JP Mangalindan

JP Mangalindan is a culture writer in L.A. He writes about TV and film for TIME and ELLE.

Aug 16, 2026

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1 min read

Same voice, new home. Welcome back.

JP Mangalindan

Aug 14, 2026

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2 min read

A New Chapter for Scene + Unheard...

JP Mangalindan

Matt Damon

'The Odyssey' Is Christopher Nolan's Most Haunting Epic About Being Seen

Jul 19, 2026

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4 min read

'The Odyssey' Is Christopher Nolan's Most Haunting Epic About Being Seen

Homer's poem becomes the most human film Nolan has made yet

JP Mangalindan

Bill Pullman

Thirty Years Later, 'Independence Day' Is Still the Ultimate Disaster Movie

Jul 4, 2026

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5 min read

Thirty Years Later, 'Independence Day' Is Still the Ultimate Disaster Movie

Director Roland Emmerich’s 1996 blockbuster is remembered for blowing up the White House, but its real staying power comes from the people standing beneath the wreckage

JP Mangalindan

Medical Dramas

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Dispatch • Noah Wyle, John Wells, and the Cast of 'The Pitt' on Making a Hospital Drama Without Escape Routes

Jun 21, 2026

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7 min read

Dispatch • Noah Wyle, John Wells, and the Cast of 'The Pitt' on Making a Hospital Drama Without Escape Routes

At an HBO Max panel on June 9, the cast and creative team of the Emmy-winning drama unpacked the discipline, the stakes, and what it costs to make a show this unflinchingly honest

JP Mangalindan

CBS

Padma Lakshmi on Making the Show She Always Wanted with 'America’s Culinary Cup'

Jun 17, 2026

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6 min read

Padma Lakshmi on Making the Show She Always Wanted with 'America’s Culinary Cup'

In a conversation with Scene and Unheard, Lakshmi reflects on the most ambitious project of her career, and what she found when she got to call the shots

JP Mangalindan

Mare of Easttown

Dispatch • Mark Ruffalo, Tom Pelphrey, and the Creative Team of 'Task' on Making a Show About the Cost of Being Human

Jun 15, 2026

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6 min read

Dispatch • Mark Ruffalo, Tom Pelphrey, and the Creative Team of 'Task' on Making a Show About the Cost of Being Human

At an HBO Max panel on June 3, Ruffalo, Pelphrey, Emilia Jones, and their collaborators unpacked the moral gray zones and grace at the heart of 'Task'

JP Mangalindan

Colman Domingo

Steven Spielberg's 'Disclosure Day' Reminds Us What Movies Are For

Jun 14, 2026

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3 min read

Steven Spielberg's 'Disclosure Day' Reminds Us What Movies Are For

In a rip-roaring sci-fi chase, the director returns to the question he's been asking his whole life and finds a new answer

JP Mangalindan

Jamie Bell

Jun 12, 2026

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7 min read

Dispatch • Richard Gadd, Jamie Bell, and the Cast of 'Half Man' on the Bond That Could Only End One Way

At an HBO Max panel on June 2, Gadd and his collaborators reflected on the limited series as a story of damage, devotion, and lives shaped by shame

JP Mangalindan

The Comeback

Jun 10, 2026

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5 min read

Dispatch • Lisa Kudrow, Michael Patrick King, and the 'The Comeback' Creative Team Say Goodbye to Valerie Cherish

At an HBO Max panel on May 27, Kudrow, King, and their collaborators reflected on the final season and the show they made across 20 years

JP Mangalindan

Brittany Snow

Dispatch • Claire Danes, Matthew Rhys, and the Creative Team Behind 'The Beast in Me' on Finding Monsters in Plain Sight

Jun 7, 2026

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7 min read

Dispatch • Claire Danes, Matthew Rhys, and the Creative Team Behind 'The Beast in Me' on Finding Monsters in Plain Sight

At a Netflix panel on June 6, the creative team and cast of the psychological thriller unpacked what happens when grief makes you capable of the very thing you fear

JP Mangalindan

Troy Kotsur

Jun 4, 2026

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6 min read

Dispatch • Jason Bateman, Troy Kotsur, and the Creative Team of 'Black Rabbit' on Brothers and the Grit Beneath the Glamour

At a Netflix panel on May 16, the cast and creative team unpacked the show’s New York DNA and how a battered building became its soul

JP Mangalindan

Quinta Brunson

Dispatch • The 'Abbott Elementary' Cast on Five Seasons of Making Hard Work Look Easy

Jun 3, 2026

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6 min read

Dispatch • The 'Abbott Elementary' Cast on Five Seasons of Making Hard Work Look Easy

At an ABC panel on May 31, Quinta Brunson and her cast reflected on the comedy’s fifth season and its beloved characters

JP Mangalindan

Catherine O'Hara

Needle Drop: When 'Schitt's Creek' Turned Tina Turner's 'The Best' Into a Love Language

May 28, 2026

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3 min read

Needle Drop: When 'Schitt's Creek' Turned Tina Turner's 'The Best' Into a Love Language

In the Season 4 episode "Open Mic," Patrick's stripped-down Tina Turner cover doesn't just surprise David, it also reveals the courage beneath one of TV's gentlest romances

JP Mangalindan

FYC

Dispatch • Dan Levy and the 'Big Mistakes' Cast on Making Crime a Family Affair

May 27, 2026

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6 min read

Dispatch • Dan Levy and the 'Big Mistakes' Cast on Making Crime a Family Affair

At a Netflix panel on May 16, Levy and the cast unpacked the dark comedy’s criminal chaos and the family mess no one can escape

JP Mangalindan

Diana Gabaldon

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Dispatch • ‘Outlander’ Stars Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan, Matthew B. Roberts, and Maril Davis on Saying Goodbye

May 17, 2026

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7 min read

Dispatch • ‘Outlander’ Stars Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan, Matthew B. Roberts, and Maril Davis on Saying Goodbye

At a STARZ FYC event on May 15, the cast and creative team reflected on the beloved show’s 12-year run, the bond with its fans, and that talked-about ending

JP Mangalindan

Michael Patrick King

May 11, 2026

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6 min read

Close-Up: 'The Comeback' Co-Creator Michael Patrick King on the Final Scene With Lisa Kudrow

King spoke to Scene and Unheard about the artistic choices behind Kudrow’s final scene as Valerie Cherish—and what it means to see her clearly at last

JP Mangalindan

Cary Elwes

May 10, 2026

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6 min read

Dispatch • Cary Elwes on 'The Princess Bride' and the Film’s Long Road Home

At Netflix Is a Joke Fest on May 4, the actor reflected on the late Rob Reiner, making the film, and the VHS-era magic that helped a modest theatrical release become a beloved classic

JP Mangalindan

Lewis Pullman

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May 7, 2026

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7 min read

Dispatch • Sally Field, Lewis Pullman, and the Tender Mystery of 'Remarkably Bright Creatures'

At a Los Angeles panel on April 28, the cast and creative team reflected on grief, connection, and that observant octopus

JP Mangalindan

La La Land

May 6, 2026

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3 min read

Needle Drop: 'La La Land’s' Ending Still Softly Hurts Nearly 10 Years Later

How a single melody turned the film’s tender, bittersweet ending into something you couldn’t quite leave behind

JP Mangalindan

Bill Lawrence

Dispatch • Inside 'Rooster’s' Comedy of Fathers, Daughters, and Second Acts

May 5, 2026

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6 min read

Dispatch • Inside 'Rooster’s' Comedy of Fathers, Daughters, and Second Acts

At a Los Angeles event on April 26, the HBO Max comedy’s cast and creators reflected on making the show and midlife changes

JP Mangalindan

True Crime

Dispatch • The Cast and Creative Team of 'Monster: The Ed Gein Story' on the Man Behind the Horror

May 1, 2026

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6 min read

Dispatch • The Cast and Creative Team of 'Monster: The Ed Gein Story' on the Man Behind the Horror

At an FYC event on April 25, Ian Brennan, Charlie Hunnam, and the creative team reflected on bringing Ed Gein’s story to the screen and why his shadow still looms over culture

JP Mangalindan

Billy Porter

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Apr 28, 2026

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6 min read

Dispatch • Greg Berlanti, Billy Porter, Zach Braff, and Mickey Liddell on 25 Years of 'The Broken Hearts Club'

At a screening in West Hollywood on April 25, the creative team and cast of 'The Broken Hearts Club' reflected on chosen family, queer visibility, and a movie that helped change what was possible

JP Mangalindan

Nicole Kidman

Apr 27, 2026

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4 min read

Sliding Doors: Nicole Kidman, 'To Die For,' and the Phone Call That Redefined Her Career

Meg Ryan and Patricia Arquette both passed. Then Nicole Kidman made a phone call to the director and made her case

JP Mangalindan

Jamie Bell

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Close-Up: 'Baby Reindeer' Creator Richard Gadd Explains the Damaging Bond in 'Half Man'

Apr 23, 2026

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5 min read

Close-Up: 'Baby Reindeer' Creator Richard Gadd Explains the Damaging Bond in 'Half Man'

Gadd, his creative team, and cast answer Scene and Unheard’s questions about the decades-long relationship driving the show—and what they discovered in bringing it to life

JP Mangalindan