News

Horror Pride Month: Actor/Musician Daniel Newman

Published

4 years ago

June 4, 2020

Daniel Newman has, in some ways, lived out his dream numerous times.

The Georgia native was only 12 years old when he landed his first guest role on a TV series, and since that time he’s worked steadily as an actor on both the big and small screens.

The lifelong horror fan has even had the opportunity to step into dream roles along the way including 2012’s television adaptation of Stephen King’s Children of the Corn in which he took on the role of Malachai, the lethal enforcer and right-hand to crazed child preacher Isaac.

The actor called the experience a “magical” one that allowed him to just let go and have an amazing time among the rows.

It was his guest-starring turn in The Walking Dead, however, that really seemed to put him on the radar of many horror fans. It was an exciting role for him, but one that he also entered with a bit of trepidation.

“It was really crazy,” the actor told me in our interview, “because I expected it to be like a lot of hit shows that I’ve been on where it’s a tight group cast and you can’t really fit in, but on the first day Melissa McBride ‘Carol’ came up to me in the trailer saying, ‘Daniel! How have you been? I’ve missed you so much!’ I thought I was being pranked, but then I suddenly realized she was actually my casting director on projects when I was a kid! I totally forgot. So she really brought me into the cast and made me feel at home.”

And yet, through most of his career, perhaps his best acting went on off-screen. It was, in fact, in the wake of his success on The Walking Dead, he says, when reporters and journalists began to ask him about his personal life. Did he have a girlfriend? Was he in a relationship? What did he he look for in a potential girlfriend?

In those moments, the bisexual actor’s story became one that wasn’t so different from many actors. For years he was told if he came out it would kill his career, that it would destroy all the work his agents had done, and that it was just really “none of other people’s business anyway.”

Like so many before him, the actor bought into that lie until he found himself confronted by a far different reality.

Newman was volunteering at a shelter for LGBTQ youth when one of the young people there approached him and thanked him for being so nice to them. She said it in such a way that acknowledged the line that everyone on the queer spectrum knows exists.

In response, Newman told her that he was one of them.

“I thought she would be happy when I told her I also am part of the community,” he explained, “but she was furious and she said ‘why do celebrities and public people stay in the closet when they are successful! It hurts the whole community.’ I remembered thinking the exact same thing all throughout my youth being so mad that successful people weren’t out and proud representing all of us.”

When the actor left the shelter that day, he went home and came out publicly on Twitter and on YouTube saying he didn’t want to give himself an out to backtrack on his decision.

With the statement made, he sat down to await the career implosion that he’d be warned about his entire life. To his shock, however, the destruction never came. In fact, he says, he began to get more offers than he’d had before.

Today, Newman continues his work onscreen while also touring with his band and working in the technology industry. That has not stopped his activism, however, and if anything, it has more solidified his stance on representation in the entertainment industry.

“I think the mistake throughout the past in LGBTQ roles was to marginalize them and sexualize them,” Newman pointed out, “rather than to humanize them and base the characters and narratives on relatable human attributes. There are hundreds of millions of diverse LGBTQ people around the world and nothing could be broader than the personalities and character types of our culture.”

Personally, I couldn’t agree more.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

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Movies

Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

Published

17 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.

Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.

The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.

Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”

Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

News

Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

Published

18 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.

“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.

Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.

The prize also includes:

An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings

A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear

A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room

A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course

The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II

Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two

“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”

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Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Movies

’28 Years Later’ Trilogy Taking Shape With Serious Star Power

Published

20 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Danny Boyle is revisiting his 28 Days Later universe with three new films. He will direct the first, 28 Years Later, with two more to follow. Deadline is reporting that sources say Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes have been cast for the first entry, a sequel to the original. Details are being kept under wraps so we don’t know how or if the first original sequel 28 Weeks Later fits into the project.

**Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes**

Boyle will direct the first movie but it’s unclear which role he will take on in the subsequent films. What is known is Candyman (2021) director Nia DaCosta is scheduled to direct the second film in this trilogy and that the third will be filmed immediately afterward. Whether DaCosta will direct both is still unclear.

Alex Garland is writing the scripts. Garland is having a successful time at the box office right now. He wrote and directed the current action/thriller Civil War which was just knocked out of the theatrical top spot by Radio Silence’s Abigail.

There is no word yet on when, or where, 28 Years Later will start production.