Gabriel LaBelle Is Suddenly Sorta Spielberg

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( profile [Suddenly Sorta Spielberg]( Gabriel LaBelle beat out 2,000 actors to play a version of the famed director as a teen by embracing the meta-ness. Photo: Noua Unu Studio Gabriel LaBelle is not playing a young [Steven Spielberg]( in [The Fabelmans](, but Sammy Fabelman is pretty close. He moves to Arizona with his family in the late 1950s, falls in love with making home videos, and observes the collapse of his parents’ marriage — all events that happened to Spielberg, who directed and co-wrote the film. But LaBelle’s performance isn’t an imitation, not exactly. He emulates Spielberg’s stiffened posture but doesn’t try to match the current depth of his voice or speak in run-on sentences, in part because the director told him not to. He wears green contact lenses but has a rounder face. He evokes some core of one of Hollywood’s most famous auteurs while also inventing a particular character meant to serve this film’s particular fiction. LaBelle draws a triangle with his hands as he explains it. There’s Spielberg, himself, and then Sammy somewhere in between. [Read More]( Devour pop culture with us. [Subscribe now](for unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. The Latest TV Recaps • Bachelor in Paradise: [Karma Is a Beach (Ep. 8)](, [Reunited and It Feels So … Oof (Ep. 9)]( • Monarch: [The Family That Murders Together]( • The Handmaid’s Tale: [The Dirty Compromise]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [Give It Up for the Bravo Sprinter Van [Housewives twirl.] Fasten your seat belts: There’s a new drama queen in town.]( By Louis Staples [House of the Dragon’s Director Wants You Asking Questions About Daemon Greg Yaitanes on Rhaenyra’s coronation, Daemon’s betrayal, and that dragon chase: “Something horrible happening in the midst of somewhere beautiful.”]( [The Feminist Comics Chinese Censors Fear A new stand-up show offers them a safe space to joke about their troubles.]( [This Month in Comedy Podcasts: More Julio Torres, Please Rounding up our favorite comedy-podcast episodes of the month.]( [Cheers to Adele for Releasing the ‘I Drink Wine’ Music Video And to Insecure’s Kendrick Sampson as her fisherman love interest.]( By Justin Curto [Spirit Halloween Memes Have Some Last-Minute Costume Suggestions Will you be a sexy baby or the monster on the hill?]( By Jason P. Frank [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 12-Across, Four Letters: Color associated with a lot of “da-ba-dee”s. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images, Jon Kopaloff/WireImage and Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images Vulture Recommends We consume it all so you don’t have to. Nearly six years ago, conspiracy obsessive Dan Friesen had the dangerously harebrained idea to create a near-daily podcast where he explains what’s happening with Alex Jones to his friend Jordan Holmes. They’ve been endorsed by CNN, with an appearance on Reliable Sources, and consulted on the trials that led to Jones eating a record-setting billion-dollar (and counting!) personal-injury judgment for his (continuing!) defamation of the families of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary. So when Friesen and Holmes [dropped an emergency recap of Jones learning his fate live on air](, it wasn’t so much Schadenfreude as vindication. [Read more from Vulture]( A Saturday newsletter from the people who make New York Magazine. [Sign up]( to get it every week. [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=vulture-daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2022, All rights reserved