Sissy Spacek, Paul McCartney and the timeless relevance of George Carlin

The Independent’s entertainment newsletter [View in browser]( [The Independent]( May 21, 2022 [The Independent]( Written by Louis Chilton   The IndyArts Newsletter   Hello, and welcome back to the IndyArts newsletter. I’m Louis Chilton, filling in once again. This is, I think, going to be the last newsletter from me for a while; The Independent’s new arts editor Jessie Thompson is going to be taking the reins. Exciting stuff! It’s been something of a quiet week, all things considered. There’s a new Amy Schumer series, Life & Beth, arriving on Disney Plus, in which the comedian and recent Oscar co-host plays a woman who gets in an accident and starts having flashbacks to her teenage years. Amanda Whiting’s take on it was interesting – you can read that [here]( – but I just can’t get past the title. Didn’t the 2014 Aubrey Plaza horror-com Life After Beth call dibs on that pun? As far as wince-inducing name puns go, at least it’s not as bad as Disney+’s worst offender, the truly criminal Better Nate Than Ever. Elsewhere this week, the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial has rattled on (you can follow the latest updates [here](). Kevin E G Perry went to see [Paul McCartney perform out in LA](, awarding the “coolest Beatle” a barnstorming five stars. And Gene Hackman made a rare public appearance, delighting fans as the legendary actor was [shown beaming in a photograph]( after attending a live event. Amy Schumer in the dubiously named 'Life & Beth' (Hulu)   Last week, Annabel Nugent spoke to French provocateur Gaspar Noé for this [extremely lively interview](, following the release of his new film Vortex. Kevin EG Perry spoke to director Judd Apatow and George Carlin’s daughter and manager about the [legendary late comedian’s timeless appeal](. Annabel also [interviewed “I Follow Rivers” singer-songwriter Lykke Li](, while Geoffrey MacNab wrote about [how Top Gun: Maverick is a take-off of traditional Hollywood flying movies](. I can’t say the original Top Gun ever really did it for me, but there’s something about Maverick that I’m excited to see – Tom Cruise in fully fledged movie star mode, perhaps, or simply the dizzying flight sequences. I didn’t need [Clarisse Loughrey’s review]( to sell me, but it didn’t hurt.   [The Saturday Interview – Sissy Spacek]( [Oscars image]( Sissy Spacek: ‘I represented the young everywoman of the Seventies, and then one thing led to another...’ (Daniel Shippey) For the [Saturday Interview]( this week, Adam White spoke with the brilliant Sissy Spacek. In the interview (which I can't recommend enough) the Badlands star spoke about David Lynch, her new sci-fi drama Night Sky, filming the shower scene in Carrie, and why she’s still prone to contemplating infinity. [Oscars image]( Spacek in 'Night Sky' (Prime Video) Read an extract from our Saturday Interview below… I’m curious where her bravery comes from, in spite of her own tendency to downplay herself. I think back to the opening sequence of Carrie, in which Spacek’s character is in the showers of her high school gym and gets her first period. She has no idea what is happening to her, and shrieks with horror while her classmates heckle and pelt her with tampons. “Oh God,” Spacek says, biting her lip. “It was terrifying. I’m also very shy, and I’m an introvert.” Not a great combination for someone playing that scene. She had no idea how to approach it. “I went to [director] Brian De Palma and said: ‘Tell me about this scene, what is it like?’ And he turns to me and he says: ‘It’s like getting hit by a Mack truck.’” (Basically a massive lorry, for any non-American readers.) She asked for advice from her husband, who she discovered – funnily enough – had once been run over by a car. Not a Mack truck, per se, but it’d do. “So in that scene, what’s going on in my head is [Jack] walking along the side of the road when he was about 11 or 12. It’s snowing, and he’s looking at Christmas lights. And then he saw car lights. There was a car coming down the road right at him, and it ran him over. So, when Carrie’s in the shower, I’m seeing those Christmas lights, and then the horror of the blood…” Spacek holds her hands aloft and unsteady, just like in the movie. “Ain’t it bizarre that something like that could work?” [Read the full interview here]( What to binge this week Millie Bobby Brown (centre) in 'Strager Things' (Netflix) Stranger Things Chances are, you’ve probably already heard of Stranger Things. Unless, of course, you’ve been living under a rock for the past five years – or you’ve been trapped in some kind of demonic alternative dimension. It’s one of those shows that’s worth watching, even just to see what all the fuss is about. And now’s probably the time to do it – the Netflix sci-fi is returning next week for its much-anticipated fourth season, bringing back cast members including David Harbour, Winona Ryder and Millie Bobbie Brown. ‘Stranger Things' is available to stream now on Netflix Out and about My Fair Lady – London Coliseum]( The Independent's Isobel Lewis was raving about this production in the office earlier this week: a revival of the classic Pygmalion-inspired musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. In her [review](, she writes that 25-year-old star Amara Okereke "gives one of the most enthralling stage performances of the year". [Buy tickets here]( [The Father and the Assassin – National Theatre]( This drama focuses on Nathuram Godse, the man who killed Mohandas Gandhi in 1948. Jumping around through Godse's life (played by Shubham Saraf), the project offers an unflinching look at the violence of the British empire. In a stroke of invention, Godse also serves as a fourth wall-breaking director, orchestrating the jumbled events of his life for the audience. [Buy tickets here]( [The House of Shades – Almeida Theatre]( Beth Steel's heavyweight saga about a working-class family spans a period from 1965 to 2019, and stars Anne-Marie Duff as Constance, the family matriarch who dreams of something more than household drudgery. In her [full review](, Jessie Thompson writes: "Steel’s ambitious state-of-the-nation play tugs us in many directions as it asks why we are where we are. She’s a thinker, but also a fighter – I kept thinking how fortunate we are to have a writer like her. " [Buy tickets here]( [The new Independent app]( [The new Independent app](   Essential reading [Book of a Lifetime: The Oxford Companion to Food by Alan Davidson]( [Book of a Lifetime: The Oxford Companion to Food by Alan Davidson]( [A trip of one’s own: 6 reasons this is the perfect destination for solo travellers]( [A trip of one’s own: 6 reasons this is the perfect destination for solo travellers]( [Adventure #goals: 48 hours in and around Al Soudah]( [Adventure #goals: 48 hours in and around Al Soudah](         If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. [The Independent]( Join the conversation or follow us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's entertainment newsletter. Add us to your safe list of senders. If you do not want to receive The Independent's entertainment newsletter, please [unsubscribe](list_name=IND_Culture_Newsletter_CDP). 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