The Culture

Hollywood's Broadway Takeover: Angelina Jolie, Sarah Paulson, and More Win Big at the Tonys

The level of Hollywood stars at the Tony Awards was kind of insane. I mean, you know it's serious when Angelina Jolie wins a Tony. The cynical part of me is like, 'Did they just win because they're movie stars?' (And let's be real, they likely won because they're movie stars.) But regardless of that, it was fun to see all the talent take home Broadway's biggest prize.

Let's start things off with the major Hollywood stars who took home Tonys. Jolie's win was for Best Musical, The Outsiders—before your brain explodes wondering how Angelina Jolie was in a musical, she just produced it. Emmy-winner Sarah Paulson won Best Actress in a Play for Appropriate. Jonathan Groff, who you know as the voice of Kristoff in Frozen and from Netflix's Mindhunter, won Best Actor in a Musical for Merrily We Roll Along. (His speech was kind of everything and, of course, I memed it.) Succession's Jeremy Strong can now add a Tony to his shelf alongside his Emmy because he won Best Actor in a Play for An Enemy of the People. Even Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Merrily We Roll Along.

Also, can we talk about how so many past guests on the Parting Shot won Tonys last night? I recently chatted with Kara Young, who won for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch. I also recently chatted with Alex Edelman, who took home a special Tony for his one-man show Just for Us. Beyond that, I've also chatted with Paulson, Groff, and Radcliffe in the past for the Parting Shot. Perhaps the Parting Shot is the ticket to winning a Tony?

My favorite moment of the night, though, was something Kecia Lewis said in her acceptance speech for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Hell's Kitchen. The legendary actress pulled out her phone to read her speech and said, "People, stop texting me. Jesus." I was on a plane watching and laughed a little too loudly.

The cringiest part of the night was Eddie Redmayne performing a number from Cabaret, currently on Broadway. I don't know what was wrong with it, but I know it will be the thing that haunts my nightmares for weeks to come. It was giving theater kid trying way too hard. Google it, because I can't be the only one haunted by this.

All in all, it was a good show. Host and past-Tony winner, Ariana DeBose, did a great job and I wasn't mad about any of the wins.

OK, now let's go over what else is popping in the world of pop culture...

• Inside Out 2 saved the box office this weekend. The Disney/Pixar film earned a whopping $155 million, something very few films have been able to do this summer. I have to admit I was worried about how it would perform considering how badly not only the summer box office has been, but also how poorly Disney films have fared as of recently. I'm glad to see it do well. I saw it last week and it gave me everything the original film did and more. (And yes, you'll cry.)
• Kate Middleton made her first appearance since January this weekend, and she looked great. It was so wonderful to see Princess Kate out during Saturday's Trooping the Colour ceremony. I especially loved seeing little Prince Louis, standing in front of his mother, do a little dance as he watched the ceremony. As someone who has had cancer, that moment you start to go out and do "normal things" again is hard, so her being out there looking great probably made a ton of cancer survivors very happy.
• So much is going on with Kevin Costner. He's got his new film Horizon: An American Saga coming out—a two-part Western—and he's addressing a possible return to the show Yellowstone. On the TODAY show, he said his departure from the show was because he was angry about script delays and that he'd return if the script was right and ready to shoot. Listen, I'm just gonna call it like I see it... somebody sounds like a diva, you know what I'm saying? That's all.

I'll be taking this Wednesday off in recognition of Juneteenth, but I will be back Friday with so much more pop culture news. Have a great week.