Stevie Wonder, Common team for cancer fundraising TV special Selma Blair says she’s in remission from multiple sclerosis LOS ANGELES, Aug 17, (AP): Selma Blair says she’s in remission When she was like, ‘Yes, show it all,’ I was like, ‘This is extraordinary.’” for the seventh Stand Up To Cancer telethon, with Anthony Ander- from multiple sclerosis as a result of undergoing a stem cell transplant. Last week, actor Christina Applegate, who is the same age as Blair, son, Sofi a Vergara and husband-and-wife Ken Jeong and Tran Ho The 49-year-old actor, best known for such movies as “Cruel In- revealed her own MS diagnosis. as hosts. tentions,” “Legally Blonde” and “Hellboy,” was diagnosed with the Blair said she had been experiencing symptoms for years before Brittany Howard also will perform on the hourlong special on Aug. disease in 2018. she was offi cially diagnosed. “I’ve been carrying around some sort of 21 (8 p.m. EDT), with Matthew McConaughey, Chandra Wilson, “My prognosis is great. I’m in remission,” Blair told a Television chronic illness, either building up or had for a long time, so it wasn’t a Kate del Castillo, Jennifer Garner, MJ Rodriquez, Tony Hale, Critics Association panel on Monday. She underwent hematopoietic surprise to me,” she said. “Just the name was a surprise.” Jaime Camil and Max Greenfi eld among the celebrities helping to stem-cell transplantation which uses stem cells derived from bone mar- Blair is a single mother to her 10-year-old son, Arthur, whom she raise money for cancer research. row, peripheral blood or umbilical cord blood. credits as the source of her strength. Her mother, Molly Ann Cooke, Reese Witherspoon and her media entrepreneur husband, Jim “It took about a year after stem cell for the infl ammation and lesions to died in May 2020 at age 82. Blair was unable to visit her in her home Toth, are serving as executive producers. really go down, so I was reluctant to talk about it because I felt this need state of Michigan because of the coronavirus pandemic. The event, which is held every other year, will be carried simul- to be more healed,” she said. “I don’t have any new lesions forming.” “I really do feel now, with this pandemic, we’ve all gotten a kind of taneously and commercial-free on 60-plus US and Canadian broad- According to the Mayo Clinic, multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune diagnosis that’s incurable. It’s called living right now,” she said. “Eve- cast, cable and streaming outlets, including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. disease in which the immune system attacks the protective myelin ryone has really realized our mortality. It taught me a lot more patience Families who have been affected by the disease, including that of an People sheath that covers nerve fi bers. It can cause vision loss, pain, fatigue and understanding.” 11-year-old boy with leukemia, will share their stories. and impaired coordination. Its cause is unknown. At times, Blair said, she wishes she could go home to Michigan and As prelude to the TV special, the group is holding a week-long fund- “There’s still maintenance, treatment and glitches, and wonderful recover quietly. But she also relishes her ability to raise awareness and raising initiative starting Friday, with celebrities and social media stars things,” said Blair, who at times spoke in a halting voice on Zoom. provide encouragement to others. “joining forces across social platforms” for the cause, Stand Up To “Cognitively, I’m very changed and that’s been the harder part,” she “I never really liked life, I do now. Strange, huh?” she said. “I was Cancer said. added. so scared in life, so to suddenly start to fi nd an identity and a safety in Since its founding in 2008, Stand Up To Cancer said it has raised The actor reveals her fi ght with MS in “Introducing, Selma Blair,” me, and fi gure out boundaries and time management and energy, I’m more than $600 million for research that has contributed to federal ap- an intimate documentary directed by Rachel Fleit. It debuts Oct. 15 in having the time of my life.” provals for nine new cancer therapies and 258 clinical trials. In 2017, theaters and begins streaming Oct. 21 on Discovery+. the organization began developing a health-equity initiative to help “Selma was ready to tell this story in all of its honesty and rawness Also: underserved communities by increasing the diversity of enrollment in and truth,” Fleit said. “She had a few medical emergencies during fi lming. LOS ANGELES: Stevie Wonder and Common will perform together cancer clinical trials and fund research that addresses cancer inequities. Variety s e r u t a This image released by Hulu shows Nicole Kidman in a scene from the series ‘Nine Perfect Strangers,’ premiering Aug. 18 on Hulu. (AP) e Television Drama and suspense in new Hulu series ATLANTA: The Atlanta Ballet has chosen a leader in the fi lm industry as its new executive director. Tom West, chief advancement F Features offi cer at the American Film Insti- Kidman leads ‘Strangers’ on quite a trip tute in Los Angeles, will fully as- sume his new duties at the ballet by By Mark Kennedy sha — are hurting in some way. While the show is set in a remote part of Cali- the end of September, the ballet said “What would you do to take away the pain? fornia, fi lming actually took place in the south- in a news release recently. His selec- une in to catch “Nine Perfect Strangers” and tion was fi rst reported by the Atlanta How far would you go?” asks Kidman. “Those eastern Australian coastal town of Byron Bay, this Tyou’ll fi nd drama and suspense. But under- questions are really interesting to me, particularly “magic bubble where there was no COVID,” said Journal-Constitution. The American neath the hood you might also see some heady Film Institute is an American fi lm when they’re put in an entertaining format.” McCarthy. organization that educates fi lmmak- stuff, says star Nicole Kidman. Cannavale, who plays the former football star, The Australians took COVID-19 safety very “It kind of delves into some of the biggest ex- ers and honors the heritage of the read the script after having just fi nished Michael seriously, escorting the cast and their loved ones motion picture arts in the United istentialist questions,” she says. “What is reality? States. AFI is supported by private What place can you choose to exist in? Can we al- Pollan’s 2018 book “How to Change Your Mind,” by military to hotel rooms and quarantining them funding and public membership ter that? Is there another reality that we can access which explores the therapeutic potential of psych- for 15 days with a guard outside. Masks and tests fees. The institute is composed of that maybe is a more desired reality?” edelics. The actor jumped at the chance to show continued on set. leaders from the fi lm, entertainment, The Hulu limited series that starts Wednesday another way to treat depression. “They were not kidding around. Their protocols business, and academic communi- “We’ve been treating people the same way for were intense,” said McCarthy, who traveled with ties. The American Film Institute is defi nitely ambitious, centering on nine troubled was founded by a 1965 presidential people attending a remote Northern California years. And we’ve been kind of ignoring this alter- her family. “There’s nobody to clean your room. mandate announced in the Rose wellness retreat. Kidman plays Masha, the spa’s native way of treating it,” he says. “Maybe people Nobody changed your sheets. You were just there Garden of the White House by mysterious guru who has an unusual treatment who have never heard of this go, ‘Is that real?’ and had some self refl ection. We did a lot of color- Lyndon B. Johnson—to establish method involving psychedelics. And they’ll do a little dive on their phone and go, ing, strangely.” a national arts organization to pre- ‘Oh, my God, it is real.’” WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2021 serve the legacy of American fi lm The strangers include an unhappy romance writ- Also: er, a former football star, a bored couple, a sim- heritage, educate the next generation Message LOS ANGELES: Start the countdown. An Amazon of fi lmmakers, and honor the artists mering-with-anger divorcee, a mysterious gay man and their work. and three members of a family grieving the loss of McCarthy and Hall, who plays the repressed di- series inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the West, 54, will take over for a fourth. Their 10-day retreat is told over eight epi- vorcee, both were attracted to the show’s message Rings” and “The Hobbit” novels will premiere in Atlanta Ballet President & CEO of appreciating the messiness of life and piercing September 2022. Arturo Jacobus, who is retiring sodes — like an Agatha Christie-style parlor mys- tery mashed with an adult “The Breakfast Club.” through peoples’ overly processed, manufactured The date was announced Monday as fi lming in after 12 years. and edited portraits on social media. New Zealand concluded for the as-yet untitled His appointment comes as the The series is adapted by David E. Kelley and ballet has struggled during the John Henry Butterworth from Liane Moriarty’s “I think once you recognize the fl aw in someone series, which Amazon said will relate the “fabled pandemic.