One of the year’s biggest surprises for superhero movies has been Shazam! The latest shockingly great entry in DC’s recovering cinematic universe did a pretty perfect job on delivering the enjoyable adolescent power […]

The post ‘Shazam’ Spin-Off ‘Black Adam,’ Starring The Rock, Finds Its Director appeared first on Geek.com.

“If you loved her in the Walking Dead, you’ll love her in Swamp Thing.” That could be the slogan for Jeryl Prescott’s publicity billboard.

Prescott also may be familiar to readers as Cherry in Ray Donovan or Mama Cecile in The Skeleton Key or in slew of guest spots including Modern Family, Castle, Hawthorne, Parks and Recreation, etc.

That said, she’s hoping that fans will like DC Universe’s new streaming version of the classic comic (debuted May 31). For those who didn’t catch this comic back in the day, Swamp Thing is the story of a woman who discovers what she thinks is a swamp virus in a small Louisiana town — but it turns out that this “virus” is a being. Prescott plays Madame Xanadu, a supernatural fortune-telling mystic.

How much did you know about the origin of Swamp Thing?

I had heard of the name Xanadu out of context. As you know, Xanadu is love and partying and joy. Anything else I knew from my teenage boys. They are my resident experts on all things Marvel and DC. They even pulled up a cartoon — I think it was an old episode of Batman where Xanadu makes a brief appearance.

There are the comic books and they made another movie back in the 1980s, which was kind of cheesy. This show looks like it’s going to be a little more serious. What are your thoughts on that?

We are trying to do something very unique in that they are combining horror with heroes. You don’t see that a lot in Marvel or in DC. It’s fascinating and intriguing. There’s romance. There’s gore. There’s family drama. It’s really layered and very colorful.

Swamp Thing is a superhero but very different. He is defending his territory. How do you think audiences will respond to him?

It seems like a contradiction, but he is a monster and a romantic hero at the same time. In a way, he’s this character that you are drawn to. This man aims to protect this woman, who he sees as being in danger. He aims to protect her. In that way, he’s attractive.

At the same time, he’s the monstrous, colored-in-green stuff that you would think would be very unattractive.

In that way, the show is doing something fantastic. Of course, we’ve had these “beauty and the beast” scenarios before with King Kong, but this [show] is very intimate. Some of the teasers show the woman’s head right beside his head turning to look at him.

It’s fascinating the way romance works. It’s all in the eyes of the beholder. He’s irresistible, but at the same time, he scares the hell out of you.

Tell about your character, Xanadu.

In my mind, she is wild. She is certainly more than just a tarot card reader. She is the keeper of this community’s history and the keeper of their conscience. She also knows much more than she thinks people can stand to know.

The kind of truths that [Xanadu] harbors are truths that she thinks they need to grow more to be able to handle. She is maternal and feels that she knows things that they are too young to handle. Remember, she is over 2,000 years old.

She gives them as much as they can stand, and sometimes holding onto these truths is a bit of a challenge for her.

How long does it take you in makeup each day?

It is such a village effort to get Madame Xanadu ready! The makeup chair is a couple of hours, and then the hair included getting a braider, sometimes even before I got to North Carolina.

After I got to set, I had wonderful prop masters who helped give Xanadu everything she needed, including some spectacular canes, just some really cool stuff — even my eyeglasses.

Our costume designer is also pretty awesome. Her name is Ms. Emmy [Holmes]. She and her team rocked Xanadu out in a way that is different than we see in the comic strip. [In the comic strip], we see a lot of lingerie-looking clothes for Xanadu. What they wanted to do for her [in the show] is a bit different. I think, a bit more fierce.  

My main makeup guys were Jeff Goodwin and Jason Willis, who did all the prosthetics for the scars and the tattoos. These guys were all awesome and creative and perfectionists.

You’ve got a huge cast including Jennifer Beals, Virginia Madsen, and Ian Ziering. What’s it like working with them?

They are awesome and professional folk who have the best sense of humor. That’s what makes working fun and not feel like work.

Virginia: I just love her so much. I love her spirit and her badassness. Ian: I had a wonderful time working with him. I did scenes with both of them. I didn’t have any scenes with Jennifer, but everyone talks about how very lovely she is to work with. I didn’t get a chance to spend a lot of time with her.

We all had quite a good time after work, too; lots of eating because we were in North Carolina. We had a good time eating and drinking and just enjoying each other’s spirits.  

What part of North Carolina?

Wilmington. I’d worked down there on a couple of projects before. The crew there was just spectacular. We enjoyed a lot of Southern hospitality.

What other projects do you have in the works?

High Flying Bird you can still see on Netflix. It’s Andre Holland from Moonlight and [Steven] Soderbergh; what a brilliant combination they make. It speaks to the power of relationships between NBA players and NBA owners. It’s an attempt to wrestle away some of that power.

Some people see that as somewhat of an allegory, like Soderbergh’s efforts to wrestle away some of the power from the powers that be in the film industry. He’s always been considered somewhat of a rebel or renegade in the way he tries to do independents. He shot the movie on his iPhone. Yeah, for real, a couple of iPhones.

The young, lovely Ms. Zazie Beetz is in it, and Bill Duke is hilarious and fabulous, too. Sonja Sohn [The Wire] is also in it. I loved every minute working on that. High Flying Bird is a joy, and I hope more people will keep watching it.

People know you from The Walking Dead. Do they still come up to you when they see you?

What a joy and a blessing this show has been in my life. We have the most dedicated, loyal fans ever. I know there is a lot of talk about Game of Thrones, but I’ve never seen fans so kind as they are for The Walking Dead.  

I still have people who come up and hug me and spend a moment in grief for my character Jacqui, who died at the end of Season 1. It happens all the time and is the sweetest thing.

It encourages me as an actress to keep reaching for something deeper so people will be connected and affected by my work. I still stay in touch with a lot of castmates and, for me, there is a lot of joy around that.

Today it was announced that Swamp Thing has been canceled after one season.

The post Jeryl Prescott on the New DC Series, ‘Swamp Thing’ appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

It has been a while since the original Ghostbusters movie debuted in 1984. However, Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver might be returning for a new Ghostbusters sequel, which is expected to hit theaters next year. In an […]

The post Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver Might Be Returning for ‘Ghostbusters’ Sequel in 2020 appeared first on Geek.com.

Source: Courtesy of Dr Rubina Smith / Courtesy of Dr Rubina Smith

National Cancer Survivor’s Day just passed June 2nd, but the urgency to ensure Black women are aware of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer is an ongoing challenge/ Advocates like Dr. Robina Smith, help to spread awareness through her partnership with Ad Council’s, “Know Your Girls” campaign. Dr. Smith is a fellowship-trained breast cancer surgeon with over ten years of experience in the field. We spoke to Smith about how Black women can become more aware of their risks, so we can decrease the disproportionately high mortality rates for Black women with breast cancer.

MN: In the past few years, we have been made aware of how breast cancer disproportionately kills Black women even though our white counterparts are more frequently diagnosed. Why is that the case that Black women are disproportionately affected?

Dr. Smith: Breast Cancer affects all populations in the world. However, Black women are disproportionately affected with higher breast cancer deaths, due to advanced stages when discovered (diagnosis), younger age when identified, poor access to and receipt of quality healthcare, more aggressive types of breast cancer (Triple Negative), refusal to adhere to the treatment plans outlined by the Oncologist and higher uncontrolled or poorly controlled personal medical problems (such as Diabetes and High Blood Pressure).  All of these factors significantly affect the survival rates of breast cancer and are prevalent in minority women with Black women being the most severely affected.

MN: What can Black women do in order to help ourselves and each other bridge the survival gap?

Dr. Smith: Since there isn’t any way to prevent breast cancer from forming, for women who are at average to moderate risk, the best way Black women can help themselves and each other is to become active participants in their own health breast health and screening process. Adhere to the screening recommendations […] (annual Mammograms at the appropriate age determined by your doctor, annual clinical breast exams with your doctor and routine evaluation of your own breast for any new or changing findings). Know your family history and ask if there are any cancers on both your mother and father’s side of the family.

MN:  What made you enter this field of work? Are there any women in your life who have gone through this?

Dr. Smith:  Black women have the highest mortality rates of any race – even in the early, potentially curable stages. Being a black woman, I wanted to make a difference in my community and within my race because it is personal to me.

MN: Who is considered high risk?

Dr. Smith: Risks for developing breast cancer are based on the knowledge and evidence that there are controllable and uncontrollable factors which can cause mutations or changes in the normal cells that make up the structures of the breast[…]. These changes or mutations in the cells within the breast are called cancerous changes or carcinoma.

The two biggest uncontrollable risk factors for developing these cancerous changes are 1) being a woman with breasts and 2) getting older.

Breast cancer originates in the breast and the longer we live we are exposed to different controllable risk factors such as chemicals, radiation, hormones, medications, alcohol, smoking etc. The average lifetime risk for any woman to develop breast cancer in her lifetime is 10-12% depending on ethnicity. If you are a woman and you live to an average lifespan to 85 this is your basic risk.

Some women will have other risk factors that can increase their lifetime risk to 15-40%, such as a personal history or breast cancer, years of exposure to estrogen for postmenopausal women, high risk lesion (precancerous) within the breast seen on biopsies, or positive family history of two or more first-degree relatives [like a parent] with premenopausal breast cancer.

Women who are considered to be high risk for breast cancer have an increased lifetime risk of at least 60-80% such as those with Inherited Genetic Mutations (BRCA1/2, PALB, TP53) passed down through the family with a strong history of cancers on the mother and/or father’s side.

MN: We know a lot of Black women are victims of medical neglect. If you have a lump that your doctor isn’t taking seriously, what should you do?

Dr. Smith: Black women must be proactive and be an active participant in their healthcare. It is important to communicate your concerns to your doctor. If he/she isn’t taking your concerns seriously then seek a second opinion from another doctor. If it is necessary, find a different clinic or medical office for that second opinion.

MN:How can we all be better allies for women who have been recently diagnosed with breast cancer or are undergoing treatment?

Dr. Smith: Help spread the word about breast cancer, the risks associated with the Black women and screening guidelines. Education and awareness about Black women and breast cancer can help change our statistics and our story.

MN:  Why was it important for you to get involved with Know Your Girls?

Dr. Smith: The Know Your Girls campaign is a valuable resource to help with the education and awareness that Black women need in order to make changes in their lives and be inspired to take charge of their breast health.