Hailee Steinfeld on Taylor Swift: ‘She’s an amazing friend’

CEBU, Philippines - Hailee Steinfeld and Taylor Swift aren’t just a couple of pretty faces on Instagram. They’re great pals, too!

Taylor’s “an amazing friend,” Hailee says matter-of-factly in the May 2014 issue of Nylon, featuring the “3 Days to Kill” star on the cover.

“I always get the ‘Tell us something nobody knows [about Taylor] question,” the actress continues. “And it’s like, we both respect each other tremendously, but we choose to keep our friendship out of the public eye. She’s a really great person and an inspiration to me and many others.”

A 17-year-old could do worse in the friend department, that’s for sure. Hailee and Taylor were just spotted together in New York grabbing dinner over the weekend, and the actress makes regular appearances on the carousel of friend pictures that is Taylor’s Instagram account. They also danced up a storm together after a Golden Globes afterparty.

But according to Hailee herself, she’s just a normal teenager. And we almost believe her! “Yeah, absolutely,” the Oscar-nominated thespian said. “It is about being honest. People live different lifestyles, and I always find an equivalency: If I’m filming or going to and audition it’s [the same as] my friends going school or dance class. I think everyone lives the same way and encounters the same sort of life.”

Some lives just have a little more Taylor Swift in them than others. Hailee said that she met Taylor through mutual friend Emma Stone, another totally normal person to know when you’re still technically a kid.

“We do just really random stuff when we are together,” Steinfeld said about her friendship with the singer. “We just love to kick back, listen to music, watch TV, bake, watch movies and all of that kind of stuff.”

Jude Law joins period drama ‘Genius’

British actor Jude Law will replace Michael Fassbender in the role of American novelist Thomas Wolfe in “Genius,” which is slated to enter production in August under director Michael Grandage.

“Genius” will revolve around the eccentric personality of the editor Max Perkins. Colin Firth has been attached to star as Perkins since November 2012, and Sean Penn was interested in the part before then.

The film will be inspired by A. Scott Berg’s biography “Max Perkins: Editor of Genius,” which explores the life of the literary great who brought such heavyweights as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway to the general public. The screenplay was written by John Logan, who penned scripts for “Gladiator” and “Skyfall.”

The feature will focus in particular on the editor’s complicated relationship with the novelist Wolfe. Law will play this character, who died of tuberculosis in 1938 at age 37. Though less read today than some of his contemporaries, Wolfe was critically acclaimed in his day and left a lasting mark on the American literary tradition through his novels “Look Homeward, Angel” and “You Can’t Go Home Again,” among others.

‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ cast unveiled

“Star Wars: Episode VII” finally has its stars. May the Force be with them.

 After months of carefully guarded secrecy and endless Internet speculation, the cast of the latest incarnation of the space epic was unveiled Tuesday on the official “Star Wars” website by Lucasfilm and the Walt Disney Co.

Starring in J.J. Abrams’ new “Star Wars” are: John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Max von Sydow, Andy Serkis and Domhnall Gleeson.

The companies declined to name the characters each will play, though Driver, the breakout star of HBO’s “Girls,” is widely expected to be playing the film’s feature villain.

They join returning “Star Wars” veterans Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. Peter Mayhew is also back as Chewbacca and Kenny Baker will reprise RD-D2.

“It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again,” director and co-writer Abrams said in a statement. “We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”

Disney will release “Star Wars: Episode VII,” which will be set 30 years after 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” in December 2015. Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, and immediately put a new “Star Wars” trilogy into development.

The “Episode VII” cast is a mix of fresh faces, up-and-comers and established names.

The 22-year-old British actor Boyega is best known for the 2011 science fiction monster movie “Attack the Block.” Ridley, also a young British actor, is largely unknown. She has appeared in several British TV series, including “Mr. Selfridge.”

Like Driver, Isaac is a recent breakout star, following his acclaimed performance in the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis.”

The 30-year-old Irish actor Gleeson has appeared in numerous films, including 2012’s “Anna Karenina” and both parts of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” He’s acted frequently on stage, earning a Tony nomination in 2006 for his performance in “The Lieutenant of Inishmore.”

The British actor Serkis is famous for his digital shape-shifting, playing Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” films and the titular gorilla in “King Kong.” It’s widely speculated that he’ll again trade on his specialty of using performance capture to craft a digital character.

Von Sydow, the 85-year-old Swedish legend of “The Exorcist” and “The Seventh Seal,” will presumably add the kind of gravitas Alec Guinness brought to the 1977 original. (AP)

Summer beauty must-haves in ‘MARS’

Take a break from work and spend a relaxing night as comedienne Marissa Sanchez and Fabio Ide visit “MARS” this Thursday on GMA News TV.

The Labor Day episode of “MARS” will feature how to create summer beauty must-haves on the Momergency segment plus list down ingredients for homemade body mist and waxing gel. On MARS Sharing Group, learn how to harness one’s ESP in finding a lost possession with the help of a guest psychic.

Meanwhile, enjoy a healthy version of dinuguan as the owner of a vegetarian restaurant reveals her secret recipe. And get that beach body that most people dream of as “MARS” features the rotator cuff workout.

Hosted by Camille Prats and Suzi Abrera, “MARS” airs from Mondays to Fridays at 7 p.m. on GMA News TV with updates on Facebook @ MARSNEWSTV and on Twitter @ MARS_GMANEWSTV. (PR)

‘Other Woman’ maintains box office lead with $25M

Few things are as bold as a trio of scorned women.

At the box office this weekend, superhero Captain America was overpowered by Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton, whose revenge comedy “The Other Woman” debuted at No. 1.

Fox’s female-driven hit halted three-week box office leader “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” The comedy about three women wronged by a three-timing spouse played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of “Game of Thrones” — raked in $25 million according to Monday’s final box office figures.

The Disney-Marvel “Captain America” sequel has had a great run, marking its place in history as the blockbuster with the best April opening ever.

After debuting above expectations, Sony’s faith-based “Heaven Is For Real” continued to show well, finishing in third place with $14.4 million in its second weekend.

The animated “Rio 2” dropped a spot to fourth place with $14 million, while “Brick Mansions,” starring Paul Walker, had a firm opening with $10 million at No. 5. The action crime drama was one of the last film’s Walker completed before he died in a car accident in November.

A24 Films’ “Locke,” starring Tom Hardy, scored the weekend’s highest per-screen average after debuting on only four screens in New York and Los Angeles.

Due to the one-man show that is “Locke” — the film sees Hardy spend 85 minutes alone in a car while tackling a series of events jeopardizing his carefully patterned existence. A24 Films executive Nicolette Aizenberg admits it was a tough one to market.

But they chose to focus on Hardy’s strength as a leading man and the positive word of mouth. “The reviews for ‘Locke’ were amazing,” said Aizenberg. “You’re always nervous the day you open a movie, but Tom is really a star. People want to see what he will do next.” (AP)

Miss Teen Philippines 2014 selects 7 Central Visayas winners

Out of 20 finalists from all over Central Visayas, seven winners were selected in the Miss Teen Philippines regional finals held April 27 at the SM City Cebu Event Centre.

The following young ladies will move up to the national pageant, the grand coronation of which will be held May 30 at the Philippine International Convention in Manila: Elizabeth Renee Scheer (16, Southwestern University), Naomi Fujii (16, Indiana Aerospace University), Bianca Wilhelmina Willemsen (15, San Roque Child Development School), Amyrrha Estolloso (18, Silliman University), Charisse Claire Lanchinebre (15, Maya National High School Daanbantayan), Victoria Leslie Ingram (17, Immaculate Heart of Mary Academy), and Princess Jayme (17, Cebu Normal University).

Other awards given out during the regional finals were: Best in Gown for Scheer, who received P5,000 worth of gift certificate courtesy of Dexter Alazas from Alazas Atellier; Miss Sachii Phils for Willemsen, who received one set of skin care products courtesy of Guen Ouano Layos, owner of Sachii Skin Care Prods; Miss Photogenic for Lanchinebre, who received a pictorial courtesy of Multi-clicks Weddings and Events; Miss Kuya J for Ingram, who received gift certificates from Kuya J restaurant; and Miss IT Figures Facial and Slimming Salon for Jayme, who received P20,000 worth of skin care and beauty products from It Figures Facial and Slimming Salon.

Miss Teen Philippines regional coordinators were Dexter Alazas (regional director), Janice Barillo (overall Miss Teen Philippines Central Visayas secretariat) and Ariel Allera (PR manager).

The winner of Miss Teen Philippines 2014 will be DepEd’s Ambassadress for Education and will serve to inspire and actively engage the youth to value education while promoting the various DepEd youth-directed priority programs. She will also be a member of the Philippine Delegation to the Southeast Asian Youth Program and to the National Youth Parliament and will undergo the same training and preparation as the other members of the national team prior to their international travel.

Furthermore, the winner will get a chance to dialogue and consult with WAFW’s (World Academy for the Future of Women) Board of Directors and Advisors and other female global change makers in order to help her chart her future path as another woman change maker of her generation. One of their pre-pageant activities will have the finalists attending seminars with DepEd so they will further understand the value of education.

She will also take home a grand prize that has a combined value of P2.6 million, which includes a four-year college scholarship.

To further mold the candidates, MTP 2014 got on board mentors that make up the pageant’s advisory council, namely, actress Jasmine Curtis Smith (Miss Teen Philippines Ambassadress), Miss International 2005 Precious Lara Quigaman, Miss World 1993 second runner-up and actress Ruffa Gutierrez, makeup artist extraordinaire Robbie Piñera, premier hair stylist Jing Monis, popular fashion blogger Laureen Uy and model/personality development coach Bianca Valerio.

Labor Day Weekend: Work hard, play hard

Labor Day – a day-off from work and a great excuse to have a vacation. For us Filipinos, Labor Day is more than just a holiday, it signifies our victory against work oppression. This day represents the fight for fair work hours, safe and secure working conditions, equal standards for women and abolition of child labor. We’ve got a lot to celebrate about.

For employees all over the country, Labor Day weekend is the perfect opportunity to take a much-needed vacation with friends and family. Some travel to other cities and countries, made easier by airline seat sales. Most of the population head over to the paradise island of Boracay for the annual Laboracay festivities. Whatever destination or activity people choose to do, one thing’s for sure: Labor Day weekend is all about taking time off after working hard. It’s the short summer vacation of all employees!

This year, Cebuanos can kick off their shoes, let their hair down and leave the world behind in Cebu’s first official Labor Day Weekend party! Party at Crimson Resort and Spa Mactan on May 2 with Dutch Party Starter DJ Alvaro, MC KC Jones, and your favorite Spectrum DJs. You’ve been hustling all day, now it’s time to play. Labor Day weekend just got wilder. Call the crew, head to Mactan. It’s about to get hot in here. Welcome to the Jungle Beach! Summer is in session.

The Spectrum Labor Day Weekend 2014 is presented by SMART PREPAID and copresented by Nixon and Autowelt BMW. Tickets are available at Urban Superior Store, Banilad Town Center and http://www.spectrum.ph/. (PR)(FREEMAN)