Woody Allen casts Elaine May and Miley Cyrus in upcoming Amazon series
Woody Allen’s upcoming Amazon series has a cast, and it’s a doozy. Screenwriter and comedian Elaine May and former child actress/current pop star/all-around scamp Miley Cyrus are set to headline the series alongside Allen himself, sources familiar with the project confirm to the Los Angeles Times.
Amazon announced its collaboration with Allen in January 2015, at which time Allen said, “I don’t know how I got into this. I have no ideas and I’m not sure where to begin.” In addition to starring in the project, Allen will also be writing and directing.
May, whose last onscreen role was in Allen’s 2000 film “Small Time Crooks,” broke into the industry in the ’50s as half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, alongside future famed director Mike Nichols. May went on to a successful career as a screenwriter, garnering two Oscar nominations for screenwriting for 1978’s “Heaven Can Wait” and 1998’s “Primary Colors.”
Cyrus, on the other hand, came to prominence through the Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana,” in which she played a secret teenage pop star. She went on to find success in the music world in her own right, achieving her first No. 1 single in the United States with “Wrecking Ball” in 2013 and a Grammy nomination for pop vocal album with “Bangerz”.
Amazon has yet to announce a release date (or a title) for Allen’s series, but in the meantime, May’s latest directorial project, “Mike Nichols: American Masters,” airs Friday on PBS.
‘Daily Show’ host to write book
Trevor Noah is upholding another tradition left from his Comedy Central predecessor Jon Stewart: He’s writing a book.
Publisher Spiegel & Grau told the Associated Press on Tuesday it had acquired a collection of personal essays by the 31-year-old Noah about “growing up in South Africa during the last gasps of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that came with its demise.” The book is currently untitled and will come out in November.
“I couldn’t find a good book about myself so I decided to write one. And just like me, this book doesn’t have an appendix,” Noah said in a statement.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but two publishing officials with knowledge of the negotiations said the deal was worth more than $3 million.
Stewart, whom Noah succeeded at Comedy Central last fall, collaborated with his “Daily Show” team on the 2004 best-seller “America (The Book).” In recent years, other comedians have had success with books of essays, including Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling.
The birthday bunch
Actor James Cromwell is 76. Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov is 68. Actress Mimi Rogers is 60. Political and sports commentator Keith Olbermann is 57. Actress Bridget Fonda is 52. Actor Alan Cumming is 51. Actor-comedian Patton Oswalt is 47.