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Hollywood for Grownups: How Jennifer Garner Got Back Into Shape for Marvel
Plus Colman Domingo consults with Bradley Cooper on how to do it all, and Margaret Cho has a furry friend
(Left to right) Colman Domingo, Jennifer Garner and Margaret Cho
AARP (Antoine Flament/Getty Images; Gilbert Flores/Getty Images; Jason Mendez/Getty Images)
Seems every star loves to flex their performing muscles and do something utterly unexpected. Or just plain different.
Colman Domingo in "Sing Sing."
A24/Courtesy Everett Collection
Colman Domingo Breaks Out
After his next film, prison reformation drama Sing Sing (July 12), Colman Domingo, 54, will start singing for real — like a canary. Lights Out: Nat ‘King’ Cole, a musical he both cowrote and starred in at L.A.’s Geffen Playhouse (2019), is finally getting the big-screen treatment. You might not know it, but Domingo has starred in several stage musicals including Summer: The Donna Summer Musical on Broadway, while performing singing stints in New York cabarets — all on top of being an accomplished playwright. Still, despite his Emmy (for Euphoria) and two Tonys, Domingo could not get a Lights Out film deal until his Oscar nom this year for Rustin. Now we hear he’s reupped crooning lessons with biopic coaches — and is also consulting pal Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born) on how to pull off that rare quadruple role: Like Cooper with Star, Domingo not only cowrote, but will star, sing and also direct Lights Out, his directorial debut. This is what you call striking while the Oscar nom’s hot.
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Jennifer Garner
Raymond Hall/Getty Images
Jennifer Garner’s Back in Action
She’s been pumping up ex-husband Ben Affleck of late amidst his marital problems— but Jennifer Garner, 52, has also been pumping up herself, for real. The former badass action star of TV’s Alias and Marvel’s Daredevil (2003, on which she met Affleck) and spinoff Elektra (2005), Garner has been putting her martial arts skills back into action — after 19 years. Since her kickass assassin days, the actress has gone on to play mostly wholesome moms. But after many rumors — and a lot of training — Elektra returns to form in Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine (July 26), with Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds. Sources say Garner stepped up by training hard last summer — jogging, weights, doing longer, more frequent sessions with longtime trainer Beth Nicely. Yes, Garner loves to share recipes via her Instagram “Pretend Cooking Show” — salads, vegan dishes, healthy snacks — but she had to ditch her mom’s cornbread recipe for a few months. “She’s loved getting back into literal fighting shape,” says one longtime friend. “But this is her last action hurrah. It takes a lot of hours and energy. She wants to put more time into Once Upon a Farm, her plant-based baby food brand. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jen becomes the next Gwyneth.”
Margaret Cho’s New Best Friend
Comedian Margaret Cho, 55, definitely has a pet project among her packed standup “Live & Livid” tour and her many film/TV projects. “I take everything — because I don’t want to miss anything!” Cho told me when I asked the edgy LGBTQ+ icon about her wholesome role in last year’s Disney Channel film Prom Pact. But the project nearest to her heart is the new film All That We Love, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival (and opened June 8). The heartbreaking story about pet grief is something this dog lover’s a little bit too familiar with: “I lost my former dog in 2009 and I’m still not over it. Pet grief is both intense and trivialized; people think relationships with animals are trivial. They’re not.” Cho’s new best friend is fluffy rescue Chihuahua Lucia. “I take her on the road,” says Cho, “but unlike Demi Moore’s teeny pup Pilaf, she’s not part of my act — or my brand. Though Lucia is very funny in her own way.”
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