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    We’re always trying to find the next rare gem, says Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele

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    LOCATING Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele is proving difficult.One half of the award-winning Australian electronic duo is 20 minutes late for our video call and he’s locked in a studio in Hawaii. But when he does emerge, he’s in good spirits and full of apologies.Luke Steele, right, Nick Littlemore, left, release Ask That God, Empire Of The Sun’s fourth album, todayThe new album is the first the band has released since 2016’s After Two VinesSteele says fans won’t have to wait eight years for another album after Ask That God, as the band are ‘trying to keep the train moving’“We decided there was no better time to start the next record, right as this new one is getting released,” says Steele who with Nick Littlemore releases Ask That God, their fourth album, today.“We are recharged and ready to go,” he says. “After Two Vines (2016 album) we got quite exhausted and everything stopped working. Nothing was gelling.“At the start of the pandemic, I was instrumental saying, ‘That’s it, I’m done, I’m leaving’,” he explains. “I told Nick, management, the record company that the band was over. That I was never doing another record. And I left.“I made a solo record and moved to northern California, but then piece by piece, I started to realise what I was missing and what was so beautiful about Empire in the first place.READ MORE BIG INTERVIEWS“I’d work with people and think, ‘That’s cool, but it’s not working with Nick,’ and then start falling back in love with Empire again.“Then Nick and I got back in the studio, and it really has been great. The hardest part of being in a band that’s had success is there really is extreme pressure.“With Empire, when the spirit is right, we sound like nothing else. We’ve made a few albums now and so we’ve broadened the palate with this record and it feels good.”The multiple ARIA Music award-winning band who have also been nominated for two Brit awards, sold more than 5.5million albums worldwide, and generated 7.6billion streams.Most read in MusicHonour the loveSteele says: “You work so hard to get there, then when you get there, you’ve got to stay there, so it’s hard. We’ve been fortunate to have had some big songs, and success so we’ve opened the door and are writing with different writers including some Swedish writers who we’ve always wanted to work with.”Steele is referring to production duo Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir who have worked with Avicii, Madonna and David Guetta, and Pontus Winnberg of Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue producers and songwriters Bloodshy & Avant.We feel like conduits. Empire is bigger than us and the audience own the song — you have to honour the love that people have for it.Luke Steele“Changes was the song we made with the Swedes and it felt like the quintessential Empire Of The Sun comeback song,” says Steele. “It’s a really great song and has transformed into something that’s not really ours any more.“We feel like conduits. Empire is bigger than us and the audience own the song — you have to honour the love that people have for it.”The video for brilliant song Changes also features Cruz, Steele’s ten-year-old son with wife Jodi (aka Snappy Dolphin), a creative also involved with the band.“My kids are really into music and being creative,” says the proud dad-of-two. “They are best buds. Cruz is into Metallica and all the stuff I was when I was a kid — it’s pretty awesome.“Sunny (his 16-year-old daughter) has got a band and she’s working on her own record. She really understands hooks and melodies and is a great lyricist — songs are written in the tongue of a 16-year-old going on 21.”Standouts on Ask That God include recent single Cherry Blossom, the dreamy and futuristic Rhapsodize, the classic title track, album closer Friends I Know and AEIOU, a collaboration between Empire Of The Sun and Littlemore’s other band, PNAU.“AEIOU was a great track Nick brought in. I’ve always wanted to do a song with vowels as it reminds me of a song the Maori kids sing at school,” says the singer who now lives in New Zealand.“My wife said the album is a journey of someone’s life. All these songs have been collected along the way. Friends I Know was made in Japan in 2017 as was Rhapsodize and then Revolve was made when we were working with Wendy Melvoin from Prince’s band. I believe songs step into your life — they literally walk out of the computer’s hard drive and jump onto the album when they’re ready — like a life journey.”As well as Melvoin, Empire Of The Sun have worked with Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham while with PNAU, Littlemore (together with Peter Mayes and Sam Littlemore) enjoyed a huge hit with the remix of Cold Heart by Dua Lipa and Elton John.“I felt happy and proud of Nick with that song,” smiles Steele. “He works so hard. The other day he was in Uptown New York recording with a Brazilian guitarist. I then talked to him the next day and he was working with a choir. A couple of days later he was in LA with a guy who collects 70s synths, getting samples. I think doing our own thing and working with other people is so healthy.”I have storage units for the costumes we wear in America, Australia and a couple here in Hawaii. I’ve got stuff everywhere. It really does take a village.Luke SteeleSo who would Steele say is his dream collaborator?“Tom Waits, Lana Del Rey or the Oasis guys,” he answers. “Or Sir Paul McCartney — he would be good to put down some basslines.“We’ve got a big festival (Corona Capital) in Mexico where we are playing with Sir Paul. The minute I knew that, I was like, ‘We’d better start rehearsing.’“I met Sir Paul once at Henson studios in LA. I knew he was coming so I bought a vinyl along especially. When I got to the studio I saw him getting out of the car, so I opened the door and pulled out my vinyl like a magician. My voice started shaking as I said, ‘Here you go, Paul’. I’m a huge fan.”The visuals and look of Empire Of The Sun are as striking as their music and for Ask That God, the narrative is that Emperor Steel and Lord Littlemore have come to save Empyreans after eight years away.Steele says: “We still curate the whole thing but we have a good team of artists around the world to work on projects.“I have storage units for the costumes we wear in America, Australia and a couple here in Hawaii. I’ve got stuff everywhere. It really does take a village.”To help build the visual side of the album, Steele and Littlemore spent nearly a month in Thailand with Canadian director Michael Maxxis where they recorded stunning films to accompany the release.“It was a beautiful adventure,” says Steele. “We’d been trying to find a director to make the videos for 18 months and met with 15 to 20 people from Tokyo, Australia and America but no one got anything close to what we wanted until we met Michael.God of Instagram“He sent five song treatments and they were all incredible. Then he said, ‘Why don’t we just keep going and make a music film?’ We shot nine music videos.“We’ve worked with directors before but no one as genius as him. He has a beautiful, poetic mind and is an incredible director.“All the jungles, beaches and locations we went to and the people we met made it a magical trip. At every location we’d stop and pray, blessing the land.”Steele says his spirituality and faith “are everything”. He says: “People say they love that we are spiritual.“Every soul under heaven breathing on this planet is a spirit, so everyone is spiritual. It’s important that rather than tap into the God of Instagram, people need to tap into the God of the heavens.”And deciding to name the album Ask That God after the song on the album was an obvious idea for the singer. “Nick and I coming back together to make this album was us surrendering,” he says.“It felt like we both surrendered things that we were holding on to. No one’s going to get the answers from the world — you must ask the divine. And we had a lot of songs pressing on that.“The song Ask That God came midway through the record and felt like the message that Empire needed to come back with.“It feels like we are going into battle with no weapons. It is a volatile time in the world and this is the message people need.”A year ago Steele and his family moved from north California to New Zealand (where he was born before moving to Perth where he grew up) after feeling unsafe and unhappy in California.“I felt like the whole ground in Los Angeles was shaking constantly,” he explains. “A kid was shot dead near LAX and I drove past just after he’d been murdered. I felt emotional the whole time I was in LA — like I could feel the pain. I’d be driving and start crying. Things had changed for me living there.“There was the pandemic, the riots when Trump was president. I’m so sensitive, I just can’t deal with what’s going on in America.Real work ethic“I was so paranoid living there, so now we are back in the motherland and close to my family — it’s cool to be there. When you’ve been depressed you really value joy and after living in America, I really value peace.”Once the album is out Steele is looking ahead to Empire Of The Sun’s live shows that begin in October.Fans won’t have to wait another eight years for another album after Ask That God. We are trying to keep the train moving.“I’m really excited to start the tour but it seems like you guys are last,” says Steele. “We start in Australia and go up to America and so if not this year, we will definitely be in the UK next year. It takes six months to put the show together so I can’t wait. Someone said we should be playing Glastonbury and I’d love that idea — let’s see.Empire Of The Sun perform on stage at the Madcool Festival 2019 in MadridCredit: GettyOn bandmate Nick Littlemore, Steele says: Our relationship is the best it’s ever been’Credit: Getty“Right now Nick and I are here in Hawaii working on album number five.“Our relationship is the best it’s ever been. We both now have families, so when we get into the studio, it’s down to business. Our earlier years were the hardest — there’s was so much built-up emotion, ambition and ego.“But I love the way we work now — we are hungrier now more than ever and we know what we are doing now. We’ve made four records but we’ve made hundreds of songs. We have three or four folders of Empire rarities. We have a real work ethic and I am so proud of us. We are always trying to find the next rare gem.READ MORE SUN STORIES“And that’s why fans won’t have to wait another eight years for another album after Ask That God. We are trying to keep the train moving.”The album Ask That God is out today.Ask That God by Empire Of The Sun is out 26 AugustCredit: SuppliedEMPIRE OF THE SUNAsk That God★★★★☆ More

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      Hollywood’s highest paid actors revealed with just 2 women in top 10 & biggest earner an unlikely dad on £1m a WEEK

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      IF there was one star who the banks of photographers didn’t want to miss at the Oscars in March, it was Margot Robbie in her ­fabulous Versace dress.The Australian actress had not only starred in 2023’s biggest box office hit, Barbie, but also produced it.Despite a packed year, Margot Robbie wasn’t the highest earning celeb last yearCredit: GettyComedian Adam Sandler, who had a quieter year, earned $72mCredit: RexTom Cruise earned $45millionCredit: GettyYet she didn’t receive the biggest Hollywood pay cheque of last year, as she was out-earned by comic Adam Sandler — who was not even popular enough to get a movie in the top ten highest- earning releases.So it is perhaps not surprising that Basic Instinct legend Sharon Stone has voiced her anger about the gender pay gap.Yesterday we told how she had complained that men who “frankly no one has ever heard of” had been offered 14 times her fee for a role in the same film.Of the current top ten movie ­earners, only two are women — ­Margot, and Jennifer Aniston.READ MORE ON CELEBSBut with the Barbie star earning $59million, second only to Adam Sandler’s $73million and ahead of Tom Cruise on $45million, there are some signs of improvement.Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep said recently: “There is some progress. The biggest stars in the world are women right now, although Tom Cruise is probably way over the top.”Her comments followed reports that Cruise’s 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick had earned him a reported £78million.Adam Sandler’s crowning as the cash king of Hollywood is equally spectacular.Most read in CelebrityTo Taylor’s surprise, the studio said yes to $1mAccording to financial magazine Forbes, he earned $1.4million a week last year, largely due to his ­production company Happy Madison signing a four-movie deal with ­Netflix in 2020.Paris Olympics rich list But Murder Mystery 2, in which he starred with Jennifer Aniston, performed poorly on the streaming platform, just scraping into the top 40 most viewed releases between January and June 2023.On these pages we list 2024’s highest-paid actors, according to ­Forbes magazine.But it wasn’t always the men who topped the Hollywood pay chart.The first actor to secure a million-dollar pay cheque was British film idol Elizabeth Taylor.She wasn’t keen on taking the title role in the 1963 epic Cleopatra, and was advised to ask for what was then an astronomical sum.To her surprise, the studio said yes.Many critics questioned whether anyone was worth $1million, but in the words of Taylor, who died in 2011 aged 79: “If someone is dumb enough to offer me a million dollars to make a picture I’m certainly not dumb enough to turn it down.”Even in the early days of ­cinema, before the talkies, actresses were keeping up with the men.In 1915 Charlie Chaplin signed a deal worth $10,000 a week, and a year later Mary Pickford, the ­Canadian star known as America’s Sweetheart, got the same.Ryan Gosling made $42mCredit: GettyJennifer Aniston made $41mCredit: GettyThat all changed with the advent of the blockbuster.Studio bosses wanted sequels to money-making behemoths such as Indiana Jones, The Terminator, Rambo and the comic book superheroes.And they were willing to pay astronomical sums to make sure the films’ male stars returned to make yet more of them.Will Smith was paid $100million for Men In Black 3 in 2012 and Robert Downey Jnr $75million for returning as Iron Man in 2018’s Avengers: ­Infinity War.In Hollywood’s top ten most extravagant pay cheques of all time there is only one woman — Sandra Bullock, who defied the pay ceiling on 2013 sci-fi thriller Gravity with an out-of-this-world $70million.The key to narrowing the gender pay gap will be giving women more blockbuster roles and more power behind the scenes.Undoubtedly, Margot Robbie will be able to name her fee if Barbie 2 gets made.She received the same basic pay cheque as her male co-star Ryan Gosling for making the first film — $12.5million.But because it was her production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, which got the movie green-lit, she earned a decent slice of the profit from the $1.4billion it grossed at the global box office.However, Margot is an exception in the largely male-dominated studio system.Stats out this year from The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University revealed that only 21 per cent of producers are female.The disparity is even worse for directors, with just 16 per cent women, and writers at 17 per cent.Significantly it is predominantly male producers who hire the cast and negotiate pay when a film is made.There was outrage when Barbie’s female director Greta Gerwig was not nominated for an Oscar.Oppenheimer star Matt Damon made a whopping $42mCredit: GettyLeonardo DiCaprio made a massive $41mCredit: GettyBut then it may have had something to do with the fact that membership of the Oscars organisation, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is 67 per cent male.Even this year’s Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone, whose film Poor Things made $117million worldwide, is not in the top ten ­earners.Long-established actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck both earned more, even though Air, their film about Nike trainers, didn’t do as well at the box office.Also in the top ten are Jason ­Statham and Leonardo DiCaprio, each on $41million, and Denzel Washington with $23million.But Brit Jason, 56, did have four movies out in 2023, including hits Meg 2, Fast X and the fourth Expendables film.Emma Stone is not the only actress who is angry at the pay gap.Earlier this year Olivia Colman said: “I’m very aware that if I was Oliver Colman, I’d be earning a f*** of a lot more than I am.“I know of one pay disparity which is a 12,000 per cent difference. Do the maths.”In September Jennifer ­Lawrence, whose co-star DiCaprio was reportedly paid £4million more than her for making the satire Don’t Look Up last year, said: “It doesn’t matter how much I do. I’m still not going to get paid as much as that guy, because of my vagina.”In 2014 leaked emails revealed she was paid less than Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale when they made 2013 crime comedy American Hustle together, even though she was the star of the box office smash The Hunger Games.The extent of the problem was clearly illustrated by the row over the reshooting of scenes in thriller All The Money In The World in 2017.It was reported that Mark Wahlberg got more than $1.5million for doing the same work as co-star Michelle Williams — who got just $1,000.There is already sure to be a disparity in this year’s wage winners.Dune 2, 2024’s second-biggest box office hit, supposedly paid male lead Timothee Chalamet $3million, while female lead Zendaya got $2million.Those sums will be dwarfed by Ryan Reynolds whether or not his film Deadpool And Wolverine opens as a hit this weekend.His basic pay for writing, starring in and producing the superhero blockbuster will top $25million.READ MORE SUN STORIESBut when he made the first Deadpool, the canny Canadian negotiated a share of its profits.If Ryan has repeated that trick, he can buy himself a few more Wrexham FCs.Highest grossing celebs of 2024 and all timeJason Statham made a cool $41m last yearCredit: GettyBen Affleck made $37m in the last yearCredit: GettyLegend Denzel Washinton earned $23mCredit: GettyIn 1915, Charlie Chaplin signed a deal worth $10,000 a weekCredit: GettyIn 1916, Mary Pickford, the ­Canadian star known as America’s Sweetheart, got the same $15k Chaplin was dealtCredit: AlamyMatt Damon in OppenheimerCredit: AlamyTom Cruise in Top Gun: MaverickCredit: SplashDenzel Washington in The Equalizer 3Credit: AlamyDi Caprio in Killers of the Flower MoonCredit: PARyan Gosling in a scene from the Barbie movieCredit: AlamyMargot in BarbieCredit: AlamyAdam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston in Murder Mystery 2Credit: Alamy More

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      Inside Taylor Swift’s record-breaking V&A museum exhibition with surprise costumes she donated

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      TAYLOR SWIFT mania will descend on the hallowed halls of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum when a free exhibition of her outfits opens on Saturday.Taylor Swift: Songbook Trail will feature 13 stops showcasing costumes donated by the Look What You Made Me Do singer.London’s Victoria and Albert Museum will open a free exhibition of Taylor Swift outfits on SaturdayCredit: GettyCrystal Oscar De La Renta dress for MTV Awards, 2022Credit: PATaylor performs during her Eras world tourCredit: GettyFedora from 22 video and Eras tour, 2013 & 2024Credit: GettyRunning until September 8, the display ties in with the school holidays and comes as nearly 500,000 fans are expected in the capital next month for Taylor’s five gigs at Wembley on her Eras tour.The choice of 13 installations in the hour-long museum trail, created by theatre designer Tom Piper and architect Alan Farlie, is a nod to 34-year-old Taylor’s favourite number.The V&A has previously hosted exhibitions about pop great Sir Elton John and supermodel Naomi Campbell and expects its latest show to be one of its most popular since the art and design museum began life in 1852.Exhibits include get-ups from Taylor’s six world tours, her white knit from the video for 2020 hit Cardigan, the dress she wore to the LA premiere of her Eras Tour film in 2023 and the black ruffle frock from the video for latest single Fortnight.READ MORE IN SHOWBIZOf the video’s moody look, designer Elena Velez said: “Taylor Swift x Elena Velez doesn’t make much sense without a good story, which the art directors of Fortnight gave us. I loved the [Frankenstein author] Mary Shelley aesthetic.”Elena adds that the gown — created from a Victorian-gothic skirt, a bustle from Amazon Prime and yards of fine silk — is about “our relationship to reason and romanticism” and was “stitched together with desperate and delusional tenderness”.Other fun items include the wig and facial hair Taylor wore in her video for 2020 hit The Man — influenced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s 2013 film The Wolf Of Wall Street — which transformed Taylor into a City boss. Video of her career is also beamed on to the walls.Most read in MusicThe V&A’s Kate Bailey said: “We are delighted to display iconic looks worn by Taylor, each celebrating a chapter in the artist’s journey. Taylor’s songs, like objects, tell stories drawing from art, history and literature.”Social media is already buzzing. Posting on X, one fan wrote: “There’s a Taylor Swift exhibition at the V&A?! I’m screaming, crying, throwing up. I need to go.” Another said: “I have to go to London and see the Taylor Swift exhibition.”Why Taylor Swift’s royal selfie reveals so much about modern royals William & Kate – they’re triple-A celebs, says proAnd fans even hope Taylor pays a surprise visit.Swift stunned on the red carpet in Los AngelesCredit: Getty Images – GettyStrapless floral gown at premiere of Eras Tour movie, 2023Credit: GettyMetallic jacket & skirt from 1989 world tour, 2015Credit: GettyThe superstar performing in the outfit featured in the exhibitionCredit: PATaylor during the Fearless Tour at Madison Square Garden in 2009 in New York CityCredit: GettyTudor-style dress for Love Story on Fearless tour, 2009Credit: V&ACowboy boots with her name on from her country days, 2007Credit: GettySwift pictured wearing the cowboy boots on stageCredit: V&ATaylor during the 2019 American Music Awards in November 2019 in LACredit: GettyShirt with her album titles on for American Music Awards, 2019Credit: Getty2020 Wig, beard and jacket from The Man videoCredit: ReutersThe shirt will also be showcased at the V&ACredit: GettyTaylor Swift’s The Man video was inspired by The Wolf Of Wall Street More

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      I’ve spent my entire career terrified I’ll be shot after something Sylvester Stallone said to me, says Sharon Stone

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      POSING in raunchy red undies at the age of 66, Sharon Stone revisited her most famous scene, from 1992 thriller Basic Instinct – saying women can be sexy at any age.But after an online backlash over the glam Instagram shots that she posted earlier this month, the feisty actress has now laid into her critics.Sharon Stone, 66, has hit back at critics over an online backlash to her Instagram postCredit: GettySharon shares Sly Stallone’s fear of being shot by a fanCredit: AlamyThe original pose in Basic Instinct, which turned Sharon into a celebrity overnightCredit: HandoutAt a Cannes charity gala this week she fumed: “We get to grow older. It’s ridiculous that you’re only supposed to be OK when you’re 20.“What the f***.”And she revealed that the idea to strip off for the shots, which she captioned “BASICALLY . . .  YOURS” on her Instagram post, had come from her stylist and had been completely spontaneous.But for one who seems so confident in the public eye, Sharon also told of her career-long fear of being shot dead by an obsessive fan — which was sparked by a chat with Sylvester Stallone.READ MORE ON SHARON STONEShe said: “What Sly said to me is that suddenly you are walking down the street, everyone is doing this (reaching into their pocket) and you don’t know if they are going for the pen or the gun.“That’s what becomes so unsettling, because everybody is doing that, but you don’t know why.“You feel constantly in this unsettled place that you always have to figure it out and you have to fix it and be ready.“You are always trying to figure out what everybody else’s intentions are.”Most read in CelebritySharon’s fears were worsened by the trauma of her breakout role in Basic Instinct turning her into an overnight celebrity.Basic Instinct star Sharon Stone admits to having ‘demons’ as she breaks down in tears in emotional new interviewThe movie, about a retired rock star’s murder, became one of the most talked about in cinema history.Key to its success was the iconic scene in which Sharon’s character, bisexual crime novelist Catherine Tramell, uncrosses her legs while being questioned by homicide detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), revealing that she is not wearing any underwear.Sharon’s blonde bombshell looks helped her become a global sex symbol, while her innate talent led to a Best Actress Golden Globe nomination.No securityThe film’s brutal stabbing scenes with an ice pick led one critic to praise her for “doing more for female empowerment than any feminist rally”.But Sharon says it was only when she arrived to watch the first screening at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival that she realised how unprepared she was for fame.She told the Don’t Shoot The Messenger podcast: “I didn’t have a make-up artist or a hairdresser. I had nothing, not even a security person.“Imagine being in Cannes with Basic Instinct and no security.“I get to this huge event and there’s fans everywhere, a red carpet the size of a double street and all the paparazzi are all in black tie.Sharon’s recreation of the Basic Instinct pose sparked an online backlash from trollsSharon in sunflower dress at 1992 Cannes FestivalCredit: Rex“We all go to the end of the red carpet, me and Michael Douglas and everyone, but the fans start screaming, ‘Shaaaa-ron!’ — and there’s tens of thousands of them.“I’m in a day dress that I bought off the rack at a south Beverly Hills shop, with a couple of sunflowers. It was a madhouse.“When I came out and got in that car with my two friends and tried to get back to the hotel, there were so many people on top of the car that my friends lay me on the ground because the car was being caved in.”She added: “It’s really something when you are in a car and the fans start.“They will literally pull the bumpers right off the car. They will rip the licence plates off and climb on the car, to the point where it’s black inside and you can’t see.“I’ve been in it where they have to call Swat (a police tactical team) to get the car out from under the people.I am OK that people say that I am difficult or a diva or whatever.Sharon Stone“I’ve been in it to the point that when I get in the building my clothes are literally torn into shreds, literally in pieces.”Sharon also had harsh words for Hollywood bigwigs who spent years fighting against her drive for women to receive equal pay.She told the same podcast, hosted by movie expert Kevin Goetz.“When I ask for more money, people want to say, ‘Well, she’s just about the money’.“I will get a call saying, ‘This is a $100million movie and we are going to pay this leading man, who frankly no-one has ever heard of, $7million but we want to pay you, to be the leading actress, $500,000.“I will say, ‘No, I made $500,000 on Basic Instinct 30 years ago and now I’ve done 100 films and you’re going to pay this unknown guy this. I think you should pay us each $3.5million, because I think that’s fair and reasonable’.”Sharon with Basic Instinct co-star Michael Douglas at Cannes in 1992Credit: GettySharon Stone and legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, who tried to recruit her for one of his movies by phoning her dadCredit: GettyShe added: “I am OK that people say that I am difficult or a diva or whatever.“The Screen Actors Guild can pull every single one of my work records. I am on time and I know my lines.“There is no trouble getting me out of the make-up trailer.“Martin Scorsese said to me, ‘I’ve had actresses I can’t get out of the make-up trailer. I’ve never had one I can’t get into the trailer, until I met you’.“No director that worked with me will say I’m difficult — it’s only those that haven’t worked with me.”Sharon was one of four children raised by former factory worker Joe Stone and his wife Dorothy, an accountant, in the small town of Meadville in rural Pennsylvania.I’ve been brought in by studios for their casting sessions over the years, because they know I’ve a nose for it.Sharon StoneShe recalls having a “hardscrabble” childhood. For the family dinner her parents grew their own vegetables and hunted game, which she often found hanging from her swing when she got home from school.Sharon says she was painfully shy until she started competing in beauty pageants at 19.When she took part in the Miss Pennsylvania contest in 1976, she says boxer Muhammad Ali tried to recruit her to appear in his movie The Greatest, a dramatisation of his life story.Sharon said: “Ali called my dad Joe, and he said, ‘Mr Stone, I saw your daughter in the pageant and I want her to be in The Greatest’. My dad said, ‘Well, Mr Ali, how very nice of you to call, but my daughter is very intelligent and she’s going back to college, she’s not going to be in movies’.“Ali said, ‘Mr Stone, you can hide your daughter under a bushel basket but she’s still going to be a movie star’.”Sure enough, after college and a brief modelling stint, Sharon moved to New York to pursue an acting career — and at 20 she secured a brief role in her first movie, the Woody Allen film Stardust Memories.And over the course of her 40-plus years in movies she appears to have become a talent spotter herself.Sharon during a TV role in 1983Credit: RexThe Quick And The Dead, starring a young Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, and co-produced by Sharon in 1995Credit: AlamyFor her 1995 Western The Quick And The Dead, which she co-produced, she cast both a young Leonardo DiCaprio and a then unknown Russell Crowe. She said: “I wanted Russell Crowe when no-one knew him at all.“He had done a movie in Australia called Romper Stomper and I watch everything and I said, ‘He’s going to be our next Richard Burton, he will be unbelievable, he’s very good’.“I knew it when I laid eyes on Leo. They had to push for two weeks to get Russell, because he was on another film in Australia, and they didn’t want to pay Leo.“Leo would have got a million dollars because men make a lot more, even when they’re new.READ MORE SUN STORIES“What I said is, ‘If you push for Russell, I will pay Leo out of my own salary’, and that’s what we did.“I’ve been brought in by studios for their casting sessions over the years, because they know I’ve a nose for it.” More

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      How Daisy Edgar-Jones went from dowdy ‘geek’ to Vogue’s It Girl – as she reveals huge regret after Normal People success

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      WITH two Golden Globe nominations under her belt and a blockbuster hit in cinemas, Daisy Edgar-Jones has had more success in the past four years than most actors enjoy in their entire career.Not bad, considering the British actress was a virtual unknown before being catapulted to fame thanks to her debut lead role in BBC lockdown smash-hit Normal People, alongside Paul Mescal.Daisy Edgar-Jones in New York on her way to a talk show on ThursdayCredit: GettyThe British actress alongside Paul Mescal in BBC’s Normal PeopleCredit: BBC/Element Pictures/HuluDaisy in Where The Crawdads Sing, based on the novelCredit: AlamyNow the London-born star has stirred up a storm at the box office, with summer blockbuster Twisters having the biggest debut weekend for a disaster movie EVER in the US — widely exceeding expectations and pulling in £62million.The film, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, sees Daisy starring opposite Hollywood’s man-of-the-moment, Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell.And now her global icon status has been cemented after fashion bible Vogue dubbed 26-year-old Daisy Hollywood’s ultimate It Girl.The world’s top designers are ­falling over themselves to dress her, with Daisy being snapped in as many as four different outfits a day as she busily promotes the film.READ MORE IN SHOWBIZHer high-fashion looks, including a thigh-skimming mini dress with sweetheart neckline and a boho ruffled maxi dress, are a world away from the cutesy puff-sleeved floral frocks she favoured on the red carpet and the “old, mangy shirt” she wore for promo interviews during the early days of her career.‘More confident’Normal People was watched by 63million people and had the nation hooked when it aired at the height of the pandemic — which also meant Daisy’s first taste of promo work was done virtually.Speaking about navigating her newfound fame, she has said: “I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll just wear this old, mangy shirt. I just had no concept!”And speaking more recently, she admitted: “I wish I could tell my younger self, who just wore any old thing from the wardrobe on Zoom, that those pictures would be on the internet forever.Most read in Celebrity“I really love dressing up, I love fashion and playing around with style, and I think I am becoming more and more confident with pushing it but still feeling like myself.”Despite her jam-packed schedule, the Brit beauty has still managed to find time to squeeze in some fun.Watch as Normal People stars Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones meet up at Glastonbury – but crowds don’t recognise themShe recently told of an experience with her best friend Nancy, saying: “I went to Amsterdam to try weed for the first time.“I was super-convinced it was good for me because of a Vice ­documentary about Californian nuns smoking it.“They handed this menu over to us at one of the cafes and I remember there was one — it had some mental name. And it had four different strains of weed.”Daisy said of the experience: “We were p***ing ourselves laughing for ages and ages and I wet myself.”The actress was born in Islington, North London, and grew up in the world of entertainment.Her dad Phil is head of entertainment at Sky TV while her mum Wendy is a former film editor.She has said that it was playing King Henry VIII’s second wife Anne Boleyn in a primary school play that gave her the acting bug, and she went on to train with the National Youth Theatre from the age of 14 before landing her first professional job at 17, appearing in a Christmas special of BBC sitcom Outnumbered.The gorgeous actress outside a US TV studio last weekCredit: SplashDaisy then joined the cast of Cold Feet as Olivia, the on-screen daughter of actress Hermione Norris.She has revealed that after getting rejected for one acting job in early 2019, she decided to get her now famous choppy fringe cut in, crediting her much-imitated new hairstyle as some sort of lucky charm, because shortly afterwards she landed the part of bookish Marianne in raunchy drama Normal People, an adaptation of the best-selling Sally Rooney novel.Daisy said in 2021: “It’s so funny, because my fringe came from . . . not getting a part I really wanted.“I was so sad, and I was like, ‘Right, I’m gonna do a change. I’m just gonna chop off all the front bits of my hair.’ I really love dressing up, I love fashion and playing around with styleDaisy”And then after that I got a job, so I do owe a lot of my career to — I seem to only be able to act if you can only see a partial amount of my face.”The role earned her a Bafta and Golden Globe nomination. Yet she was completely unprepared for the overnight fame the 2020 series brought, saying: “The next day, I was on the front of a newspaper, papped for the first time.“I remember going, ‘What? That’s me! I wish I’d worn a better outfit.’”However, her emerging effortless style came to British Vogue’s attention, with her appearing on the magazine’s list of most influential women that year.Since then, she has barely been out of work.In 2022, she played the lead in the Hulu series Under The Banner Of Heaven alongside Andrew ­Garfield, about a real-life murder inquiry in America’s fundamentalist Mormon community, with it landing her another Golden Globe nomination.On the silver screen, Daisy has appeared in films including the 2018 coming-of-age feature Pond Life and 2022 dark comedy- thriller Fresh before taking the lead role in a major 2022 hit, Where The Crawdads Sing.But she is now starring in her biggest role to date, in the storm-chasing action blockbuster Twisters, a standalone sequel to the 1996 blockbuster Twister.The actress recently switched stylists and is now working with Dani Michelle, who is behind the wardrobes of A-listers Rosie ­Huntington-Whiteley, Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner.‘I have a weird run’Daisy wore a custom Vivienne Westwood chestnut brown and black silk chiffon dress at the film’s premiere in London’s West End.She has said: “Sometimes in ­photoshoots, I can feel a little shy.”I’m not a model, and I never was someone who took photos of themselves. I hated getting my school photo taken but I’m starting to enjoy it more.”Daisy had to undertake special training for the stunts in Twisters, including how to run properly.She explained: “I’m not good at running, like I have a weird run, which I was told as a kid.Sometimes in ­photoshoots, I can feel a little shyDaisy“And for me, that was a big stunt — to try to make it look not- pathetic. I did running lessons — isn’t that crazy? “Actually, Paul Mescal and I were laughing about it, because he was training for ­Gladiator II and I was training for Twisters, and obviously he had to be huge and I was like, ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to be right up there with you’.”The two rising stars have forged a strong bond since starring alongside each other in Normal People, with Daisy saying: “Paul is one of my lifetime best friends. He’s an incredibly grounded person.”They were spotted having a blast in the crowds at Glastonbury last month. Daisy says she prefers ­London to Hollywood and has reportedly splashed out almost £1million on her first property, a maisonette in an Edwardian terrace not far from her family home.She has been snapped enjoying a pint of Guinness in a London beer garden after getting a taste for it while filming Normal People in Dublin.Daisy, who has been quietly ­dating photographer Ben Seed since last year, is set to star in upcoming sweeping drama On Swift Horses, opposite Euphoria heart-throb Jacob Elordi.READ MORE SUN STORIESAnd while her wardrobe might be a revolving door of changing designer outfits, it is unlikely she will change her hairstyle any time soon if she still wants to keep ­bagging those big roles.She said: “My fringe has good vibes.”Daisy with her photographer boyfriend Ben Seed at GlastonburyCredit: BackGridbrit’s plot twisterI ALWAYS feel a moment of pride when one of our home-grown stars appears on a giant cinema screen and delivers their lines in an flawless American accent.It means our tiny little island has, once again, beaten the best of Hollywood in the acting stakes.Daisy Edgar-Jones has now, at the tender age of 26, had the lead in two American blockbusters – Where The Crawdads Sing (2022) and the blockbuster of the summer, Twisters, left – both times playing an American character.She’s getting gigs that could be made for actual born-and-bred US superstars such as Emma Stone, Zendaya or Jennifer Lawrence.This is always something we should celebrate.Us Brits winning against the Yanks at their own game is a thing of beauty on the big screen.By Dulcie Pearce, Sun Film Critic More

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      I was set for Tess Daly’s job on Strictly but ‘settled down’ instead… good on Maya Jama for putting her career first

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      IN the week it was announced that women are, on average, leaving it til they’re 35 to start a family, it’s little wonder the rumour mill is going at full pelt that the reason Maya Jama and Stormzy have split is because at 29, she’s not ready to settle down yet.I vividly recall Lily Allen’s candid admission: “My children ruined my career.  In terms of pop stardom, totally ruined it”. This week, Stormzy and Maya Jama announced that they had split for the final timeCredit: GettyIt has been reported that while Stormzy wanted to settle down, Maya was not readyCredit: InstagramUlrika understands why Lily Allen said that having her kids ruined her careerCredit: AFPUlrika had to fight with producers to keep her job on Gladiators when she fell pregnantCredit: RexThere is no doubt she loves her children, but the point she was making on behalf of all working women was that she paid a price for having children, professionally.And she’s not the only one. I had to fight tooth and nail to retain my job as co-host of Gladiators when I fell pregnant in 1994.  It was our third series and the producers and makers of the show considered a pregnant woman “too high risk”. In the end, the compromise was that they refused to let me host the last two weeks of international shows and they employed a midwife to follow me around with a chair so I could sit down between takes.READ MORE FROM ULRIKA I wasn’t ill. I was just six months pregnant.Ten years later I was asked if I was interested in hosting a programme that was about to launch on BBC1 called ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.  I was keen as mustard but I was pregnant and would have been a few weeks away from giving birth when filming would have taken place.So, I had no choice but to turn it down, which was heartbreaking.  My husband at the time would not have needed to turn down any work because he wasn’t the one who was pregnant.Most read in CelebrityYou don’t have to be in showbiz to be faced with the dilemma of working out when is the right time to pause work and start a family.Because there is NO right time.Maya Jama looks incredible in very sexy sheer dress as she spotted for first time after announcing Stormzy splitShe had to turn down the chance to host Strictly as she was pregnant at the timeCredit: PA:Press AssociationTess Daly and the late Bruce Forsyth ended up fronting the iconic showCredit: BBCWhenever you choose, there will be compromises that have to be made. Granted, they’re all for the greater good in the long run but it doesn’t take away from the fact that any woman doing any job will – at some point – have to down tools and take a break.  A break, incidentally, which isn’t a break at all because you’re putting on three stone; end up with piles, sore nipples; you can’t sit for a week or sleep for the next five years and on top of which, returning to work becomes a whole new game.As women, if we take any extended time ‘off work’, we risk falling behind on promotions or being considered for other roles.  That is, if your employer hasn’t already written you off and cleared your desk by the time you go back. It’s hardly the most relaxing, reassuring prospect or time of any woman’s life.If you rush back to the office before the placenta has even come out (some women are quite, quite capable of this – not me), you’re judged for being a cold-hearted, unmotherly, ambitious, career-driven b***h.So, you see, we just can’t win.Shock and surpriseAt 29, Maya Jama’s ovaries must be screaming out to house a little baby Jama – they’re in their prime and as all women know, it’s downhill after 35 when it comes to fertility.I won’t be the only one who greeted the news of Maya’s and Stormzy’s break-up with an equal measure of shocking surprise and abject disappointment.I had everything crossed for them and really hoped they would make it work second time around despite the anecdotal evidence to the contrary which has stared us in the face over the years.Ulrika was hopeful that Stormzy and Maya would be able to work it out this timeCredit: GettyMaya is making loads of money and has a ton of brand dealsCredit: InstagramMore often than not, after that initial, palpable joy and relief of a reunion, things tend to settle down only for one or both parties to realise that fundamentally nothing has really changed. People always revert to type and to their old habits – the very ones that broke the other’s hearts in the first place.It’s either that, or one person has changed enough to realise that, despite thinking they really wanted the other, they no longer actually need them.  The virtue of the first split, of course, is that you learn to live without each other and once you realise you can do that, life takes on a completely different meaning.Balance of powerI kinda felt it in my waters that Maya and Stormzy would get back together – they seemed so right for one another; they looked so right for each other but also because I know just how good reuniting feels.  For a while, anyway.But scratch the surface and – as an outsider looking in – I think it’s become clear that the balance of power between this golden couple has doubtlessly shifted. Significantly.Being the strong, independent woman that she is, Maya picked herself up and dusted herself off and, in no time, high-profile work soon came flooding in. She even found herself a fiancé in the States at one point and I wondered if she might leave these shores forever.That relationship wasn’t to be either. So, she cracked on with life. And with work – building up her profile on and off screen. She’s the face of Dolce & Gabanna; ambassador for Rimmel London and is said to be wanted by Netflix. Not to mention becoming the host of Love Island….. and who knows if it was that that brought her and Stormzy back together.It seems from their mutual statement about this final break-up that it is truly amicable and there is clearly – without a shadow of a doubt – a great deal of love between the former couple.I’m guessing a lot of healing went on behind the scenes, and it might just be that despite there only being a one-year age gap between them, they have discovered they are at different stages of their life.If, if, if it’s true that he was ready to settle down but she wasn’t – you can totally see why.Because, no matter how far we’ve come on our quest for equality between the sexes; no matter how much we try to make things fairer and more just for women; and no matter how much work we put into levelling the playing field, starting a family will always penalise a woman more.Of course, Maya Jama may not want to have kids at all. And that’s her choice and hers alone. She may not feel the need; she may not have those bonkers, maternal cravings some of us have.READ MORE SUN STORIESWhatever her choices are and turn out to be, there will doubtless be judgement or conflict or compromise. Because that’s what it’s like to be a woman.It had become clear that the balance of power between the couple had significantly shiftedCredit: SplashMaya is now one of the most sought after women on TVCredit: GettyMaya and Stormzy’s relationship timeline More

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      How fans are turning on ‘boring’ Kardashians – ‘samey’ TV show, pointless brands and followers deserting in millions

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      THEY have a joint empire worth more than $2billion, 25 series of an award- winning reality show under their belt and more than 20 lifestyle brands between them.The Kardashians certainly are a force to be reckoned with.Khloe, Kourtney, Kim, Kendall, Kylie with mum Kris, third rightCredit: BackGridKhloe, Kourtney and Kim at LA fashion bash in 2008, a year after the show launchedCredit: RexBut fans are beginning to speculate that the most famous family on Earth may soon see their diamante-adorned castle crumble.It comes as the Kardashian-Jenner sisters — Kourtney, 45, Kim, 43, Khloe, 40, Kendall, 28, and Kylie, 26 — lost 3MILLION Instagram followers between them in 30 days.That is a huge blow to their popularity on what is arguably their most lucrative platform, with the siblings able to command £500,000 per sponsored post. Claims they have become unrelatable — no longer sharing the good, the bad and the ugly of their day-to-day lives — are thought to be behind the falling numbers.read more on the kardashiansWhen their original TV hit, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, first aired on cable network E! in 2007, the sisters shared it all, from sex tape scandals to drink-driving court cases.But the last five seasons of their rebranded Hulu show The Kardashians, which is on Disney+, have been criticised by fans for repeating the same storylines over and over.In episode one of the latest series, Kendall Jenner insists she is not boring, while saying all she talks about is her horses or her anxiety.Sources close to the family say they are growing increasingly fearful their hype is fading, with some believing they have had their day.Most read in CelebrityBrand and culture expert Nick Ede says the sisters’ unwillingness to open up on their lives is a key reason the brand is stagnating.He explained: “The storylines for the last five seasons have all been the same — Kendall talks about anxiety, Khloe laments being a single mum, Kourtney’s more in love with Travis Barker than ever, Kim is working loads and Kylie remains elusive.The changing face of Kim Kardashian from first finding fame to polished reality queen“All they do consistently is promote their businesses. Some episodes feel like one giant advert.“Fans want to know the juicy drama with Kanye West and his wife Bianca, and Kylie’s relationship with Timothee Chalamet. “But none of that gets shared. “What’s more, Kylie keeps her kids out of it, as does Kim for the most part. “So fans aren’t able to get to know the next generation.“The thing is, they made their name by sharing everything. “They also live lifestyles that are totally unrelatable. Kim famously lost 16lbs to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s dress at the Met GalaCredit: GettyKylie’s clothing line KHY has been accused of ripping off small designersCredit: Instagram/Khy”Their fans don’t have the same money as them or the freedom to work out for six hours a day.”Highlighting how followers are turning their backs on the famous family, Nick added: “The new season of the show is airing right now, but no one is talking about it because there’s nothing exciting going on.“There was a time when each episode would make headlines around the world. Those days are gone.“Losing that many followers is a huge financial hit — most stars are gaining fans by the day, not seeing their fanbase tank in colossal numbers. “The financial repercussions will be massive.”But that is not the only reason the sisters’ star appeal seems to be fading. ‘Little to offer Gen Z’Last month, Kim lost more than 60,000 followers after Taylor Swift’s London performance of “thanK you aIMee”, the alleged diss track said to be aimed at her.There are also rumours of a feud between Kylie Jenner and Selena Gomez, which has been bubbling for the best part of a decade, but peaked again this year when the pair appeared to have a falling out at the Golden Globes.“The fandom of stars like Selena and Taylor is so much more powerful than anything that the Kardashains have created, and fans will pick sides,” Nick said.In a thread about the sisters’ diminishing online fanbase, one user said: “I think Kylie steam-rolled this train with the Selena thing.”Another added: “It is all their fault. “The show used to be so fun and had real moments, and now it is all promo for their own businesses.”Experts also think the sisters are struggling to secure a Gen Z following, with young adults criticising the family for upholding unrealistic body standards, ignoring the impact of their eco footprint by using private jets and staying quiet on political issues such as the war in Gaza. Kendall’s 818 Tequila brand has not been a big hit with Gen ZCredit: The Mega AgencyKim and Khloe were criticised for attending the wedding of Anant Ambani, son of India’s richest manCredit: The Mega AgencyKim and Khloe’s appearance at the £250million weekend wedding of Anant Ambani — son of India’s richest man — and Radhika Merchant will also have ruffled feathers amid criticism about the lavish event in a country stricken by poverty.Nick said: “Many young people now are against so much of what the Kardashians stand for, from cosmetic treatments to their lifestyle choices.“They are becoming more and more like plastic dolls that barely look human, and speak in a monotone voice, without any passion or humour like they used to.“They have very little to offer an ever-conscious Gen Z — storylines about Kim losing 16lb to fit into a Marilyn Monroe dress for the Met Gala simply will not impress.” Away from the show, the sisters are seeing less success with their own lifestyle brands, too. When Forbes’ youngest self-made billionaire, Kylie Jenner, announced the launch of her clothing line, Khy, last October, the internet was less than impressed.One user scoffed: ‘The last thing we needed is another brand by you.”Some commented on Kylie’s lack of style credentials, while others blasted the introduction of another fast fashion brand.They need to stop showing off their riches and bring things back to basics, showing personality and real-life situationsNick EdeLike her siblings before her — Khloe with Good American and Kim with Skims — Kylie was accused of ripping off a small designer, but did not respond to the claims.Meanwhile, Kendall launched her 818 Tequila brand, but marketing it to an often booze-free generation has been tough. And Kylie’s Sprinter Vodka Sodas launch in March caused little fanfare.Nick said: “It went unnoticed in a market saturated with celebrity drinks.“If fans don’t think the launch is authentic, they won’t buy it.”Even Kylie’s most lucrative business, her self-titled cosmetics line, has seen revenue drop by around half in just five years.Despite all of this, the sisters remain a major force in pop culture and experts believe they still have time to change their fortunes.Nick said: “The Kardashains remain a cultural juggernaut and will keep a huge fan base, but they need to try to embrace the new generation. READ MORE SUN STORIES”They need to stop showing off their riches and bring things back to basics, showing personality and real-life situations.“Fans want to see if they can go back to being the family we fell in love with.”Kylie is said to be feuding with singer Selena GomezCredit: Getty – ContributorKim’s feud with Taylor Swift was reignited thanks to the singer’s song, thanK you aIMeeCredit: Getty More

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      Maya Jama and Stormzy’s break-up post is best I’ve seen… and proves Love Island icon will go all the way to the top

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      MAYA Jama and Stormzy’s break-up announcement came as a bolt from the blue and has left fans devastated.In a shared statement yesterday, the Love Island presenter, 29, and rapper, 30, revealed they had failed to make it work – but insisted they would remain friends.Maya Jama and Stormzy have called it quitsCredit: InstagramThe couple’s last outing together at the British Grand Prix on July 5Credit: GettyLast night, a source told The Sun: “They are at totally different places in their lives. He wants to settle down but Maya wants to focus on her career.”First getting together in 2014, the couple broke up five years later, before we revealed they had reunited again last August.And a source close to the couple told us: “Maya wants to go out and be a social butterfly but he’s a homebody these days and isn’t keen on going out at all.“[Stormzy] wants to settle down whereas Maya doesn’t want to do that yet — she wants to focus on her career.Read more Maya JamaTV relationship expert Jo Hemmings, who has followed the couple’s romance for years, says their break-up statement was the “most mature, candid and thoughtful” she has ever seen.Here, she unpacks the shock break-up and explains why, although it may hurt, the Love Island host is right to focus on her career – and is destined to go to the very top.’Amazing honesty’Maya Jama is one of the hottest women on the planet right now.News that she and Stormzy have split might have devastated fans, who hoped for a happy-ever-after ending, but Maya shouldn’t feel pressure to settle down.Most read in CelebrityShe’s at the height of her career and is reportedly worth more than £3million, so it’s understandable the Love Island star would want to make the most of her talent while she’s at the top.She last year replaced Kate Moss as the face of Rimmel. She is the darling of high-fashion brands like Dolce and Gabbana, has her own business selling eye masks, created a clothing range with PrettyLittleThing and her first foray into beauty saw her MIJ skincare range sell out within a week.Maya Jama & Stormzy: The Secret Breakup CluesMaya enjoys an incredible lifestyle too, jetting around the world for work, enjoying luxury holidays with girlfriends including trips to Ibiza, and even partying with Hollywood stars like Leonardo DiCaprio.It’s been reported that Stormzy wanted to move their relationship to the next step with a family but, at 29, Maya wasn’t ready.Unfortunately when two people are at different stages of their lives, a split seems inevitable – but they have handled their break-up with amazing honesty.Their joint Instagram announcement was probably written by Maya but signed by them both. I thought it was the most mature, candid, thoughtful statement I’ve ever seen from any celebrity break-up.It’s obviously there to stop speculation but kindness just shone through. The fact they are amazing friends but it just didn’t work out for them… it was beautifully put together.Of course, it’s a real shame they have separated. They are such a likeable couple and everyone wanted them to work, but their reasoning was well explained and there was almost a joyous note to such sad news. ‘They are not on the same page’The couple separated after trying to reignite their previous love affair.They dated for five years before going their separate ways in 2019, but reconnected last August.I feel like they saw the glory and loveliness in each other and wanted to be back together, but the truth is they are not on the same page.They were reportedly seeking counselling last year to “rid themselves of past tensions”, which I think is to their credit. But sometimes that doesn’t repair relationships, but exposes through a third party what differences there are. When couples get back together after a break-up, the temptation is to believe that it was a case of ‘the right person at the wrong time’. When you reunite, there’s a feeling that you’re more mature and you’re ready for something to start again that might be enduring. I think that’s what Maya and Stormzy had hoped for but, the bottom line is that they are at different stages of their lives.He bought a seven-bedroom, huge family home and admitted late last year he was ready to settle down. I think Maya hoped she would be in that place, but simply wasn’t.Perhaps she got some insight while working with the Love Islanders.She probably looked at them and thought ‘they’ve got all that freedom and all their lives in front of them’.Their joint statement was so candid and matureCredit: InstagramMaya enjoys lavish holidays and is often away with palsCredit: InstagramMaya has the world at her feet when it comes to brand dealsCredit: RimmelAlso, who would want to play housewife when you’re as successful as Maya anyway?She is believed to earn a six-figure salary for her Love Island presenting role, but it’s fashion and beauty campaigns that have really boosted her bank balance.Maya signed a mega-bucks deal, said to be worth millions, with Rimmel, is the face of Dolce & Gabbana and is sought after by streaming giant Netflix.Her debut skincare range MIJ was a runaway hit, with her face masks selling out in the first week.   ‘Life is short’Maya is practically the most beautiful woman in the world and she’s still so much further to go.She previously said losing her first love aged 16 has given her a “fearless” approach to life. Maya Jama and Stormzy’s relationship timelineShe was on the phone to her boyfriend Rico Gordon when he was caught in the crossfire of a shooting between two gangs in Bristol. Two men were later jailed for life his murder. She later said his death taught her that life was really short. READ MORE SUN STORIESI’m sure this has had an impact. It’s made her feel that she has to treasure every day and take every opportunity that comes her way.Perhaps that is what she is thinking now. Well, I wish her all the love in the world on her journey as a new singleton – and the same for lovely Stormzy, too. More

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      Damon Albarn breaks down in tears in heartbreaking new film about Blur’s Wembley Stadium comeback

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      IT takes drummer Dave Rowntree to say what his Blur bandmates are thinking.“It’s a bit overwhelming — having all that emotion,” he says.Blur’s Damon Albarn broke down in tears in a new film about the band’s Wembley Stadium comebackCredit: SuppliedThe new film shows Blur getting back together at Damon Albarn’s ‘Country House’Credit: SuppliedSomewhere in deepest Devon, not far from the rugged coastline, ­Rowntree is perched at one end of a cream-coloured sofa in a cavernous barn conversion.Bassist Alex James adopts a typically laidback pose at the opposite end while, sandwiched between them, guitarist Graham Coxon holds his head in his hands.Melancholic strains of The Everglades (For Leonard) from Blur’s comeback album, The Ballad Of Darren, are playing in the background.On the other side of the room, a solitary figure in a flat cap sits with his back against the wall, sobbing uncontrollably.READ MORE ON BANDSIt is Damon Albarn.Everything has become too much for the band’s singer and chief songwriter.Is it because he’s back in the ­company of his old muckers who helped him give Oasis a run for their money during Britpop’s glory days?Is it because of a personal break-up, or is it simply a realisation of lost youth, never to be regained?Most read in Music‘Time is not infinite’The answer is probably a bit of everything.Watch the awkward moment a furious Damon Albarn slams Coachella crowd in sweary rant “I’m just getting sentimental in me old age,” Albarn is heard saying.These scenes come from the fly-on-the-wall documentary Blur: To The End (after their Parklife album song), which charts the band’s reunion capped by two euphoric nights at Wembley Stadium in July last year.Directed with an assured eye by Toby L, it is a refreshingly candid portrayal of the four protagonists, filled with happy/sad moments and just the right degree of nostalgia.When Albarn recovers his composure, he alludes to his new-found ­single status.He says the latest Blur album, their ninth, is “about the aftershock of loss once something dramatic has ­happened — whether it’s a break-up or the pandemic”.“I live alone, essentially, in the countryside. That’s what has happened,” he continues.“And this record obviously feels very much like that.”The film’s opening sequences, including the one where Albarn breaks down, take place at the Devon farm he has owned since the Nineties.It’s the “very big house in the ­country” he bought back then, even if it was “a bit rough and ready”.The irony of these surroundings isn’t lost on Rowntree, who remembers taking the p**s back when Blur released their song, Country House.He says: “I was the very last ­member to get a very big house in the country. But we’ve all done it and it’s funny how these sneering comments you make in your twenties turn around and bite you in the ass.”The film begins with Albarn driving to his house down narrow lanes — and nearly crashing when someone comes too fast the other way.Soon, we’re introduced to his ­chickens and we hear about his “rambunctious” cockerel called Tony.“Well, I’ve been coming here since 1996/97,” he says.“I don’t mind not being around people.“My brain’s not racing so fast. I’m able to relax.“I suppose that’s why I realised I could actually live here now.”For Albarn, the Blur reunion represents a single but significant step in a feverish, multifaceted career. His numerous other projects include Gorillaz, The Good, the Bad & the Queen, solo albums, stage musicals and operas as well as that enthralling collision of cultures, Africa Express.But, at some point, he was always going to return to the group of people who joined him at the start of his epic journey.Graham Coxon gives it his all at Blur’s Wembley Stadium gigs last summerCredit: Supplied“We just carry a lot of experience collectively,” he affirms.“That’s why I wanted to do it again. For some ­reason, it felt wanted.“At this moment in time, I’m 55 and I have to accept that time is not ­infinite.”The passage of time looms large on The Ballad Of Darren, an album which summons the special chemistry Blur have always had, but also reflects the older and wiser status of its members.“I don’t think any of us thought we’d make another record, especially not a record like this,” says Albarn.“I suppose that’s why I wanted to try to make it as good as possible. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of old c*s trying to relive their past.”For James, being back with his bandmates means a lot.“We’ve barely communicated for the last ten years,” he says.“But as soon as the four of us get in a room together, it’s just the same as it was when we were all 19. Four sweaty blokes annoying each other.”The band is like a marriage… it’s bloody hard. Are you willing to subdue your ego for the sake of thewhole?Dave RowntreeWhen Blur split in 2003, a lot of people, including the band members themselves, wondered if they would ever get back together.But live shows in 2009, 2012 and 2015 kept their great songs like Parklife, Beetlebum, The Universal, Girls & Boys, Song 2, There’s No Other Way and Tender in the public eye.While Albarn dived into his myriad other projects and Coxon embarked on a solo career, Rowntree branched out into law and politics.And James says: “When everybody went their separate ways, I got ­married and made some cheese.”I have always communicated musically with Damon. That developed into friendship – and I haven’t got many friends!Graham CoxonThe latest reunion gives Coxon a chance to rekindle the spark between himself and Albarn.The guitarist says: “Damon and I communicate musically a lot. We always have.“That developed into friendship — and I haven’t got many friends. So every now and then, we have to check up with each other to see if something is brewing.”Rowntree explains what it means to be in a band like Blur: “It’s like a marriage. It’s just bloody hard.“You ask yourself, ‘What are you willing to sacrifice to be in the band? Are you willing to subdue your ego for the sake of the whole?’.”Booze-fuelled perilsJames gives this insight: “You never know how any of them are feeling. We’re not good at communicating.“I mean, there’s a point in Devon when I thought Damon was laughing, singing along to the songs — he was crying. I completely misread it.”And Albarn says: “Ours is a ­brotherhood that has been sustained by our musical relationship.“It’s been a long time, so it is a very precious one. We’re happy to see each other and get on that stage together and then we’re happy to go our separate ways.”If you’re thinking that the tone of the To The End documentary is quite serious, you’ll be glad to know there’s also plenty of goofing around and funny anecdotes.One song “brewing” was The Ballad Of Darren’s most all-out rocker, St. Charles Square, featuring ace lead guitar from Coxon.It includes the line, “It’s up and down the clock of the town hall back in time”, which brings this explanation from Albarn.“That is about when I went round to Alex’s flat in New Cross and took acid,” he says.He explains how he made a life- endangering leap in order to climb up the nearby town hall tower and change the time on the clock face.But, as you might expect, all roads lead to Wembley in this film.As Blur return to touring with warm-up gigs and festival dates, we hear James discussing the booze- fuelled perils of life on the road — past and present.Alex and Damon share a heartfelt moment just before they nearlyget drenchedCredit: SuppliedDamon takes a dip in the sea as the film draws to a closeCredit: SuppliedThen we learn of Rowntree’s severe knee injury, sustained playing tennis, which put him on crutches just before the Wembley shows.But, as anyone who was present will testify, the two nights, Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th of July, 2023, at England’s home of football were unqualified triumphs.“For me, it doesn’t get better than that,” says an elated Albarn afterwards.Coxon decides that the shows “made me feel happy. It made me feel a bit more valued.Damon sent one of three emails he’s ever written to me! It went, ‘Wembley was the best show I’ve ever done. ’Alex James“I know I don’t really care what people think, but when they’re saying they love me or they love Blur, you can’t help but feel good.”James talks of being at home on the Monday morning after the second gig when an email arrived from Albarn.“It’s one of three he’s ever written to me! It went, ‘That was the best show I’ve ever done’. There was a kind of unselfconscious glee in the house.”For the final scenes of To The End, we’re back in Devon with Damon as he drives down the country lanes near his gaff.He recalls writing The Ballad Of Darren songs by himself, “intuitively feeling that something heavy was about to happen”.For the first part of the process, he says, “I was ­completely on my own but, for the second part, I had my brothers back”.He continues: “We all have hugely involved and complicated lives and we were so lucky to spend this time together, just the four of us. That’s the beauty of it.”But, typically for this restless soul, he asks himself the question, “Do I want to repeat this next year?“No,” he replies emphatically.“Because why would I? I had an amazing year doing Blur. Fantastic. And that’s it, really.”Yet Albarn stresses that the band’s journey may not be at an end.“Maybe it will manifest itself again, if it’s wanted,” he says.The final scene finds him stripping down to his swimming trunks and wading out into the sea near his Devon home.READ MORE SUN STORIESIt’s as if he’s washing away the tears and the joy from one of the most momentous years of his life — all set for his next great adventure.Blur: To The EndBlur: To The End is in cinemas from tomorrow.The album Live At Wembley Stadium is available from July 26 in CD, vinyl and digital formats. More