Entertainment
‘Miss Congeniality’ Benjamin Bratt opens up on working with Sandra Bullock
Benjamin Bratt looked back fondly on his time working with Sandra Bullock in the 2000 comedy, Miss Congeniality.
At the Los Angeles premiere of his new Prime Video film Balls Up, the actor shared with E! News that Bullock was “one of the loveliest people” he’s ever worked with.
“I remember Sandy at the helm as a producer and as the star of the film,” Bratt said.
“She was courageous and willing to go for anything.”
He noted that Bullock’s leadership created an environment where he and their costars, including Michael Caine, Candice Bergen, William Shatner, and Heather Burns, felt safe to take creative risks.
“That’s really the beauty of being in a situation where the safety net is built in,” Bratt explained. “It encourages you as a performer to just jump off the cliff and see what happens.”
The risks paid off, with Miss Congeniality becoming a box office hit and spawning the 2005 sequel Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous.
Though Bratt did not return for the sequel, he credits Bullock’s comedic fearlessness for the franchise’s enduring popularity.
“It really endures because of Sandy and what she did with it,” he said, adding that her willingness to be silly and make a fool of herself set the tone for the cast and crew.
Reflecting on Bullock’s influence, Bratt concluded, “She leads from the top. If you start the work day with an essence of fun, then hopefully the result will fall into line.”
Entertainment
Eddie Murphy announces the latest addition to family: ‘Blessings’
Eddie Murphy is having quite the year for new arrivals.
The comedy legend has revealed he has welcomed not one but two grandchildren in the space of a fortnight, a grandson and a granddaughter, and he could not be happier about it.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight at the American Film Institute Achievement Award Ceremony on Saturday, 18 April, Murphy, 65, shared the news with characteristic warmth.
“I just had my first grandson two months ago,” he said, referring to the baby boy born to his daughter Bria, 36, and her husband Michael Xavier, who married in July 2022.
Bria had offered a glimpse of her pregnancy at the November premiere of her father’s documentary Being Eddie.
He also confirmed the birth of his third granddaughter, just two weeks ago, to his son Eric and Jasmin Lawrence, daughter of comedian Martin Lawrence.
The couple married last May and announced they were expecting in February. Murphy revealed the baby girl’s name to E! News: Ari Skye.
“So all this stuff is happening,” Murphy said, grinning. “I’m like it’s raining blessings on me. Raining blessings.”
When asked whether he had been dispensing parenting wisdom to the new arrivals, Murphy was direct.
“Oh, you don’t give advice like that. You know, your kids don’t go by your advice. Your kids go by the example you set. They watch you. The stuff you be saying, they don’t even pay that s— no mind. They watch and see what you do. So, I don’t give a lot of advice.”
Murphy is father to ten children across several relationships, including sons Eric, 36, Christian, 35, Myles, 33, and Max, 7, and daughters Bria, Shayne, 31, Zola, 26, Bella, 24, Angel, 19, and Izzy, 9.
Entertainment
Singer D4vd charged with murder in death of 14-year-old found in his car
Entertainment
Christina Applegate exhibits strength amid ‘health issues’
Christina Applegate has broken her silence following reports of a recent hospitalisation, reassuring fans that she is on the mend and determined as ever.
“Thank you for the outpouring of love and well wishes,” the actress wrote on Instagram on Monday.
“Health issues are a constant for me, but I’m a strong chick and I’m getting stronger and better every day. I’m taking a moment to focus on my health, but I’ll be back with more to say soon enough.”
The post comes after reports began circulating that Applegate had been hospitalised in late March, with outlets reporting that those close to her had been deeply concerned.
The 54-year-old did not specify the nature of the latest health episode, but her MS diagnosis, which she made public in August 2021, has been an ongoing part of her life in the years since.
Applegate has been notably open about her journey with multiple sclerosis, both through her 2026 memoir You with the Sad Eyes and the podcast she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who also has MS.
Her final acting role was in the comedic thriller series Dead to Me, a job she finished while her diagnosis was still new territory.
Season three was already in production when she found out, and she has spoken candidly about how difficult that period was.
She used a wheelchair to get to set, was “sleeping all the time,” and had to call the cast and crew to tell them what she was dealing with.
“I had to call everybody and be like, ‘I have multiple sclerosis guys. Like, what the fuck!'” she told Variety in 2022.
Best known for her long-running role in Married… with Children, which ran on Fox for 11 seasons from 1987 to 1997, Applegate has since retired from acting.
Her message on Monday was short but carried the same directness that has defined how she has handled her illness throughout, no sugarcoating, and no backing down either.
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