Latest news with #Michaela
Irish Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Fair City star says birth of son has given him 'simpler way of looking at life'
Fair City star Ryan Andrews has told how he took no days off after the birth of his son, Rowen. The star welcomed his first child with wife Michaela on September 16 last year. Opening up about Rowen's arrival, the Dubliner said he had to rehearse 17 scenes during Michaela's labour in Holles Street Hospital in Dublin. He told us: "Rowen was born on September 16. I had to call into RTE. Michaela went a day early. I didn't sleep in three days. I had to go into the busiest week of my life on Fair City. "I had to do double scenes and at that time I used to MC the Late Late Show and we ran our stage school at three locations a week. "We were writing the Olympia panto as well. I didn't have a day off until January 16. "Michaela was in labour in Holles Street and I had 17 scenes to learn. I had the busiest two days. "Between every scene and every break, I was at home. I wasn't neglecting my family but once January came, I just realised how fast Rowen had grown up." He said since welcoming Rowen, he looks at life more simply. "He's nine months old now. Sometimes, with babies, I never listen to anybody, even my mam. Like every child, every pregnancy is different. We found our own way. "We're very lucky with him. Our whole lives have changed. It's all about Rowen now in the best possible way. "Becoming a dad has put a lot of things into perspective. I used to worry about things for no reason. "He makes us more happy than any job, or anything financial. It's a simpler way of looking at life." Ryan joked that he's already starting his son in showbusiness as Rowen was the baby in The Ferryman when he was just four months old. "We've been lucky in the industry… I would love for him to get into stage school, and I'd love him to learn because I don't remember anything from school, other than being on stage or stage school with friends." Barnardos ambassador Ryan was speaking as he took part in a 12-hour Riverdanceathon at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin to help raise money for the children's charity. Over 580 dancers from dance schools across Ireland took part in the Riverdanceathon. Members of the Riverdance cast also joined in to start the event just before 10am on Thursday and again at lunchtime to perform three numbers from the show on the Gaiety Plaza as well as bringing it all to an end that evening. Through this partnership Riverdance hopes to raise funds and awareness for the work of Barnardos. Each year for its summer run at the Gaiety, Riverdance partners with a charity. Barnardos is Ireland's largest children's charity which helps and supports the most vulnerable children and families in society to achieve their full potential with the support of the public. To donate, log onto
Mint
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
‘Sirens': A study in class and bad parenting
In Greek mythology, sirens were believed to be enchantresses, who, with their sinister gift of song, lured sailors to their doom. The idea finds a delicious, comic and dark reincarnation in the recent Netflix series, Sirens, starring Julianne Moore in the top billing. Set in the filthy rich environs of New England, the show depicts the changing fortunes of Michaela Kell (Moore), the second wife of the hedge-fund billionaire Peter (Kevin Bacon). Right from the word go, there is a hint of Mrs de Winters (from Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel Rebecca) about Michaela. The Rebecca angle gets subtly, but surely, played along the course of five tightly written episodes by Molly Smith Metzler, based on Elemeno Pea, her 2011 play. If you haven't watched the series yet, you're probably already thinking of The White Lotus (2021; streaming on JioHotstar) or The Perfect Couple (2024; Netflix), both of which cover similar ground. Which is mostly fair since, despite all its woo-woo-ness, Sirens does have a suffocatingly thick air of suspense about it. The troubled sister dynamics between Devon (Meghann Fahy, The White Lotus) and Simone (Milly Alcock), leading back to a childhood scarred by terrible parenting, not only provides fodder for an engaging psychological thriller but also for a clash of the classes. It all starts with Devon setting off in search of her sister, who has ghosted her for months, and ignored her pleas to help take care of their father Bruce (Bill Camp gives a chillingly real performance), who is suffering from dementia. When Simone sends her an edible arrangement instead of volunteering to do her part, Devon is enraged. Her life is already a wreck. A recovering alcoholic, she is sleeping with her college friend-turned-boss Raymond, who is married with kids. After being locked up by the police multiple times for unruly behaviour, Devon has nothing to lose. So, she arrives on Michaela's island uninvited, only to be horrified by the web into which her little sister has got herself entangled. Roxana Hadidi, in Vulture, accurately described Sirens as 'a series about culty, self-help-y, extremely white women doing culty self-help-y extremely white women things." Michaela, for instance, not only follows a strict regimen of diet and exercise but also ensures that no one under her watch strays from the path of clean eating. There's a hilarious scene where the staff scarf on burgers, hidden away from the CCTV cameras, because carbs are forbidden by Michaela. Yet under the veneer of all the absurdity and tyranny of Michaela's rule, lurks a profoundly disturbing truth—her pathological insecurity and will to do anything to protect her place in Peter's life. During the day, Michaela spends her time rescuing and rehabilitating raptors. At night, she is wide awake wondering if her husband is cheating on her. With Simone's help, she does some serious sleuthing to check if the chocolates brought by him for her are really from his trip to Tokyo, or subbed from an outlet in New York. The answers to this investigation turn out to be at once simple and complicated. Setting aside the laughs and thrills, Sirens offers a scathing indictment of poor parenting. Whether it's Bruce's treatment of Simone as a little girl, or Peter's neglect of his children from his first wife, there are layers here that would give a therapist a field day. One of the more difficult questions that Sirens deals with is caregiving, especially when parents have been cruel and uncaring to their offspring when they were young but, in the winter of their lives, they need to be looked after by those very children. Devon's insistence on Simone doing her bit for the father whose neglect had led her to grow up, abused and humiliated, in foster care is a thorny point of contention. At once triggering and an inescapable reality, it's a question that haunts the viewer well beyond the series. The ending is clever and leaves room for a second season. Given the amount of speculation and theories that the series has inspired on social media—check out the Reddit threads after you've seen it—hopefully there's more trickery by the sirens awaiting us. 'Sirens' is streaming on Netflix. Also read: Is the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar worth its price tag?
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Inside Simone's Style Transformation on 'Sirens',' 'from 'Ornamental' Staff to Lady of the House (Exclusive)
Sirens costume designer Caroline Duncan tells PEOPLE how she transformed Simone, played by Milly Alcock, from an assistant to the lady of the house Duncan used clothing details on Simone's character to make her go from "youthful little girl into a woman" in the span of a weekend The costume designer also describes how she built one of the most important costume pieces in the show: Simone's gala dressWarning: Some spoilers ahead for Netflix's . The costumes in Netflix's Sirens are have a story arc of their own. Costume designer Caroline Duncan crafted a whole story behind the pieces the characters wear on the limited series, from the custom Lilly Pulitzer pieces to the pastel Vineyard Vines splashed across the Cliff House and beyond. For one character in particular, her clothes speak to an evolution unlike anyone else on the show. "With Milly's clothing in the [Lilly] Pulitzer palette, I wanted her to feel like she's part of this world, but she's not actually a member of this society yet. She works for Michaela. So her costumes have to feel as if she's following Michaela's rules and she wants to be perfect," Duncan says of Milly Alcock, who plays the role of Simone, the assistant to Michaela Kell (Julianne Moore). "Part of her whole journey is letting go of this perfectionism and this mania and these panic attacks that she has throughout the miniseries have to do with her losing control when Devon shows up. So she starts in this very, very girly pink and white goop Pulitzer collaboration that we trimmed out with some extra doily features. And then the next dress she wears is one that we built from a furniture fabric to double down on the fact that she feels like one of the furnishings in Michaela's home, that she's been de-individualized by being a part of this posse of sycophants." In the show, Simone comes to Cliff House — Michaela's home that she owns with her billionaire husband, Peter Kell (Kevin Bacon), to be her assistant. It's there on a New England island that she becomes this new version of herself that her sister, Devon (Meghann Fahy), doesn't recognize. In the beginning, audiences meet her as a bubbly assistant who tends to Michaela's every beck and call, wearing brightly colored clothes to match the aesthetic. But as Duncan points out, Simone does not stand out, she is part of the staff, and like the rest of the staff — who wear mint green uniforms and are "ornamental" to match the color of the kitchen — she blends in and is treated as such. However, as the story unfolds, Simone retreats into her old self before transforming into the true main character, overtaking Michaela herself. Simone's wardrobe transformation culminates in an icy blue dress that she wears for Michaela and Peter's gala at Cliff House. It's a floor-length gown that viewers know Michaela hand-picked for Simone to wear. What viewers don't know is that this dress is the final shift in Simone taking Michaela's place as the head of the household by Peter's side. Duncan says there was a lot of pressure to get that dress perfect, which is why she built it from scratch. "I looked to see if I could find something that felt right for her, and the reason that I leaned into this silhouette that we ended up constructing for Milly is, she has such a fast evolution over the course of really three days. She has to completely transform from this youthful little girl into a woman. She also has to still feel like a siren," Duncan explains. The costume designer also wanted the color of the dress to blend with the sky as Simone was standing on the edge of the cliff in the final shot of the show because the character, in theory, now belongs in her surroundings. "We made the dress out of a stretched satin so that it would have this ripple through the fabric and this reflective quality that echoed the clouds and the sky," Duncan says. "It had to accomplish a lot of things, and I wanted it to fall off of one shoulder to feel draped like a Greek goddess." Duncan says it was also important to look at how Simone's dress would play against Michaela's, because the two needed to go toe to toe before Michaela made her grand exit, leaving Simone as the new lady of the house. She already had Michaela's dress picked out — a marigold chiffon McQueen number that she says fit Moore perfectly. An icy silver blue dress felt like the right counterpoint to that. In the end, Duncan says the dress makes the character resemble a "statue," because Simone is a bit of a "trophy wife," repeating a cycle for Peter. There was Jocelyn (the first wife), then Michaela and now Simone. "She had to feel breathlessly and iconically like she fit into this cycle that may or may not continue, Duncan says. "We don't know where her story will go." Sirens is streaming now on Netflix. Read the original article on People
RTÉ News
10-06-2025
- Science
- RTÉ News
Leaving Cert Diary 2025: We say slán to Irish and goodbye Biology!
As we say slán to Irish, it means that the mandatory subjects are out of the way. It was still a long slog those sitting Irish Paper 2 and Biology. We are here with another instalment of the Leaving Cert Diary series, with thanks to our friends at the Irish Second-Level Students' Union (ISSU). Rónán is a sixth year student and Irish language activist based in Wicklow, and he is back again today to chat Paper 2. But, first we hear from Galway student Michaela who sat Biology this evening. Don't forget to take a break while you can, and if you want any tips for the remaining subjects, plus lots more besides visit RTÉ Learn. Walking into the Biology exam today, I don't think I've ever been as nervous. Biology is one of those subjects where the paper can either be your best friend or your worst nightmare. As someone who's passionate about the subject and hoping to become a Biology teacher in the future, I was really hoping the paper would go my way. Thankfully, it did - for the most part. From the moment I opened the paper, I let out a quiet sigh of relief. The short questions were a lovely start, covering topics like photosynthesis and food - two areas I'd spent a lot of time revising. They're some of my favourite topics, and seeing them right at the beginning gave me a huge confidence boost. In Section B, I tackled the ecology question and the experiment on osmosis. I was genuinely delighted to see osmosis appear. It's always been one of the easier experiments for me to understand and explain, and it felt like a reward for the hours I'd put into preparing for all the practicals. Ecology can sometimes be a bit unpredictable, but I felt I managed it well this time. That said, the paper wasn't without its tricky moments. Some questions, particularly in Section C, were worded in ways that made me pause and think carefully. But I stayed calm and reminded myself to trust the work I'd done. I was really pleased to be able to answer questions on three of my favourite topics: the skeletal system, the circulatory system, and homeostasis. These are the parts of Biology that really sparked my interest in the subject, and getting the chance to write about them in detail felt like things had come full circle. Overall, I'm absolutely thrilled. After all the time, stress, and effort, it felt like everything came together when it counted. The exam challenged me, but I felt prepared. Today reaffirmed why I love Biology so much, and it made me even more excited about my future career. I walked out of the exam hall smiling, knowing that my hard work had truly paid off. It's Rónán arís with his blog on Irish Paper 2... There was a quiet focus this morning as students opened Paper 2 of the Irish exam, a paper that was both challenging and fair. The general reaction was relief, with just a few moments of confusion where wording would have pushed students' vocabulary to their limits. The first léamhthuiscint paid tribute to Rory Gallagher, marking thirty years since the legendary guitarist's death. A fitting inclusion that offered a blend of culture and history in a way that felt fresh and thoughtful. The second reading comprehension took on sport in Ireland, highlighting key themes like recognition for athletes, the growing role of women in sport, and the continued need for government investment. Prose followed the predictions closely. Hurlamaboc gave us another look at Lisín, ever polished and endlessly in control. Oisín i dTír na nÓg returned too, asking students to examine the hero caught between two worlds and one that many had prepared for. Poetry brought another wave of reassurance. Colscaradh and An Spailpín Fánach came with reliable questions, giving students a chance to settle into familiar territory. Then came the filíocht breise, and with it was a twist. I had joked yesterday that if Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire appeared, I'd be ag caoineadh myself, hoping for Colmáin which hasn't appeared on the paper since 2019. At first glance, the Caoineadh question looked daunting. The language was weighty, which fits the poem itself. But with a steady approach and a good grasp of its emotional depth, it was very much achievable. This was a fair and fitting conclusion to the Irish course. The texts were familiar, the themes engaging, and students were given a real chance to show what they'd learned. Is fada an bóthar nach mbíonn casadh ann and a few may have felt those bends in the road briefly lost in the phrasing of some questions - a bit like Oisín trying to find his way, but I hope that most found solid ground in the end. Founded in 2008, the ISSU is the national representative body for school students in the Republic of Ireland. The ISSU is led by students, for students.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Liberals And Conservatives Are Sharing The Political Views That Make Them Total Outsiders In Their Own Party, And Some Of The Responses Are Suuuuuper Unexpected
Hi. My name is Michaela, and last year, during one of the most dramatic election years in US history, I started a series on the site called "BuzzFeed's Political Diaries," where I asked readers from all over the country who they were planning to vote for and what political issues mattered most to them. Over the course of a year, I received hundreds of fascinating political takes from people of different races, genders, age groups, and locations, and was able to show what voters were really thinking. Now, as our country seems to be more divided than ever under a second Trump administration, I'm asking BuzzFeeders to share a political opinion they hold that aligns more with the beliefs of the opposite party. I was inspired by this TikTok video and the comments people left that prove many political issues aren't black and white! Check it out for yourself! Here are the most interesting responses I received: 1."I can't believe I even have to say this. I've been a Republican for my entire life (I believe in a smaller government and less taxes), and I don't agree with MAGA at all. Especially not the part about absolutely ruining the LGBTQ+ community's lives." "I am a straight male, so I can't really offer perspective on what they're going through, but even I know that you can't treat people like second-class citizens. It makes me sad that a once great party turned into this." 2."I'm a Democrat and I believe anti-public 'camping' laws should be strictly enforced and offenders arrested. In other words, make all cities unfriendly to homeless people so we can take back our parks, sidewalks, recreation areas, and downtowns can be a jewel again." —Anonymous 3."I believe in transgender rights, gay marriage, and abortion. I'm a conservative, and one of the original beliefs of conservatism was 'limited government.'" "I do not care how you identify, who you love/marry, or what you do with your body. As long as it doesn't affect me, who am I to care what you do? The Right should adopt the same view: as long as something doesn't personally affect you or your daily life, why does it matter? Who gives a fuck what other people are doing if it doesn't affect you?"—Anonymous 4."As a Democrat, I think positively of the George H.W. Bush presidency. He signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, making it illegal to discriminate based on disability. As someone on the Autism Spectrum, I am thankful for it because I would not have the things I need to be successful in school and in life if it were not signed." —Anonymous Related: I'm Still Recovering From How Hard These 15 Women Made Me Laugh With Their Comedic Perfection This Week 5."I am a hardcore Republican all the way, but I strongly disagree with some of the pardons Donald Trump has done/alluded to (example, potentially pardoning Diddy)." —Anonymous 6."I'm a Democrat, and I believe that biological men don't belong in women's sports, and especially our locker rooms. They can have their own leagues/rooms. It's crazy to me that so many people, especially other women, are so eager to allow that to happen." "We women have worked too hard and come too far for men to take that from us. I'd obviously rather have a biological man in women's sports than women dying unnecessarily in childbirth. I think Republicans support women much less, of course, but neither party stands with biological women right now."—Anonymous 7."I'm a far left progressive who believes that Israel deserves and needs to exist, full stop." "I do believe in a two-state solution ultimately, but as a Jew, Israel is important to me as our historical homeland, and I find all the 'settler-colonialist' arguments against Israel on the left to be deeply historically ignorant, cruel, and offensive to the core. It is antisemitism to deny Jews alone the right to a state in their ancestral homeland, and no one will convince me otherwise."—Anonymous Related: 19 "Body Changes" That Clearly Indicate A Person Is Not Young Anymore, And I'm Not Ready For This Reality 8."I'm a Republican, and I disagree with what Trump is doing to this country, especially all the deportations of innocent people who have the legal right to be here!" —Anonymous 9."I'm an Independent who leans Democrat. I'm generally okay with people owning guns for a lot of reasons if they get proper training first. Ironically, I'm also fine with the Death Penalty existing." "I think it should be limited to mass-murderers, serial sex offenders (more specifically like serial rapists and/or serial pedophiles), and serial killers. This is mostly to prevent people with false convictions from getting killed by mistake."—Anonymous 10."As Democrats, we need to stop focusing on policing words. They're just words. I can think of maybe TWO slurs that should just never be used, but the rest? Honestly? Who fucking cares!?!" "We need to focus on equity, visibility, reintroducing the idea of community; if people know trans people personally, for example, they are far less likely to use a transphobic term. But if all you do is tell people 'don't do something' without anything but the ephemeral 'people get offended,' that's not only going to NOT prevent them from saying whatever it was, but will make them do it with more vigor because 'no one tells an AMERICAN what to say.' Creating and DEFENDING inclusive practices is what we need, not performative bullshit. And, seriously, people in general need to stop looking for reasons to be offended."—Anonymous 11."I am a Democrat, but really a moderate. I agree with a lot of the societal and cultural positions aligned with the Democratic Party. However, I do think that sometimes, you do have to steamroll and say screw bipartisanship." "The Republicans have always said screw bipartisanship when they really wanted to get something done and it's worked in their favor every time. When you have the larger number, sometimes it does make the most sense to use that to your advantage. I will probably never forgive the Biden administration for not adding more progressive judges to the Supreme Court to balance the scales."—Anonymous 12."As a Democrat, I firmly believe some of the policies that the Democrats fight for, like what Kamala ran on, are not popular with the public as much as they believe it is, and that's a big part of why we lost last year." "There are other factors too, but that's a big part. Biden's policies were unpopular, and her choices to align with those policies hurt her instead of benefiting, because the majority of people clearly didn't like what he was doing, and she was an extension."—Anonymous 13."I'm an independent, and I believe life for kids got worse once moms had to get a job. With or without a husband, being a mom is hard, constant work, and adding a full-time job to that is not family-friendly at all." —Anonymous 14."I'm a Democrat and I 100% believe that people convicted of despicable crimes should receive the death penalty." And finally... 15."The left needs to drop the moral argument from their campaign strategy. The popular vote said that more than half the country doesn't care if you're a convicted rapist that doesn't know the first line of the Constitution, you can still be president. So why do we keep arguing the point?" "Stick to policy, and for half the country, you'll have to write it on crayon, but show that democratic policies are better for everyday Americans. Show them how and why. Become the party of the working class, because there's a hell of a lot more of us than there are of them."—coollegend378 What are your thoughts? Share the political opinion that would make you the black sheep of your party in the comments below. Responses have been edited for length/clarity. 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