Jeremy Strong Wears Many Hats (Two)
The Friday Post.
Hello from Haus Hung Up, where I have been thinking about this tweet pitching a “White Till” for several days.
There are not enough Boyz II Men songs to deal with the pain: The upcoming season of Succession will be its last. “Who knows about the psychological reasons, but the creative ones were that it felt really useful to not make the final, final decision for ages,” creator and showrunner Jesse Armstrong told the New Yorker, announcing the show’s conclusion on Thursday. “You know, there’s a promise in the title of Succession. I’ve never thought this could go on forever. The end has always been kind of present in my mind. From Season 2, I’ve been trying to think: Is it the next one, or the one after that, or is it the one after that?”
I’m holding my breath for a Cyd Peach spin-off, but otherwise … fair! I would die if Succession went on for too many seasons and became unwatchable like [redacted]1, its dialogue the custody of bad Bumble answers. Maybe the South Side and Reboot and Gossip Girl cancellations have broken my soul, but the opportunity to write your ending has become a gift. Gah! The final season of Succession Power Rankings return March 26; the rankings will remain free to read, but only the paid list will have the opportunity to comment, and chime in on post-episode discussion threads.
Jeremy Strong is on the cover of March’s GQ, talking about the end of Kendall and the Roys. My favorite part, the line that I has kept me up at night, the part that has unsettled my spirit, a sentence I must get to the bottom of is that: Jeremy Strong wore a beanie over a bucket hat.
I like Jeremy Strong (Molly’s Game! “Ugly dress, ugly shoes!”), he is the rare actor in Hollywood to dress interestingly, and he’s great as Kendall but: come on. This is nuts! On at least three separate occasions, since reading this profile, I have googled “bucket hat” and “beanie,” just to make sure that a beanie still looks like a beanie and a bucket hat still looks like a bucket hat. Once immediately during reading. Again just before bed on Tuesday night, just because, of course, I must’ve read that wrong. A beanie must be the loose thing right? And the bucket hat must be the tight thing? And again, just now:
I have to return to the text: On his head: a brown bucket hat. On top of that hat: a second hat, a brown cashmere beanie.
A singular, demure choice. The bill of the bucket hat — a tease! Layering as performance. A thinking cap’s thinking cap. Did he forget he was already wearing a hat, and add the beanie on top? Did he worry that the beanie, by itself, wouldn’t stay on? I can't think about the end of Succession, sorry, I just cannot. I have to wear two hats and think about that instead.
What The Paid List Got This Week
You can read here and subscribe here.
Dream of dreams: I profiled Usher for March’s GQ! “Every time I have fantasized about going to a party with a famous, intensely desired man—which is often, because I am a dreamer and also a Leo—it has never played out like this.”
You can read it here :)
What’s Drake Up To?
In an interview with Lil Yachty, Drake suggests that his rap career is nearing its expiration date. (We all heard “Her Loss.“ For the best!) “I feel like I’m kinda introducing the concept in my mind of a graceful exit,” he said. The clip has made the rounds; is this the end of Drake?
Is it a coincidence that Drake threatens to quit just as he’s in the news for trying to avoid getting deposed in the XXXTentacion murder trial? Process serves tried to serve Drake, but Drake’s bodyguards simply kicked the subpoena down the driveway, and refused to accept it. On Valentine’s Day no less! From Meghan Cuniff:
“By the way I like Drake” didn’t work of course but maybe if they showed up with a with some hookah and pitches for bad tattoos Drake would’ve opened the door.
Still Doing The Thing
Benjamin Rauhala, Ariana DeBose’s music director-slash-co-conspirator, posted a behind the scenes of her BAFTAs rap. When she’s not out of breath, the rap still sounds … about the same! Perfect execution really: it was all exactly as she’d rehearsed, including the pronunciation of Ahn-jah-lah.
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On Twitter, Rauhala compared the moment to Julia Fox saying “uncuhgehmz” and the jury is still out on that comparison.
I hope Ariana DeBose takes this on tour, starting with the Oscars.
That’s All Right Baby!
Doja Cat is not nominated for the Oscar she should win (it’s The Weeknd’s 50 Shades song losing all over again, almost). But could Austin Butler be … a frontrunner?? An observation from Puck: “Austin Butler, BAFTA winner. Is this dude really the Oscar frontrunner now? Over Colin Farrell and Brendan Fraser? Really? Let’s think this one through, Academy.”
Austin Butler about to win an Oscar for a good movie that he is good in?
Due Diligence
Rihanna will perform “Lift Me Up” at the Oscars, and I wonder what former Best Actor winner will find his way into the Dolby that night? (The Academy)
I might’ve shared this before but God-level writing in this profile of Michael B. Jordan from Carvell Wallace in Rolling Stone. Just beautiful, lush, resplendent writing:
“In all of the Creed movies, one of the central internal tensions for the male characters is that dudes who have been raised to fight are now tasked with the job of loving. A reclusive Rocky must love Adonis Creed. Adonis Creed must love his wife, Bianca, and their child. Of course, love is quite the opposite of being ‘locked in.’ Relationships require such suppleness, gentleness, and flexibility. They require long stretches of ambiguity and discomfort, and all of this requires time. Emotional labor and time.”
The trailer for A24’s Past Lives … shook me to my core … do you ever watch a trailer and think I’ll play a song, and you dance … like you don’t understand … 2010 me would’ve downloaded this to her iPod and memorized every word like I did with the Blue Valentine trailer …
Loved this, from Maya Cade in Architectural Digest: “5 Must-Watch Black Movies That Explore the Meaning of Home” (AD)
Catholic readers: what are you giving up for Lent, and by Lent I mean “Mark Whalberg’s 40 Day Challenge?”
That’s all this week! Thank you for reading. I’ll leave you with this: hoe trip inspo from Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro.
This One Line From Barbie Plays on a Loop in My Head
Major spoilers for the Barbie movie below. There are some common denominators to the line readings I think about a lot: there are lines that are guffaw-inducing levels of nonsense (“You shouldn’t be upset that I fucked her, you should be upset that I had a laugh with her!”
The Office.
petition to make the beanie/bucket hat recreation your permanent profile picture
thank you for the hat-on-hat demonstration. some of us are visual learners!