Latest news with #Hal
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘They've meant so much to me': His TV show is a hit but this filmmaker still cries in the shower
Eight years ago, aspiring filmmaker Cooper Raiff had an idea for a story about a pair of siblings bonded by their dysfunctional upbringing. Six years ago, the Texan native started writing about the characters, swiftly getting down an initial 100 pages. Three years ago, having sold his second feature, the romantic-comedy Cha Cha Real Smooth, to Apple TV+ for roughly $23 million, Raiff began turning the script into a television series. Two years ago, Raiff, who would play the younger sibling, Hal, cast Riverdale's Lili Reinhart as his character's elder sister, Harper, and Mark Ruffalo as the co-dependent pair's damaged father, Michael. Eighteen months ago, Raiff's production wrapped in Los Angeles, ending a hectic 50-day shoot. Five months ago, the show, Hal & Harper, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, successfully selling to streaming services. Three weeks ago, Raiff cried in the shower because he was saying goodbye to the fictional family that had become all too real to him. 'I was crying because I was going to really miss Hal and Harper, and dad, too,' Raiff says. 'I've been with them for so long and they've meant so much to me. I'm bad at maths but I'm 28 now and they've been in my head and body for eight years now. That's a lot of life. It was hard to let go.' Loading Zooming in from separate locations in New York, Raiff and Reinhart are a smiling mix of wonder and surprise. They know they're a part of something special with Hal & Harper but the experience of making the series was so demanding they're still getting used to the work leaving them and going out to the world. 'Cooper, to me, never ever lost sight of the vision he had,' Reinhart says. 'It changed along the way, because it had to, but the feeling of it and the intensity in Cooper's eyes every day never changed because he was trying to stay true to what was inside his heart. How do you paint the inside of your heart and stay true to it? 'Something, somehow was guiding him and he was very locked in. Trying to talk to Cooper about anything else was useless. There was no conversation outside the show,' she adds, then addresses Raiff directly. 'Your whole life was consumed by this show, which is why it is so effective. I've never seen firsthand a heart be embodied like this. That's why I had a lot of trust.' Comprising eight roughly half-hour episodes, each written and directed by Raiff, Hal & Harper is an idiosyncratic gem of a series. In an era of neatly segmented shows, it's messy and ambitious and counterintuitive. It's very funny and very sad, often in such close proximity that you're not aware of one becoming the other. The comedy and the drama are their own storytelling siblings. Twenty-two-year-old Hal and 24-year-old Harper Williams are still emotionally intertwined from the childhood loss that left them with a wounded father, Michael, who struggled to support them emotionally. As Hal floats through his university degree and Harper struggles with her first job, the pair lean on each other. It is, as Harper has realised, an unhealthy dynamic. And then their father delivers news that shakes all three of them: his girlfriend, Kate (Betty Gilpin), is pregnant. Loading 'There are so many people I love who have watched this show, and a lot stop at a certain place and say, 'I'm going to get there but I'm not there yet',' Raiff says. 'When they do – well, people can't talk to me about the finale, so they just send me a selfie of them crying. Even my own dad, I'm still trying to sit him down and talk to him.' In many ways Hal & Harper brings the tenets of independent filmmaking to television, whether it's Raiff's ready use of natural light or a hectic production schedule in which the stripped-down crew and cast had to 'steal locations' (shoot without the relevant permits) when required. The call sheet, a production's daily schedule, was mostly 'a suggestion', jokes Reinhart. 'There is some sort of lightning-in-a-bottle magic to doing so much in a day. You're tired, your guard is down,' Raiff says. 'If there was a crying scene, it was very easy to cry. We had a scene that was meant to be funny but I started crying and someone said, 'I'm not sure that's the vibe.' And I said, 'That's my vibe right now!'' Lengthy sequences are told in montage form, set to Raiff's distinctive music choices, and there's also a bittersweet twist: in the extensive flashbacks to when Hal is aged seven and Harper nine, Raiff and Rinehart still play the characters. It is absurd but touching. The pair are oversized yet still too small for the circumstances they're struggling with. The influence the pair's uncertain childhood has on them as adults is made wrenchingly clear. 'My favourite day on set was the first time we played kids. I knew it was going to be emotional and funny but I didn't realise how much soul it would have. That's what Lili's eyes bring. Whatever she was doing as nine-year-old Harper is the most beautiful thing that's ever been put on camera.' Loading Raiff isn't afraid to dig into the emotional muck of his characters. Ruffalo's Michael is still roiled and uncommunicative and, like his children, he wants to say the right things but he doubts they'll actually apply. When push comes to emotional shove, father, son and daughter all painfully struggle to make sense of what they're grappling with. 'We're really good at talk therapy and I have friends who are very emotionally intelligent but that's very different, that processing trauma through your body,' Raiff says. 'Talking about your feelings is easier than actually feeling them.'
The Age
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘They've meant so much to me': His TV show is a hit but this filmmaker still cries in the shower
Eight years ago, aspiring filmmaker Cooper Raiff had an idea for a story about a pair of siblings bonded by their dysfunctional upbringing. Six years ago, the Texan native started writing about the characters, swiftly getting down an initial 100 pages. Three years ago, having sold his second feature, the romantic-comedy Cha Cha Real Smooth, to Apple TV+ for roughly $23 million, Raiff began turning the script into a television series. Two years ago, Raiff, who would play the younger sibling, Hal, cast Riverdale's Lili Reinhart as his character's elder sister, Harper, and Mark Ruffalo as the co-dependent pair's damaged father, Michael. Eighteen months ago, Raiff's production wrapped in Los Angeles, ending a hectic 50-day shoot. Five months ago, the show, Hal & Harper, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, successfully selling to streaming services. Three weeks ago, Raiff cried in the shower because he was saying goodbye to the fictional family that had become all too real to him. 'I was crying because I was going to really miss Hal and Harper, and dad, too,' Raiff says. 'I've been with them for so long and they've meant so much to me. I'm bad at maths but I'm 28 now and they've been in my head and body for eight years now. That's a lot of life. It was hard to let go.' Loading Zooming in from separate locations in New York, Raiff and Reinhart are a smiling mix of wonder and surprise. They know they're a part of something special with Hal & Harper but the experience of making the series was so demanding they're still getting used to the work leaving them and going out to the world. 'Cooper, to me, never ever lost sight of the vision he had,' Reinhart says. 'It changed along the way, because it had to, but the feeling of it and the intensity in Cooper's eyes every day never changed because he was trying to stay true to what was inside his heart. How do you paint the inside of your heart and stay true to it? 'Something, somehow was guiding him and he was very locked in. Trying to talk to Cooper about anything else was useless. There was no conversation outside the show,' she adds, then addresses Raiff directly. 'Your whole life was consumed by this show, which is why it is so effective. I've never seen firsthand a heart be embodied like this. That's why I had a lot of trust.' Comprising eight roughly half-hour episodes, each written and directed by Raiff, Hal & Harper is an idiosyncratic gem of a series. In an era of neatly segmented shows, it's messy and ambitious and counterintuitive. It's very funny and very sad, often in such close proximity that you're not aware of one becoming the other. The comedy and the drama are their own storytelling siblings. Twenty-two-year-old Hal and 24-year-old Harper Williams are still emotionally intertwined from the childhood loss that left them with a wounded father, Michael, who struggled to support them emotionally. As Hal floats through his university degree and Harper struggles with her first job, the pair lean on each other. It is, as Harper has realised, an unhealthy dynamic. And then their father delivers news that shakes all three of them: his girlfriend, Kate (Betty Gilpin), is pregnant. Loading 'There are so many people I love who have watched this show, and a lot stop at a certain place and say, 'I'm going to get there but I'm not there yet',' Raiff says. 'When they do – well, people can't talk to me about the finale, so they just send me a selfie of them crying. Even my own dad, I'm still trying to sit him down and talk to him.' In many ways Hal & Harper brings the tenets of independent filmmaking to television, whether it's Raiff's ready use of natural light or a hectic production schedule in which the stripped-down crew and cast had to 'steal locations' (shoot without the relevant permits) when required. The call sheet, a production's daily schedule, was mostly 'a suggestion', jokes Reinhart. 'There is some sort of lightning-in-a-bottle magic to doing so much in a day. You're tired, your guard is down,' Raiff says. 'If there was a crying scene, it was very easy to cry. We had a scene that was meant to be funny but I started crying and someone said, 'I'm not sure that's the vibe.' And I said, 'That's my vibe right now!'' Lengthy sequences are told in montage form, set to Raiff's distinctive music choices, and there's also a bittersweet twist: in the extensive flashbacks to when Hal is aged seven and Harper nine, Raiff and Rinehart still play the characters. It is absurd but touching. The pair are oversized yet still too small for the circumstances they're struggling with. The influence the pair's uncertain childhood has on them as adults is made wrenchingly clear. 'My favourite day on set was the first time we played kids. I knew it was going to be emotional and funny but I didn't realise how much soul it would have. That's what Lili's eyes bring. Whatever she was doing as nine-year-old Harper is the most beautiful thing that's ever been put on camera.' Loading Raiff isn't afraid to dig into the emotional muck of his characters. Ruffalo's Michael is still roiled and uncommunicative and, like his children, he wants to say the right things but he doubts they'll actually apply. When push comes to emotional shove, father, son and daughter all painfully struggle to make sense of what they're grappling with. 'We're really good at talk therapy and I have friends who are very emotionally intelligent but that's very different, that processing trauma through your body,' Raiff says. 'Talking about your feelings is easier than actually feeling them.'
Wales Online
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Bryan Cranston explains Malcolm in the Middle star's absence from reboot
Bryan Cranston explains Malcolm in the Middle star's absence from reboot The Breaking Bad star played frazzled dad Hal in the 2000s show Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston (Image: Josh Sandiford / BirminghamLive ) Bryan Cranston has revealed Erik Per Sullivan won't be joining the Malcolm in the Middle reboot because he studying for a master's degree at Harvard. The Breaking Bad star played frazzled dad Hal in the 2000s show with Christopher Masterson, Justin Berfield, Frankie Muniz and Erik playing his four sons and they are all returning for a revival of the series with the exception of Erik - who played youngest boy Dewey. Now Bryan has revealed the former child star, who is now 33, won't be returning because he's busy with his studies and hasn't acted since he was a child. During an appearance on the 'Fly on the Wall' podcast, Bryan explained: "I talked to Erik and I said: 'Hey, we got the show! It's gonna come back.' "He goes: 'Oh, that's fantastic!' And I go: 'Yeah, so we're looking forward to having you back.' He goes: 'Oh, no, no, I don't want to do it. But it's fantastic that you are'." He added of Erik's decision: "He's actually going to Harvard,. He's really, really smart, and I think he's getting his master's at Harvard right now. He said: 'Oh God, no, I haven't acted since I was nine or something. So I'm not into it'." The role of Dewey has been recast with Caleb Ellsworth-Clark taking over from Erik. Article continues below Bryan went on to admit it's surreal to see his young co-stars grow up as they are now all around the same age he was when he started working on Malcolm in the Middle. He addeD: "It's amazing how these boys - who were my boys on that show - are now around the same age I was when we first started. They've got children of their own." The show originally ran from 2000 until 2006 and Bryan previously revealed he's relished the experience of playing Hal once again. He told People: "Slipping back into that character of Hal for me was so rewarding - I missed him. "It's been almost 20 years since we said goodbye. And he's a sweet, lovable man. He's really a lovable guy, and it was fun to see all my whole family back together. It was great." He went on to explain how his on-screen costume has helped him to get back into character. Article continues below Bryan explained: "It's a short-sleeve shirt that Hal would wear, a patterned short-sleeve shirt that screams out he's not going anywhere."
Scotsman
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Hal Cruttenden explores life after divorce in new Edinburgh Fringe show
British comedian Hal Cruttenden is making a welcome return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer with a brand-new solo show, 'Can Dish It Out But Can't Take It', which runs at the Pleasance Courtyard's Cabaret Bar from the 30th of July to the 24th of August. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... In this latest outing, Cruttenden brings his trademark blend of sharply observed stand-up and personal confession to the stage, diving deep into the chaos of midlife reinvention. Three years after a very public divorce—his wife of 20 years left him for a firearms officer—Hal finds himself swapping marriage milestones for dating apps and relationship advice from his own grown-up children. Can Dish It Out But Can't Take It explores the absurdity and vulnerability of starting over in your 50s. Far from settling quietly into middle age, Cruttenden is now navigating the modern dating scene with all the neuroses and emotional confusion of a man half his age. And while the passion might still be there, he concedes some things are now done with the lights off. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Despite the upheaval, Hal insists life has taken an unexpectedly fun turn. The show finds him confronting big questions—Is it possible to enjoy yourself more in your 50s than in your 20s? And will he end up happily re-settled or just be that sad older guy who never quite got it together? (c) Steve Ullathorne While he's still figuring it all out, Cruttenden's reflections on social media, modern politics and fatherhood give this show a punchy edge. His audience interactions remain a crowd favourite, though he's often the butt of the joke himself. In addition to his Fringe run, Hal will appear for one night only with Ronni Ancona on 22 August at Gilded Balloon, part of their new podcast project Hal and Ronni in Pieces, which launches with guests including Sally Phillips, Jo Brand and Sadie Frost. He also makes his big screen debut as Winston Churchill in the upcoming film The Man With A Plan, due out this autumn. Hal Cruttenden: Can Dish It Out But Can't Take It runs at Pleasance Courtyard – Cabaret Bar from 30 July to 24 August (not 12 August), at 9.30pm. Tickets are available at
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In Depth: Long Beach Green Port
Hal talks to Mario Cordero, the CEO of the port of Long Beach about the progress that has been made in the past 20 years since he made the commitment to making the port a "green port." Cordero says that while there is a ways to go before the port is at zero emissions, that it has come a long way. He credits innovations that have allowed the port to transition to electrical power in its trucks, cranes and rail lines as well as shore power. Manager of Air Quality Practices, Leela Rao explains to Hal how the port monitors emissions and posts it on their website in real time for public awareness. Otis Cliatt II joins Hal to talk about the Joule, the electric train that runs on the Pacific Harbor Line, which, in addition to the alternative fuel locomotives, is vastly reducing emissions. Cordero returns in segment three as we take a tour of the Port on a boat to see the new infrastructure and discuss the impact of recent political policy changes, such as tariffs and how they are affecting traffic at the Port and making it challenging for companies to plan for imports and orders.
