Kat Dennings reveals the awful phrases directors used to call her at just 12 years old

The 38-year-old has starred as Max Black in 2 Broke Girls and Darcy Lewis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, with her latest project, ABC’s Shifting Gears, also seeing her take on a leading role.

While Dennings is a highly successful actor, it doesn’t meant her career hasn’t seen any bumps along the way.

Sitting down with PEOPLE Magazine, the actor spoke about how she learnt to ignore her critics from a very young age.

Kate Dennings burst onto the scene at a young age (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Kate Dennings burst onto the scene at a young age (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

“The time that I was auditioning and starting to act, it was a very different environment than it is now,” she told the outlet. “There was not a lot of inclusivity at all. It was very harsh. There was a lot of extremely negative feedback and people would not hold back.”

The actor then went on to reveal what some directors would end up calling her from a young age, something she described as ‘very cruel’.

She continued: “It was pretty crazy thinking about it. I’m like, ‘How can anyone say that about a little kid? This is insane’. For example, I was 12. I’d go into an audition and I’d do it, and my manager would call me and I’d be like, ‘How’d it go?’

“And they’d be like, ‘Well, they thought you weren’t pretty enough and you’re fat’.”

Rather than taking those awful phrases to heart, Dennings decided their judgements were wrong, and good on her really!

“That was my attitude. For some reason, it didn’t break my spirit. I was like, ‘I’ll show them’,” she added.

“I guess props to my parents, because they were like, ‘They’re idiots. Don’t listen to them.’ And I was like, ‘They’re idiots, I’m not’.”

Dennings was called some awful names by directors (David Livingston/Getty Images)

Dennings was called some awful names by directors (David Livingston/Getty Images)

Dennings said times were pretty bad back then, but admitted the industry is certainly ‘much softer’ nowadays, in her opinion.

“There’s body positivity, there’s inclusivity, there’s representation, and there was none of that before. It was really gross,” she added.

In her new venture, the actor stars alongside Tim Allen on Shifting Gears, which sees Matt (Allen) reunited with his estranged daughter Riley (Dennings).

“He’s Santa Claus [The Santa Clause films] and Buzz Lightyear,” Dennings said of Allen to People.

“He’s a big part of my consciousness growing up, so it was very surreal to work with him, but in a great way, because he’s a very kind person.”

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Topics: Film and TV

Millie Bobby Brown reveals the words that nearly made her quit acting aged just 10 years old

Millie Bobby Brown reveals the words that nearly made her quit acting aged just 10 years old

Millie Bobby Brown is now one of the biggest actors in Hollywood

Callum Jones

Callum Jones

Millie Bobby Brown is one of the most loved actors in Hollywood, but things could have been so different if she’d listened to one director.

At 20 years old, Bobby Brown already has an impressive resume, with Stranger Things undoubtedly being her biggest highlight.

The actor may not have reached the heights she has though, after a certain few words nearly made her quit acting when she was just ten.

In a 2022 interview with Allure Magazine, Bobby Brown admitted to struggling with self-identity growing up, but she quickly realized she wanted to be an actor.

“I enjoyed being different people because I always struggled with self-identity and knowing who I was.

Millie Bobby Brown's journey has been a bumpy one (Arturo Holmes/WireImage)

Millie Bobby Brown’s journey has been a bumpy one (Arturo Holmes/WireImage)

“Even as a young person, I always felt like I didn’t quite belong in every room I was in. I also struggle with loneliness a bit.

“I always felt quite alone in a crowded room, like I was just one of a kind, like nobody ever really understood me. So I liked [playing] characters that people understood [and] people could relate to because I felt like no one could relate to Millie.”

But the road to becoming a Hollywood actor was a bumpy one for the star, with a pivotal moment at the age of ten leading to the actor considering ditching her dream altogether.

During an audition, Bobby Brown was told by a casting director how she would never make it in the industry.

She recalled: “I always knew that I was mature and I couldn’t really help that. Going back to what I said earlier about being kind of very lonely in who I was and feeling like no one was quite like me in school and no one was as mature as I was, [hearing that] was really hard because I thought [maturity] was a good thing.

“And then being told that it wasn’t, that I wouldn’t make it in this industry, it was so hurtful. I got really down about that.”

Millie Bobby Brown almost quit acting (Arturo Holmes/WireImage)

Millie Bobby Brown almost quit acting (Arturo Holmes/WireImage)

And how wrong that director was as Bobby Brown has since gone on to appear in a ton of successful projects.

However, the incident wasn’t the only time that led to Bobby Brown considering throwing in the towel.

The doubt occurred when the actor was not cast for a part in one of Game of Thrones’ later seasons.

She recalled: “I think I was just very disheartened by the rejection which is something that I tell everyone, is like, ‘this industry is such full of rejection 24/7′.

“You get no’s – a lot of no’s – before you get a yes.”

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Featured Image Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Netflix /Netflix

Topics: Millie Bobby BrownHollywoodFilm and TV

Cameron Diaz reveals the top 5 movies of her career as she returns after 11-year break

Cameron Diaz reveals the top 5 movies of her career as she returns after 11-year break

Cameron Diaz exclusively revealed her favorites out of the films she’s starred in for UNILAD RANKED

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck

There’s one clear winner for Cameron Diaz when it comes to her favorite movies to have starred in across her 20-plus years in the industry.

Cameron Diaz’s latest movieBack in Action, is out on Netflix today (January 17) and sees the star return to her acting career after over a decade’s hiatus alongside Jamie Foxx.

The 52-year-old last starred in the 2014 musical release Annie, similarly alongside Foxx. The movie began shooting in 2013 and was released the following year, but it wasn’t until 2022 that Diaz was reported as beginning work on Back in Action.

The movie is now available to watch, bringing an end to fans’ 11-year wait and in honor of her return to the screen, Diaz has revealed her top five movies of her career for UNILAD RANKED.

Back in Action – Official Trailer
Credit: Netflix
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5) Being John Malkovich (1999)

The fantasy comedy was written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze.

It sees Diaz star alongside John Cusack (Sixteen Candles) and Catherine Keener (Capote).

The film centers around unemployed puppeteer Craig Schwartz (Cusack) and his pet-obsessed wife Lotte (Diaz) who live in New York. After taking a temp role, Craig ends up stumbling upon a portal which leads into the mind of renowned actor John Malkovich and the chaos only descends from there.

Being John Malkovich has achieved an impressive Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score of 94 percent and Popcornmeter score of 87.

According to IMDB, Diaz looked so different when all dressed up in her costume that some crew members didn’t recognize her and thought she was a stranger when chatting with her.

Cameron Diaz starred alongside John Cusack in Being John Malkovich (Universal Studios)

Cameron Diaz starred alongside John Cusack in Being John Malkovich (Universal Studios)

4) Gangs of New York (2002)

Written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan, this adaptation of Herbert Asbury’s 1927 novel was directed by none other than Martin Scorsese.

Diaz took on the mischievous role of Jenny Everdeane; a pickpocket and grifter whose wily ways end up attracting ‘Amsterdam’ (Leonardo DiCaprio), the son of the Dead Rabbits gang leader who was killed years earlier in a battle over territory.

Amsterdam returns to the Five Points area of the City to seek revenge against the man who killed his father, William ‘Bill the Butcher’ Cutting, played by Daniel Day-Lewis – whose nose got broken by DiCaprio while filming a fight scene in the film, IMDB notes, with Day-Lewis continuing filming the scene despite the injury.

As well as landing a place in Cameron’s top five movies, Gangs of New York has earned a Tomatometer score of 72 percent and Popcornmeter of 81.

Diaz took on the role of Jenny Everdeane as she was directed by Martin Scorsese (Miramax Films)

Diaz took on the role of Jenny Everdeane as she was directed by Martin Scorsese (Miramax Films)

3) Bad Teacher (2011)

Taking quite a turn from the violence set in New York, the 2011 movie Bad Teacher is a much more light-hearted tale as it features Diaz as, well, a bad teacher.

From writing duo Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, Bad Teacher was directed by Jake Kasdan and also stars Jason Segel (Shrinking), Justin Timberlake (Friends with Benefits) and Lucy Punch (Motherland), among others.

In the comedy, Diaz’s character is described as ‘lazy’ and ‘incompetent’; someone who certainly shouldn’t be in charge of the next generation, but who chooses to return to the job

after her wealthy fiancé dumps her – still wearing Christian Louboutin shoes of course, with IMDB reporting there was a contract between the designer himself and the movie producers to market them in the film.

The movie received harsh ratings from critics, earning a score of 45 percent on the Tomatometer and 36 percent on the Popcornmeter, but that didn’t impact Diaz’s fond memories of her time on set, telling UNILAD it was ‘really fun,’ cementing Bad Teacher’s position in the top three of her top five favorite films of her career.

Diaz let loose in the role of 'bad teacher' Elizabeth (Columbia Pictures)

Diaz let loose in the role of ‘bad teacher’ Elizabeth (Columbia Pictures)

2) The Mask (1994)

As hard as it might be to believe, it has, in fact, been over 30 years since director Chuck Russell teamed up with writers Michael Fallon, Mark Verheiden and Mike Werb to bring us the fantasy-comedy, The Mask.

At just 21 years old, The Mask was Diaz’s first movie, Russell previously telling Variety she ‘was the only person for the part as far as [he] was concerned after her first reading’.

“And then I saw the chemistry with her and Jim. Eight callbacks later, including improvs with Jim, I finally convinced producers,” he added.

The actor took on the role of Tina Carlyle, starring opposite the iconic Jim Carey (The Truman Show) as he plays bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss who finds himself transformed into a manic superhero when he puts on a mysterious, vividly green mask – who’d have guessed, eh?

Over three decades after its release, the movie remains a fan favorite with a Tomatometer score of 80 percent, and 68 percent on the Popcornmeter.

The Mask was Diaz's 'first movie' (New Line Cinema)

The Mask was Diaz’s ‘first movie’ (New Line Cinema)

1) Charlie’s Angels (2000)

Sorry The Holiday fans, today isn’t your day. Fellow Shrek fans, I hear your cries. And how could My Sister’s Keeper not make the list? I also hear you scream. However, ultimately, for Diaz there’s no beating this icon.

When asked about the top film of her career, it was her 2000 action movie directed by McG, and written by Ryan Rowe, Ed Solomon and John August, that sprung to mind.

Diaz teamed up with her fellow angels, Drew Barrymore (Blended) and Lucy Liu (Kill Bill: Volume 1) and the trio portray three private investigators assigned to track down a kidnapped software engineer.

Diaz joined Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu in Charlie's Angels (Columbia Pictures)

Diaz joined Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu in Charlie’s Angels (Columbia Pictures)

The movie has a strong score of 68 percent on the Tomatometer, but a less impressive 45 percent rating on the Popcornmeter.

Regardless of what some critics might think, Diaz wasted no time in stating her number one: “Charlie’s Angels, of course!”

Words by Poppy Bilderbeck. Interview conducted by Rhianna Benson.

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Featured Image Credit: New Line Cinema/Netflix

Topics: EntertainmentNetflixFilm and TVCelebrityUNILAD RANKED

Tom Cruise's most underrated movie has just turned 10 years old

Tom Cruise’s most underrated movie has just turned 10 years old

The movie released in 2014 to huge critical acclaim

Callum Jones

Callum Jones

Given how vast Tom Cruise’s filmography is, you’d be surprised to know that one of his most underrated films often slips through the cracks.

However, when it comes the Hollywood veteran, the likes of Mission ImpossibleTop Gun: Maverick and its 1986 original are very iconic in their own right.

I mean, the 62-year-old has been in the industry since 1980, so there are, of course, some films Cruise has been involved in that aren’t particularly the best, but there’s one flick that comes to mind that is fantastic and oft not talked about much, which turns 10-years-old this year.

The film sees Cruise play Major William Cage as the likes of Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Charlotte Riley and Brendan Gleeson joined him in the cast – not ring a bell yet?

A 2014 movie starring Tom Cruise has just turned 10 years old (Warner Bros)

A 2014 movie starring Tom Cruise has just turned 10 years old (Warner Bros)

We are, of course, talking about action/sci-fi thriller that is Edge of Tomorrow, which released in cinemas across the globe in 2014.

A loose adaptation of the Japanese light novel, All You Need Is Kill, (which is also a sick title) by Hir, the film follows Cage (Cruise), a new recruit who has ‘never seen combat’, is assigned to a suicide mission along with his comrade, Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Blunt), however, every time he is killed he is then revived to fight the same fight against the aliens who occupy Earth.

Whenever he is revived, he must learn to improve his skills in order to defeat the aliens, known as ‘Mimics’.

If that doesn’t jog your memory, then you can watch the trailer here:

Edge of Tomorrow trailer with Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise
Credit: Warner Bros.
0 seconds of 2 minutes, 33 secondsVolume 90%

While Edge of Tomorrow may not be the first movie that comes to mind when you think of Cruise, it was reviewed incredibly well by critics at the time, currently sitting at a whopping 91 percent Rotten Tomatoes critical score to this day, as well as a 90 percent Popcorn meter.

What’s even better is that Edge of Tomorrow also relied on practical effects – surprising a lot of people when they came across the behind-the-scenes footage.

And in case you needed anymore convincing, MovieFreak.com’s review read: “Edge of Tomorrow is a rousing adventure filled with pulse-pounding thrills and surprising dashes of character-driven humor, the film a breathless two hours of fun worth celebrating.”

Meanwhile, Vanity Fair stated in their review: “This is the kind of thoughtfully constructed movie that other summertime blockbusters should aspire to be more like, clever and cool and never giving you that ho-hum sense that you’ve seen it all before.”

For anyone in the US that’s interested in Edge of Tomorrow, it’s available to watch on Netflix.

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Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros

Topics: Tom CruiseFilm and TV

Crew member of new Nosferatu explains why 'prosthetic penis' used in film will 'live on forever'

Crew member of new Nosferatu explains why ‘prosthetic penis’ used in film will ‘live on forever’

Nosferatu is in cinemas across the US

Callum Jones

Callum Jones

A member of the Nosferatu team has explained why the ‘prosthetic penis’ used in film will ‘live on forever’.

The remake of the horror classic hit cinemas in the US on Christmas Day, and it’s already received critical acclaim.

Lily-Rose stars as Ellen Hutter in the horror remake, with Nicholas Hoult, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, and Bill Skarsgård also starring in the thriller.

Nosferatu (2024) trailer
Credit: Universal Pictures
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It’s Skarsgård’s performance in the movie that has grabbed many people’s attention, with the actor looking unrecognisable in a moustache and prosthetics.

Count Orlok, the character the actor plays, also wears the much-talked about prosthetic penis, which can be seen early on in the movie.

The prop has quickly become infamous, which should hardly come as a surprise.

Nosferatu’s creative team has sat down with US Weekly recently, where they spoke about the prosthetic penis and Hoult’s interactions with the props.

Traci Loader, who was the lead makeup designer on the movie, told the outlet: “With Thomas, they had a scene where Orlok was sucking his blood and the penis kept rubbing on his leg and he didn’t know how to react to him.

“I don’t think you’ll forget that moment,” Suzanne Stokes-Munton, who worked in the film’s hair department, joked.

This led to Loader stating the prosthetic penis will ‘live on forever’.

To remember the infamous film prop, Nicholas has a duplicate of it. Yep, he really did take that home.

Lily-Rose Depp in Nosferatu (Universal Pictures)

Lily-Rose Depp in Nosferatu (Universal Pictures)

The actor told Elle recently: “I have Count Orlok’s prosthetic penis framed at home.

“There’s a scene where Bill Skasrgard is slurping my blood, and Robert Eggers asked afterward, ‘How was that for you?’ And I said, I could feel his prosthetic penis on my leg.

“And then, as a wrap gift, Rob got it framed, and he sent it to my house.”

Nosferatu has performed extremely well amongst industry critics so far, sitting at an impressive 85 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

Soren Andersen, from the Seattle Times, wrote: “It’s not the best Dracula movie of all time, though it aspires to that. Murnau’s original still leads the pack. But it certainly is the most stylish. Eggers is a filmmaker with astonishing visual flair.”

While The Australian’s Stephen Romei penned: “It is gruesome and funny, with Bill Skarsgard as the vampire fanging it like nobody’s business and Willem Dafoe as occult ­expert Albin Eberhart Von Franz responding with melodramatic humour.”

Nosferatu is in cinemas across the US now.

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