed them around as gossip.”

For instance, he noted that it had been widely known in Manhattan's media world that CNN anchor Anderson Cooper was gay and yet, unlikeGawker, other news organizations didn’t disclose that detail of the journalist’s life.

“If we have information, if it's true and it's interesting and it's legal to put it out there, we will publish," Denton said. "We have this catchphrase, ‘Whatever We Know, Whatever We Think,’ and we try to share that as much as we can.”

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Kate Hudson is proof that you don't need to show a lot of skin to look sexy.

The 36-year-old stunner attended the Serpentine Gallery party in London on Thursday looking glam as ever. She opted for a sleeveless white top and scandalously high-slit black skirt combo by Louis Vuitton. A pair of nude stiletto pumps finished off the look.





The "Almost Famous" actress wore her blond locks down in loose waves and kept her makeup quite simple, highlighting her gorgeous complexion.

Also in attendance for the night's soiree were Sophie Turner and Benedict Cumberbatch. The event marked the first appearance for the couple since the birth of their child only three weeks ago. Actress Naomie Harris, who wowed in a hot pink mini dress, was also present.

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Most women would love to be compared to Angelina Jolie. But Veronika Black, who says she gets confused for the stunning actress on a daily basis, claims the resemblance makes it surprisingly difficult to find love.

The Canadian model told the Daily Mail that the Jolie comparisons began in 2011 after she first injected her lips. "It happened overnight," Black told the Mail. "I was working as a shop assistant at the time, and I was just a regular girl on the tills, but suddenly people mistook me for Angelina Jolie. It was bizarre, but Angelina is absolutely gorgeous so I was obviously flattered too."

The problem, according to Black, 27, is that men find her intimidating. "I think I scare men off. Men seem to be intimidated by the way I look," Black told the Mail, adding: "I just want to find my Brad Pitt."

Good night world #sleepy

A photo posted by Official IG of Veronika Black (@veronikablack88) on Jun 30, 2015 at 4:22pm PDT

Great dinner out after a stressful day @laresidencedubai

A photo posted by Official IG of Veronika Black (@veronikablack88) on Jun 15, 2015 at 11:19am PDT

Pitt and Jolie, who are parents to six children, married in France last summer.



Black told the Mail that mistaking her for Jolie, an ambassador for the UN, has even resulted in bizarre requests. "I've had all kinds of weird messages, but the one that really sticks out in my mind is an email from a man begging me to come and save his country," Black said. "Luckily most of my mail is relatively normal."

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Scott Disick and his ex-girlfriend Chloe Bartoli were recently spotted together while out on the beach in Monaco.

A new series of photos shows the pair soaking up the sun at a Monte Carlo beach, and later sharing a meal together, while Scott rested his hand on Chloe's back.

The pair reportedly dated before Scott started a relationship with Kourtney Kardashian, with whom he has three children.





A source told Us Weekly, "Kourtney is going to freak when she sees the photos."

Earlier this week, the oldest Kardashian sister shared a photo of herself at a shooting range, which some believe was her response to the pics of her boyfriend.

Don't mess.

A photo posted by Kourtney Kardashian (@kourtneykardash) on Jul 1, 2015 at 8:52pm PDT

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Jim Carrey spent Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning tweeting about his anti-vaccination views, and on Thursday night he apologized for including a photo of a young boy without permission.

The actor had sent out an image of the boy, who has autism, as part of a series of tweets challenging a new California law that eliminates personal-belief exemptions for childhood immunizations.

The mother of Alex Echols asked Carrey to remove the photo of her son, noting that he had not been given permission to use it.

@JimCarrey Please remove this photo of my son. You do not have permission to use his image.

— Karen Echols (@karen_echols) July 2, 2015

@JimCarrey we appreciate the apology. If you feel so inclined, a shout out for tuberous sclerosis awareness would be awesome! #IAMTSC

— Karen Echols (@karen_echols) July 3, 2015

The picture, which has since been removed, was attached to a tweet that read, "A trillion dollars buys a lot of expert opinions. Will it buy you? TOXIN FREE VACCINES, A REASONABLE REQUEST!" It was included among several images of distraught children with autism.

The scientific consensus, based on multiple studies, is that the vaccines distributed in the United States do not cause autism. Moreover, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that thimerosal, the specific compound that Carrey argues can lead to autism, was removed from childhood vaccines more than a decade ago, except for some flu vaccines.

Alex's aunt, Elizabeth Welch, posted a screenshot of Carrey's tweet on Instagram. In the caption, she said that her nephew does have autism but was diagnosed before receiving any vaccinations.

Carrey is not the only anti-vaccine celebrity. Most notably, there's his former girlfriend, Jenny McCarthy, whose son has autism.

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Superman lives on.

Alexandra Reeve Givens, the daughter of actor Christopher Reeve, has named her newborn son after her late father. She and husband Garren Givens welcomed Christopher Russel Reeve Givens on June 13, a family representative confirmed to People and Us Weekly.

Born in Washington, D.C., and weighing in at 8 lbs., 3 oz., little Christopher is the couple's first child after five years of marriage. His middle name comes from his paternal grandfather.

“The entire family is thriving during their first few weeks home,” the family rep told People, which also published photos of the baby.

Alexandra Reeve Givens, 31, is the second child of Reeve and then-partner Gae Exton. She currently serves as senior counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee and teaches at Columbia Law School. Garren Givens is director of the White House's Presidential Innovation Fellows program.

Christopher Reeve, who starred in four Superman movies, died of cardiac arrest in 2004 while directing the animated film "Everyone's Hero."

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I interviewed character actor Steve Zahn, one of film's most visible faces over the past 20 years, in 2009. He was memorably funny, energetic and self-effacing, much like the characters he tends to play.

STEVE ZAHN MOVES UP THE LADDER IN MANAGEMENT

Steve Zahn has become one of his generation of actors' great chameleons. Zahn's filmography features roles as diverse as goofball stoners, cocky musicians and one very brave fighter pilot struggling for survival in a North Vietnamese prison camp.

It all started November 13, 1967 in Marshall, Minnesota when Zahn was born to a Lutheran minister and his wife. After being bitten by the acting bug in his Minneapolis high school, Zahn spent one abortive semester at local Gustavus-Adolphus College ("I'd already paid for a semester, so I thought, 'Okay, I'm gonna stay, and eat at the caf' and lift weights.' I was stupid"), before crashing the audition of a professional production of Biloxi Blues at the urging of his acting coach. Zahn, a non-pro at the time, was cast in the lead, and as the famous blues song goes, "the train kept-a-rollin'" from there, including graduation from Harvard's prestigious American Repertory Theater program several years later. After honing his craft on stage in New York, Zahn landed his first film role in Ben Stiller's Reality Bites, in 1994, and garnered major attention for his turn as the manic guitarist Lenny Haise in Tom Hanks' writing/directing debut, That Thing You Do! in 1996.

Zahn's latest turn is in the indie gem Management, playing Mike, a sweet-natured slacker in the small Arizona town of Kingman, who falls hard for an overnight guest named Sue (Jennifer Aniston), at his parents' motel where he is employed. Reminiscent of some of the 1970s' best oddball romantic comedies like Harold and Maude, Management is a delightful cinematic road trip that charts the unlikeliest of romances, and how what doesn't seem to make sense in affairs of the heart is oftentimes a sign that you've met your soul mate. Boasting terrific support from Woody Harrelson, Fred Ward and Margo Martindale, the film also marks the directing debut of playwright (and screenwriter) Stephen Belber (Tape). The Samuel Goldwyn Films release goes into limited exhibition starting May 15, with wider distribution to follow over the next month.


Steve Zahn, who resides on a farm outside of Lexington, Kentucky with his family, spoke with The Hollywood Interview during a recent stopover in Los Angeles.

I really loved this movie. It was nice to see a film that wasn't about things blowing up, for a change.

Steve Zahn: Thanks, man. I really love it, too. It's so nice to be talking about something that's so cool and so different. Aside from the fact that it's great to do press for something you're proud of, this film is a really terrific throwback in the genre of romantic comedy. It's...it's not even a throwback, it really stands on its own. It's unique.

Yeah, but it also has a really cool, '70s vibe.

Yeah, because romantic comedies in the '70s had a lot of regular people playing the love interests, you know what I mean? You had guys like Dustin Hoffman...

Yeah, movies like Harold and Maude, which was about oddballs falling in love, which is what this is.

Yeah, and because they're a bit odd, or even ordinary to some extent, it makes it easier to relate to them, than it is in a kind of formulaic romantic comedy, which can minimize the audience and you get what you pay for, but ultimately, it's an experience that's forgettable.

It's like eating at McDonald's.

It is, yeah. I'm not going to see movies like that because, well, I'm a guy! (laughs) But I mean, if I was a guy, I'd go see this movie. Wait a minute...I am a guy! (laughs)

The fact that it's from the guy's point-of-view also makes it unusual in the "rom com" genre.

Exactly, it's from the guy's point-of-view, and a guy that is not like an expert surfer, or whatever...

He's not Matthew McConaughey.

Right. He's a regular guy who works in a motel and his mom's terminally ill. He's trying to make the best of it, getting soup over at the Chinese restaurant and doing yoga...

I didn't know they had yoga in Kingman. They've come a long way since I was there last.

(laughs) It's so refreshing. When I read it I kept laughing so hard in my kitchen and my wife said "Wow, it's that good?" And I said "Yeah, it's really that good." In the same breath I'd turn the page, and I'd be so floored and moved it and I realized 'God, I have to be in this. How do I get in this?' You know when you read something that great that a lot of other people are going to want to play the part and be in it, so I just immediately jumped on it.

L to R: Writer/director Stephen Belber, Jennifer Aniston, and Steve Zahn.

I saw that Jennifer was one of the producers. Was she the one that approached you with the project?

No, it was Wyck Godfrey, the other producer, and Steve Belber was also really instrumental in that. I knew Jennifer and I knew she was cool with it, but not until after. I just kind of went in blind, not caring who else was in it, as long as I was. (laughs) I sort of went in and did the meeting that they always advise you not to do: where you tell them how you're perfect for the job. (laughs) I tried to be modest, but I just kept on saying 'I get it, that's all I can tell you. I get it.' Steve writes for pauses. I get that. I understood the tempo. I understood the tone, that there was slapstick comedy and kitchen sink drama in the same movie. For some reason it all makes sense because these characters all so believable and so vulnerable and interesting and funny because of that.

Two of my favorite character actors play your parents: Fred Ward and Margo Martindale.

Those guys, both of them are...that was just a thrill, for real. Fred is the rock of Gibraltar. You won't find a more old-school, manly guy. Those are my favorite scenes in the movie, those scenes with Fred.

He's a real throwback to the Robert Mitchum/Lee Marvin school.

Yeah, totally. Nothing seems to really affect him, but then you see that still waters run deep. And Margo was terrific, but a lot of our scenes wound up getting cut. Steve had a really tough time losing those scenes. I don't think he realized how well they would come off, and they wound up coming off much more deep and meaningful than he intended them to be. It kind of brought the movie into a different place, and a different tone, so they had to minimize that. Margo is so wonderful even in that little bit, that you get it. You get that relationship between she and her son. It's like writing a symphony: you can't just keep it at this ardaggio, you have to bring it up again.

Aniston and Zahn get mellow in Management.

It really seemed like you, Woody, and Jennifer were having a lot of fun.

We did, and it's not always like that. I've had horrible times on movies, and they're still great, because it's a great job. But when you can't wait to go to work the next day because you're laughing your fuckin' ass off, and you know what you're doing is actually challenging and interesting, yet at the same time you know you're doing it well, there's nothing like it. And I had the best time with Jennifer. I don't know what it was. We just work similarly, and she's such a kind, great actress who comes totally prepared right out of the gate. We rehearsed for a week before we shot, which was essential, and Steve, coming from the theater, really wanted that. I was all for it, and was nervous about it. I was like 'Let's practice so when we get to the game I know what the fuckin' play is, and I can catch the ball.' I really approach things like that and Jennifer is the same way. By the first day of shooting, we felt really comfortable with each other. That scene where we fight in the basement, that really high-pitched, emotional scene, we rehearsed that two times before we shot it: we read it at the table and then we got it on its feet, and it just worked. I remember we did it and we were all like 'Let's just leave this one alone.' We knew then that it was gonna be good.

Your character is a tricky one in that if he were miscast, or approached from a slightly different angle, he wouldn't have worked at all, and maybe come off as a bit of a loser.

People have brought up the "stalker" thing, which I wasn't worried about at all. Jennifer played it so well, and it's really due to her reaction that the idea of him being a stalker isn't present at all, I don't think. But what I was worried about was him coming off as a kind of loser, like you say, this kind of sad sack.

You have to believe that Jennifer Aniston is going to fall for this guy, and the only way anyone would buy that is if you found your character's humanity, which I think you did.

Yeah, and Sue has got her flaws, too. There are so many great scenes with her where Jennifer doesn't say anything, like when she's sitting in her room with her computer, and it's just quiet. She just sits there, not knowing what to do, waiting for her time to leave, and she calls her mom...it was just so vulnerable and yet at the same time, she was able to put this wall up and be this hard woman that she didn't want anybody to attach themselves to.

Mike (Steve Zahn)'s first clumsy attempt at seducing yuppie Sue (Jennifer Aniston).

Her issues had to do with intimacy, for the most part.

And yet at the same time, it was so cute, you know? (laughs) And that's what Mike loves about her. And he even says in that great line "I think you're really sweet." And she's like "Please..." And he's like "No, I do. Underneath..." "Underneath what?" "Underneath the part of you that's not." And he's fuckin' telling the truth! And then he walks away, and that's what brings her around to him. He's very honest.

He was probably the first person to really see her in a long time.

Yeah, or ever, aside from her mom, or whatever. It's a very interesting movie and the challenge is to get people into seats so they can see it. How do you market this movie?

Yeah, how do you compete with tentpole, "event" movies like Star Trek, and the like that populate most of the summer?

I don't worry about that stuff, or the new Tom Hanks movie. Those are completely different movies. And this thing is going to go out and platform itself across the country. It won't be this big opening. It'll be in Lexington in probably like, two weeks, and people will be like (Kentucky accent) "I couldn't find your movie. We all went out but we couldn't find it and had to watch...some other thing." (laughs)

Let's talk about your background a bit. You were born and raised in Marshall, Minnesota.

I was born in Marshall and raised in Mankato. My dad was the chaplain at Mankato State University, and my mom worked in the bookstore. We lived just off-campus. Then we moved to the suburbs of Minneapolis, to New Hope, which is where I went to high school.

Then you went to Harvard for grad school.

Yeah, I went to Gustavus Adolphus College for undergrad, but dropped out. It's a very strange story. I worked professionally in Minneapolis, but I'd already paid for a semester, so I thought, 'Okay, I'm gonna stay, and eat at the caf' and lift weights.' (laughs) I was stupid. Then I moved home and started working professionally, and auditioned for different grad and training programs, after working with these really amazing professional actors in these plays. They were like "You gotta go train, man. Go East and learn," which was the best advice I got, ever.

When did you know you were an actor?

I was in high school and I was the guy that always got cast in the school play. Theater is huge in high school in Minnesota and I knew that I was very good at that, and gifted and I was "the guy," but it still wasn't something I ever thought of as "a job," or something that one could do professionally. I was going to be a Marine before I was going to be an actor. I was really serious about joining the Marine Corps. Still all I read about is military history, and all that stuff. It's not till I got to college and also I went to London for a trip and saw theater there, and realized that this was what I wanted to do.

Was there one epiphanous moment during a particular play that did it for you?

It was all of them: I saw Les Mis, Starlight Express, and everything that was on stage there. I just loved it. I knew what I wanted to do. I was like 'I have a goal! This is my goal!' (laughs) I was like Mike, in that sense. I had never thought farther ahead than the next day before that, and I was happy with that and...I'm still like that. (laughs) So I got back to Minnesota and was working in this machine shop, and my mentor, my acting teacher said "Look, they're doing Biloxi Blues at this professional theater. Just like and say you're in Equity and audition." And I was like 'Uh...okay.' (laughs) So I went out and lied, and got the part. I told them I wasn't Equity, and they said "Don't worry, we'll make you Equity." And I got great reviews and was the guy that stuck out, and my co-workers were like "You're good, man but you still have a ways to go. You need to study and figure things out." They knew I was just a puppy. "Don't get too sassy. Go learn." One of my roommates suggested I go to the A.R.T. program at Harvard, which was basically the old program from Yale, but moved to Harvard. So I auditioned and got in there. It was a two year program, and was fantastic.

Was it an M.F.A. program?

No, it was very strange. We were Harvard students. We got IDs. We went to classes. We went to lectures, whatever we wanted, and yet I was committed to the theater and the institute there. Then at night, I was committed to working with the company. Now, it's an M.F.A., with Theater Moscow. It didn't really have its legs yet, because it was brand new, but was the "new Yale" drama program, but it was at Harvard. It was ideal, though because we didn't have any pressure about getting grades. They were like "No, you're absolved from getting grades," and I was like 'Fuckin' A!' (laughs)

The Wonders, from Tom Hanks' That Thing You Do! L to R: Hanks, Jonathan Schaech, Liv Tyler, Ethan Embry, Tom Everett Scott, and Steve Zahn.

You did a lot of stage work in New York, then made your film debut in Reality Bites. But the film I really took notice of you in for the first time was Tom Hanks' That Thing You Do!

That was just on TV last week. That movie's so timeless. That was really the baptism for me. That was school. Tom really nurtured us in that. He had a tough job, but he really took the time to teach us. He'd say things like "Here's what you do when you stand up in front of a camera. Don't stand up too fast because..." and he would explain. And I really learned everything technically about film acting from Tom. Also about showing up for work on time, knowing your shit, setting the tone, all those things you kind of know on some level as a beginner, but it's so helpful to have someone tell you. When you have someone like Tom Hanks say to you "When you're a lead in a movie, you set the tone. If you come in late and not knowing what the fuck you're doing, then that's how the crew is going to be, that's how your fellow actors are going to be," and so on. And he was totally right about that. You do have to be that leader, and set that standard. He was brilliant, man.

So it's different being directed by a fellow actor, as opposed to someone who's just a director?

Oh yeah, for that very reason. He really understood the process. Any director who's also acted understands the fact that every person has a different process and has to be approached differently. That doesn't necessarily make for a better show. Sometimes that director is not good, because they're just referring to their own experience and not taking your process into account. But that's what so great about this job: every job is so fuckin' different from the last. If I go through the last three years and all the things I've done, they're all so different.

Zahn in Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight.

Speaking of different, your character in Out of Sight couldn't have been more different from the guy in That Thing You Do! What was it like working with Steven Soderbergh and that amazing cast of actors?

Oh man, I loved that. The first time I saw it was at the premiere and I was sitting in front of (Don) Cheadle, and he said "Have you seen this yet, man?" "No." And he was like "Fuck!" He was so excited that I was about to see it and that we were a part of it. It's kind of like this movie. It's such a nice feeling to be in a movie that you know is going to be considered to be very good, that's going to be somebody's favorite. Soderbergh just sort of lets you do your own thing. He's the only director I've ever worked with who never really watches the monitor. He just watches the actors. I'm someone who kind of likes a lot of input from the director, but he doesn't really do that.

Clint Eastwood is renowned for that.

Yeah, I really like that. And I love the fact that he doesn't yell "Action!" I hate that shit! Soderbergh doesn't do that, either. I mean, some directors are like (affected voice) "Okay everybody, here we go. Ready? 4, 3...ready to pretend? Remember, you're not you. You're someone else. And here we go, and...(yells) EVERYBODY QUIET! EVERYBODY QUIET! WE'RE ABOUT TO DO SOME MAGIC! EVERYBODY WATCH THE MAGIC!" And you're just like 'Fuckin' shut up, man! You're reminding me...' "AND--ACTION!!" (laughs) Everybody knows what's going on. Just turn the fuckin' camera on. Please! (laughs)

Do you know who the director Sam Fuller was?

Yeah, I've heard of him.

Instead of saying "Action," he used to shoot a .45 automatic into the air before each take.

(laughs) That's awesome! I find a lot of time with new directors, they're so...let's say the final word of the scene is "bird," okay. So you're saying 'So that's why we killed the bird." "CUT!" (laughs) You just want to say 'Dude, film is really cheap, just let it go for a while.' (laughs)

Tell us about being in the universe of Werner Herzog with Rescue Dawn.

Oh, that was totally different from anything I've ever experienced. He's just an artist, pure and simple. There's no defining him or figuring him out. The minute you think you have him pegged, he's different the next day. And the trap is to be preoccupied with trying to figure him out. And once you give into that, and just say 'You know what, that's just the way he is, and this is going to be kind of chaotic,' then you're good. And Christian (Bale) and I understood that right off, and we work really similarly and became really close, which helped make that film a really great, fun experience. I was so into that film. We didn't get paid a lot. It was a small movie, but I felt very connected to it. It was something I had to be a part of. Werner's documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly, which the film was based on, changed my life. That movie is brilliant. It's so inspiring. So when I found out he was making a dramatic film of the story, I knew I had to be a part of it, and I'm very lucky that he let me be. I'd never played a real person before. I have a picture of Duane, the real Duane, on my fridge. The minute I wanted to cheat, I would just look at his picture and...there was no cheating. I felt a real responsibility there. Dieter's wife and kids visited our set in Thailand during the shoot. His wife walked in, looked at us, and just had to leave. It wasn't a "set," per se. Werner liked to keep things "If you don't need to be here, you're not here."

Zahn and Christian Bale in Werner Herzog's harrowing Rescue Dawn.

What's his process like in terms of how he works with actors?

I don't know. (laughs) Dude, I'm telling you...he loves actors. He admires the process. He'll lose weight with you and he'll be the first to dive in the river to show you there's no rocks and that it's safe. I like that about him. But there's another part of him that doesn't want to feel anything. It changes every day. One day you'll do something and he'll just get up, come over and hug you. And it's kind of weird and out of the blue, and it's him telling you that it was great. Then the next day, it's like he doesn't notice anything. He yells at somebody, and yells at you, and he walks away. And it's fuckin' crazy! (laughs) But I loved it, and I love him to death. I really do.

Any final thoughts about Management before we wrap up?

I just hope that it's a film that people discover and will continue to discover years from now. And if it takes years, that's okay, too. But I sure would like to be in one finally that people see and does a little bit of business. (laughs) Go see it!

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Ask any parent, babysitter or toddler stylist you may know: one does not simply dress a 2-year-old.

Kim Kardashian knew this struggle all too well on Friday, when she shared a photo on her Instagram account of a seemingly stressed out little North West. Kardashian's daughter covered her eyes with her hand as she rocked a Minnie Mouse helmet and a colorful unicorn backpack while she clutched a green umbrella.

"We cannot go out of the house like this!!! LOL," the 34-year-old reality star captioned the cute photo:

The struggle is real! We cannot go out of the house like this!!! LOL

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jul 3, 2015 at 5:03pm PDT

Shortly afterward, Kardashian shared another photo of her daughter, this time sans Minnie Mouse headgear. "We compromised," she wrote alongside the shot:

We compromised

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jul 3, 2015 at 6:54pm PDT

Kardashian, who is due with her second child in December, announced last month that she and husband Kanye West are expecting a baby boy. If he is anything like his father when it comes to fashion, Kardashian can expect to spend even more time trying to compromise with the little one when it comes to his outfit of the day.

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Oh say, can she sing!

Kate Hudson was feeling particularly patriotic this Fourth of July, so what better way to celebrate than to belt out the national anthem in her PJs at 7:30 in the morning? By the way, she totally nails it:

☕️7:30am and I'm feeling seriously patriotic! Happy 4th of July! #ProudAmerican #StarSpangledBanner #RedWhiteAndBlue #GearingUpForFootballSeason #MyKidsAreGoingToBeSoEmbarrassed #WokeUpTheNeighbors ❤️ ❤️

A video posted by Kate Hudson (@katehudson) on Jul 4, 2015 at 2:20am PDT

Yep. Slayed.



Hudson also showcased her vocal prowess in the 2009 film "Nine," in which she sang "Cinema Italiano." The actress also sang when she guest starred on "Glee" in 2012 and 2013.

She's one talented lady.

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The sparks flying between Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris might be all the fireworks you need this weekend.

The couple started Fourth of July celebrations early, partying it up with friends on Friday. Showing everyone was getting in the holiday spirit, Swift shared an adorable photo of her getting a piggyback ride from Harris with the caption, "Friendly relations between Scotland and America":

Friendly relations between Scotland and America. @calvinharris

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Jul 3, 2015 at 4:33pm PDT

Harris also joined in on the fun, posting a cute pic of Swift showing off her grilling skills:

She cooks too

A photo posted by Calvin Harris (@calvinharris) on Jul 2, 2015 at 9:12pm PDT

Gigi Hadid, the ladies of Haim, Victoria's Secret model Martha Hunt and "Empire" star Serayah were just a few of the gal pals who joined Swift at the party. At one point, they lifted off into the air with red and blue towels, which seems so patriotic that squad jumps should probably replace the national anthem at the start of baseball games:

Happy 4th from me, @gigihadid, @marhunt, @britmaack, @serayah and @haimtheband :)

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Jul 3, 2015 at 4:32pm PDT

Then they just chilled out in the water because being that patriotic is hard work:

Swan squad.

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Jul 3, 2015 at 4:40pm PDT

Hadid even shared a photo with the caption, "star spangled blondies."

star spangled blondies

A photo posted by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid) on Jul 4, 2015 at 7:26am PDT

Swift has been all over the place lately, from rocking the stage at her 1989 tour to even taking boat rides with Harris and Joe Jonas, but the singer still makes sure she has time for her squad.

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She might not be in the U.S., but Eva Longoria is spending her 4th of July weekend like many of us: hitting the beach for some fun in the sun.

The "Desperate Housewives" actress was quite the sight for beachgoers in Marbella, Spain, on Friday, as she stunned on the shores in a teeny blue bikini:





The 40-year-old also got into the holiday spirit by posting a funny Someecard on her Instagram account on Saturday:

Happy 4th of July America! #GodBlessAmerica #BestCountryInTheWorld (photo by Someecards)

A photo posted by Eva Longoria (@evalongoria) on Jul 4, 2015 at 7:56am PDT

We'll drink to that!

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The most surprising thing about Margot Robbie's birthday cake on the set of "Suicide Squad" is that it actually looks edible.

The cast of the movie has been known to give each other peculiar gifts, such as the rat that Jared Leto previously sent to Robbie that was then "adopted" by other celebs, but that wasn't the case for the actress's birthday celebration.

Robbie, who just had a birthday July 2, shared a photo of her in Harley Quinn makeup with a caption reading, "Harley's cake - thank you squad!"

Harley's cake - thank you squad!

A photo posted by @margotrobbie on Jul 3, 2015 at 3:13pm PDT

News recently broke that movie director David Ayer has an on-set therapist for the cast since the actors have to work with pretty dark material. So, at least in the case of Robbie, it looks like it's working. The actress also shared a photo of balloons on her actual b-day, saying that she was "Spoilt rotten today":

Spoilt rotten today

A photo posted by @margotrobbie on Jul 2, 2015 at 3:42am PDT

Yep. There's nothing too disturbing about balloons. Unless, of course, that means there's a scary clown around, too. In that case, we might all need to use that therapist.

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Looks like Kendall Jenner was feeling a little frisky this morning.

The 19-year-old model shared a steamy photo of herself with her 30 million Instagram followers on Saturday. In the mirror pic, Jenner wears black underwear and a sheer top, which she rocks with the help of a strategically placed hand:

coffee?

A photo posted by Kendall Jenner (@kendalljenner) on Jul 4, 2015 at 6:44am PDT

The "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star stepped out in a much more demure outfit the previous night, while she was out on the town in London:



More proof that no matter what she's wearing, Kendall Jenner is model material.

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Diana Douglas (nee Diana Dill), actress and mother of Michael Douglas, has died of cancer at 92, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The actress, whose film and television credits span seven decades, was perhaps best known for her roles in films such as "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and "It Runs in the Family." She was also known for playing Martha Evans in the television soap opera "Days of Our Lives."

Douglas was married to fellow actor Kirk Douglas for eight years before their divorce in 1951. Together, the pair had two sons, Michael and Joel. In 1956, Diana Douglas married actor Bill Darrid, whom she remained with until his death in 1992. She married Donald Webster, a former treasury official in the Nixon administration, in 2002.

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Britney Spears did not wear the most practical shoes for walking around Disneyland, but hey, she looks great!

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For everyone who thinks they know everything about "How I Met Your Mother," prepare to be lawyered.

Alyson Hannigan, otherwise known as Lily Aldrin, has been busy since the show ended a little more than a year ago. She's had her hands full with being a mom, has a role in a new film called "Modern Love" and she's even working with Ball Park's Finest hot dogs, which she did admit, though she "usually" doesn't try to brag, looked so good after she cooked them over a campfire that they wouldn't even need a filter on Instagram.

During a short reprieve from her busy schedule, Hannigan took some time to chat with The Huffington Post about some behind-the-scenes stories from "HIMYM." Prepare yourself: they might change the whole way you look at the show.

1. The cast talked about having an intervention for all of their puns.

Image: Netflix

When asked if the cast had any interventions that didn't make the show, Hannigan said, "We talked about needing an intervention for ourselves to stop making so many puns. We would just pun for hours and hours and hours. It was great, but we were like, 'We might have a problem,' but we enjoyed it."

The puns all started when a guest star mentioned the magazine Cat Fancy, Hannigan added: "We started having cat puns, and we had an afternoon of punning anything about cats. Fancy that!"

2. Alyson Hannigan's real kid was fired from the show.

Happy to be joining TYLENOL® in helping spread smiles to kids of Children’s Health Fund. Go to SmilingItForward.com and share a photo that makes you smile. Your pic will trigger a donation to a great cause! Thank you!!! #sponsored

A photo posted by @alydenisof on Sep 17, 2013 at 3:40pm PDT

One of Hannigan's kids was slated to play Lily and Marshall's second child, but then she got some disappointing news. "They fired my kid from that role. She was gonna be the baby, but [producer] Carter Bays was like, 'Nope. She’s too old,' and she got replaced," Hannigan said.

"I was like, 'You fired my child. First of all that’s ageism. I don’t think you’re allowed to fire her because she’s too old,'" she joked.

3. The Cockamouse was real.

Image: PopSugar

The Cockamouse was the mysterious hybrid creature that Marshall and Lily found in their apartment, and though it seems like something someone made up, like the "South Park" monster ManBearPig, it turns out this was based on a real story.

"Yes, that is based on a story that happened to [producer] Kourtney Kang in New York in an apartment she lived in," says Hannigan. She continued, "They were not sure if it was a cockroach or a mouse. And they’re pretty convinced it must’ve been both and it did fly away."

To that, HuffPost responded, "Are you freaking kidding me?" Hannigan said, "I don’t think it flew out of the window, but it flew."

4. The cast originally wanted Victoria to be the mom.


"Early on, I wanted Victoria to be the mom," Hannigan said. "I guess Carter later said had we got canceled she would’ve been the mom. But, you know, somebody great would come on [the show] and we would be like, 'Yeah, we want her to be the mom,' so it was sort of just like whoever was on for a long period of time. We’re like, 'Let her be the mom. Let her.' We just loved everybody."

5. Some of the cast knew early on that the mom would die.

Image: Giphy

Actor Josh Radnor was told about the major "HIMYM" finale twist during Season 1 of the show and Hannigan actually found out early as well. They had to film a lot of reactions for Ted Mosby's kids early in the series that would then air in later seasons, the actress said, and after that some "whisperings" started getting out that the series would end with the mom's death.

"I knew that was the case," said Hannigan. "I didn’t know who the mom was going to be, but I did know that the reason he was telling all these stories is because she passed away, which was very sweet."

6. Producers were worried Alyson Hannigan and Cristin Milioti looked too similar.


Hannigan says the whole process of finding the right actress to play the mom was "very secretive" and caused some suspicion around set when trailers that would "never be locked" suddenly were. Hannigan says she first met the mother, Cristin Milioti, in a makeup trailer because producers wanted to see how the pair looked side by side.

"They wanted to look at us next to each other to see if they were going change her hair or something because they were a little worried that we looked similar, so I had to go stand next to her and we had some people look at us together," she said.

7. Alyson Hannigan was the reason Lily never had a musical number.

Image: Giphy

Each of the main cast members on "HIMYM" had a musical number except for Lily -- and it turns out there was a good reason for that.

"I begged them not to make me," said Hannigan. "Yeah, singing has never been something that I wanted to do publicly. It’s actually like a phobia. I know it sounds weird, but it has always been that way. And then I find myself in these shows that want to do musicals, and I'm like, 'Noooooo!'"

Hannigan says she has gotten better when it comes to singing, but she's "not gonna be dropping an album anytime soon."

8. If it was up to Jason Segel, "HIMYM" would have a Hanukkah reunion show.

A photo posted by Jason Segel (@jasonsegel) on Jan 20, 2012 at 12:49pm PST

The actress told HuffPost she'd definitely be into a "HIMYM" reunion and that Jason Segel was actually coming up with some ideas during the finale.

"Jason was pitching some really funny specials, like a Hanukkah special and all these things with Carter. It was quite funny... Carter said we could do eight Hanukkah specials. One for each night. I'd be up for it," she said.

In the words of Barney Stinson, that sounds pretty legen ...

Image: Mtvnn

All images courtesy of CBS unless otherwise noted.

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What a sweet big sister! Tiffani Thiessen's family is complete -- and beyond adorable! The "Saved by the Bell" actress shared more photos of her newborn son, Holt, on Friday, July 3.

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Kit Harington knows nothing about keeping a secret.


Image via HBO/HuffPost

The "Game of Thrones" season finale had people everywhere going crazy over what happened to Jon Snow. After the character was stabbed by the Night's Watch and left to die in the cold (et tu, Olly?), fans went nuts speculating about various ways he may have actually survived. Even so, Harington has maintained that Snow died and he's gone for good. And that appeared to be the case, until now.

Various pictures of Harington at Wimbledon have started popping up online and there's one thing about them that has fans getting excited:

Kit Harington still has his long hair!



It has been nearly a month since the finale and Harington is still honoring his "GoT" oath to keep his long hair and beard, which seems to indicate that he may still need them for his sworn duties to protect the realm from White Walkers and look like a total boss on the show.

For more proof, just look at Harington's other photos.

Here's the actor perhaps in shock that we all caught on:



And here he is again, seemingly congratulating all of us for figuring it out (good work, everyone!):



Now, you might think to yourself, "Who cares? That beard is dope. I'd keep my hair like that, too." And you're partly right. The beard and hair are hella dope. But the problem is Harington doesn't seem to think so.

The actor previously told Rolling Stone about his plans after the show and they didn't include keeping his long locks:

"I told my agent, 'No more swords, no more horses,'" he said. "You [don't want to] get stuck in things. And maybe I can cut my fucking hair."

So is Harington really coming back to the show? It's all still speculation, but these pictures certainly don't indicate otherwise. Actress Emilia Clarke even said recently his return is a 50-50 chance.

Plus, if he really doesn't want people to think he's coming back, he's doing a terrible job of hiding his Jon Snow frowny face:



Like, are you Kittin' me? Nobody is that frowny. Nobody!


Image: Tumblr

All images courtesy of Getty unless otherwise noted.

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