Dacre Montgomery Says Living with OCD Inspired His “Faces of Death” Villain: Here's How (Exclusive)

Dacre Montgomery says OCD was the most "relatable" aspect of his Faces of Death villain

NEED TO KNOW

• “That's just definitely my thing. I live with that and I manage it," the actor tells PEOPLE

• Faces of Death — which also stars Charli xcx, Josie Totah, Aaron Holliday and Jermaine Fowler — is in theaters now

Warning: Spoilers forFaces of Death.

ForDacre Montgomery’s latest role, in which he portrays a “methodical” murderer, OCD plays a central role. It’s also what he found most relatable about the character.

The Australian actor, 31, stars in the new horror movie as Arthur, who re-creates and uploads videos of the kills shown in the titular 1978 film (once widely believed to be an actual snuff film), oppositeBarbie Ferreira, who plays a content moderator trying to thwart him.

Montgomery tells PEOPLE exclusively that what he found most relatable about his mask- and red contact-wearing killer was his experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) — which, per theMayo Clinic, centers around "a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears known as obsessions” that “lead you to do repetitive behaviors, also called compulsions.”

“Definitely what was relatable to me about Arthur was just, honestly, the OCD,” he says. “That's just definitely my thing. I live with that and I manage it.”

Elaborating on what he found relatable about the villain, theStranger Thingsalum says, "There was a lot of that kind of fastidiousness and attention to detail that I put into all characters that I play, but he's so methodical.”

“From the time that you see him in the movie, he's halfway to enacting his plan and he's put a lot of thought into that,” Montgomery continues of Arthur. “And I think I could definitely relate not to working toward a murderous plot in my life — but definitely just the attention to detail thing, I felt that I connected with, yeah, huge.”

Faces of Deathdirector Daniel Goldhaber, who also co-wrote the film with Isa Mazzei, says that this overlap in Montgomery and his on-screen killer helped to carve out the character’s final form.

Arthur would have looked very different had another actor played him, according to the filmmaker.

Advertisement

“I met with a handful of people for this movie,” Goldhaber tells PEOPLE. "As soon as I met with Dacre, I felt like it kind of just had to be him because everybody else ... they approached this character they were talking about like somebody else, like this guy that they'd seen in the media. Dacre showed up and it was like, ‘Here's all the ways that I relate to Arthur personally.’ ”

“And I was like, ‘Whoa, okay, that's interesting.’ It's not that he's a psychopathic person or a serial killer — it's that he related to Arthur's OCD. He related to Arthur's sense of alienation. He related to a desire to connect through performance," he adds.

Elaborating on how Montgomery's real-life experience with the disorder informed hisFacescharacter, Goldhaber explains, “It's like he has an obsession with the texture of clothing.”

For example, the director continues, “One of the first things he told me was that for 10 years, he was unable to sleep under the covers of his bed because if there was a bump in the fabric of the sheets, he was unable to fall asleep, so he only ever slept on top of the bedsheets.

“And that was what I heard when I was like, ‘Oh, you're gonna bring something so interesting to this role,' " adds Goldhaber.

“This was never an initial part of Arthur — the skinsuit, the latex, the stocking, the way he moves and dances and kind of rubs it on his body,” the filmmaker also tells PEOPLE. “That was all stuff that we found together in exploring this character.”

“And this idea that there's almost this kind of, like, sexual gratification element — not even to the murders, but to this kind of fabric that is holding his skin together while he's committing the murders — that was all stuff that kind of Dacre and I found together,” he continues. "And I think it creates such a rich and unique take on this kind of killer.”

Faces of Death— which also starsCharli xcx,Josie Totah, Aaron Holliday and Jermaine Fowler — is in theaters now.

Read the original article onPeople

byAlex Forten

in

April 12, 2026

Dacre Montgomery Says Living with OCD Inspired His “Faces of Death” Villain: Here's How (Exclusive)

Dacre Montgomery says OCD was the most "relatable" aspect of his Faces of Death villain NEED TO KNOW “T...

Read More

Masters 2026: Rory McIlroy faces history or heartbreak on Sunday at Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Admit it: You thought the Masters was over Friday night.

Maybe somewhere in that tortured golf brain of his, Rory McIlroy did, too.

On Saturday, Augusta National set the record straight. Even for a defending champion who thought he had started to figure this place out, there are no free rides to a green jacket.

Now if McIlroy is going to win his sixth major championship and become just the fourth player to go back-to-back at the Masters, it will be a both-hands-on-the-wheel experience with black ice, broken windshield wipers and a busted tail light.

Just as it should be.

“This golf course has a way of, you know, when you're not quite feeling it, you struggle,” McIlroy said after his round. “You have to dig deep.”

For McIlroy, a six-stroke lead with 36 holes to go was either going to produce history or infamy. Now, after a shaky 1-over 73 on Saturday has reversed him back intoa tie with Cameron Young heading into the final round— with nine more players within five of the lead — we’ll find out which one it is Sunday evening.

Did you think this one would be different?

C’mon now, this is Rory McIlroy we’re talking about.

A guy who couldn’t close out a major championship for 11 years despite more opportunities than most pros will ever have in their lives. A guy who led by four on Sunday last year walking off the 11th hole only to be tied for the lead by the time he reached the 15th fairway.

All that talk about how winning last year lifted the burden, freed him up and opened the floodgates to infinity majors? It ignored what has been right in front of our eyes for his entire career: That competitive quality great closers have — killer instinct, cold blood, whatever you want to call it — has not been gifted to McIlroy.

“I'd like to think that I'll play a little bit freer and I'll play, you know, like I've already got a green jacket, which I do,” McIlroy said after Saturday’s round. “Sometimes I maybe just have to remind myself of that, but I think as well that the stakes in terms of, like, the [final] pairing will be just a little bit easier. You know, the atmosphere out there will be a little bit easier.”

Advertisement

Tiger Woods made his opponents shrink. Brooks Koepka overpowered them. Even Scottie Scheffler, when he gets on top in a major championship, feels like he can simply out-steady them.

McIlroy, arguably one of the seven or eight most talented people to ever hold a golf club, is at his core a thinker. In a sport where you spend 4½ hours outside and maybe two minutes actually swinging a club, that’s probably part of his problem.

If McIlroy had what those other champions have, he’d have racked up at least 10 majors by now and we’d all be talking about whether he can catch Jack Nicklaus’ 18. After Saturday, we should be well past the point of thinking his presence on top of a leaderboard is so intimidating to the field that he can cruise home when he cares this much about a tournament.

“That’s not me,” he said after Friday’s7-under 65 that spotted him an historic lead heading into the weekend. “That’s not what I want to do.”

McIlroy is still, of course, carving out one of the greatest careers ever. If he wins his sixth major Sunday, it will tie him with Lee Trevino, Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson. Only Woods, Faldo and Nicklaus have won consecutive Masters.

And in a sense, the fact that McIlroy won’t get to promenade through a Masters Sunday only makes it more compelling if he holds on. The fact that McIlroy, despite all the demons, has won and can still win again despite blowing a six-stroke lead is what separates him from Greg Norman.

Whereas Norman couldn’t stop the spiral in the midst of that meltdown in the final round in 1996, at least McIlroy managed to birdie No. 14 and No. 15 on Saturday after losing the lead to Young — just like last year when he briefly gave it up to Justin Rose.

As much as you can see the frailty at times, he has real grit in there.

But there’s no question the stakes are sky high Sunday. Nobody can take McIlroy’s 2025 Masters and career Grand Slam away from him. But If he loses this one after building the largest 36-hole lead in the history of the event, the grace he’s been given over the last 12 months for a long history of Sunday train wrecks will be over.

Maybe that’s not totally fair. Even as McIlroy roared to 12-under through 36 holes, there was a little smoke and mirrors in that score given some of the places he was scrambling from off the tee. Over the first two days, he had birdied seven of eight par-5s despite hitting the fairway on exactly none of those holes.

At some point, that comes back to bite you — especially at Augusta.

Now, to win Sunday, McIlroy is going to need his best stuff. Maybe he’ll have it, maybe he won’t. Either way, he’s going to make it thrilling.

Even with a six-shot lead that’s now long in the rear-view, we shouldn’t have expected anything else.

byAlex Forten

in

April 12, 2026

Masters 2026: Rory McIlroy faces history or heartbreak on Sunday at Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Admit it: You thought the Masters was over Friday night. Maybe somewhere in that tortured golf brain of his, Rory ...

Read More

Brittney Griner signing with Connecticut Sun ahead of move to Houston

Brittney Griner is going to get the chance to play in front of her hometown crowd in Houston.

She'll just have to wait one more season.

According tomultiple reportsFriday evening, the 10-time WNBA All-Star is signing a seven-figure, multi-year deal with the Connecticut Sun. This will be the last season the team plays in Uncasville, Connecticut, before relocating to Houstonfollowing a sale to the Fertitta family.

Griner, 35, joins the Sun after spending one season with the Atlanta Dream, where she averaged 9.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 51.8% from the floor.

The 6-foot-9 Baylor product has had a decorated WNBA career and spent her first 11 professional seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, where she won a championship playing alongside Diana Taurasi in 2014. Griner is a six-time All-WNBA selection, a seven-time All-Defense selection and a two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

Advertisement

With the Women's Final Four complete, all eyes turn towards the 2026 WNBA Draft. The WNBA draft takes place Monday, April 13, in New York, and this year's event has a different feel. Unlike the last two drafts, where Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers were consensus No. 1 overall picks, this year's top spot is up for grabs. After an exciting March Madness, it's time to see who helped their stock and who fell down the draft board. Is Awa Fam still at the top? Is Azzi Fudd a top-five draft pick? Who vaulted into the first round?

Here's USA TODAY's latest 2026 WNBA mock draft: 1. Dallas Wings: Lauren Betts, C, UCLA
- After a stellar NCAA Tournament run, Betts has done enough to earn consideration for the No. 1 overall pick. While the Bruins center will need to work on shooting more baskets in the mid-range and later from deep, she can be inserted into Dallas's lineup when the season starts on May 8. Her length and size make her an immediate threat in the post, along with her passing abilities and rebounding prowess.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 2. Minnesota Lynx: Olivia Miles, G, TCU
- Minnesota doesn't struggle to move the ball, but adding Miles into the mix gives the Lynx the ability to take their offensive movement up a level. The TCU guard has a high basketball IQ, which should help her with the rookie learning curve on a team with championship aspirations. Head coach Cheryl Reeve can also bring out the best in Miles defensive skills as she adjusts to WNBA play.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 3. Seattle Storm: Azzi Fudd, G, UConn
- Fudd had a very underwhelming NCAA Tournament aside from her second round game against Syracuse. The slump won't stop her from being drafted. The UConn guard's shot is still the purest in college basketball, and her ability to be an offensive threat at any moment is something you don't see as often at the rookie level. Fudd also rarely wastes a movement or a shot, making her a prime candidate to draft.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 5. Chicago Sky: Kiki Rice, G, UCLA
- Until veteran Courtney Vandersloot returns, the Sky need a guard who can facilitate, score when needed and defend. Rice, who finished a career year in a UCLA uniform, has proven she can do it all. The senior guard has improved her ability to read opposing defenses, maintain patience with solid footwork and recover in help defense. Rice would also take some pressure off Hailey Van Lith, who struggled during her rookie season.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 6. Toronto Tempo: Flau'jae Johnson, G, LSU
- Johnson has a score-first mentality, and she does it in a variety of ways: midrange, downhill in the paint and from the 3-point line. She's one of the top defensive guards in the 2026 class, and if she can improve her defensive awareness at the pro level, she can become an elite two-way guard. Head coach Sandy Brondello should also be a tremendous asset to Johnson's growth.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 7. Portland Fire: Ta'Niya Latson, G, South Carolina
- Latson's NCAA Tournament run was a mixed bag. That shouldn't hurt her WNBA draft stock, but it wasn't hard to notice as the level of competition rose (with games against TCU, UConn and UCLA), she struggled to find her shot or ways to contribute. At the pro level, she'll be asked to do more, and she'll need to lean into her aggressiveness to have success.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 8. Golden State Valkyries: Gabriela Jaquez, G, UCLA
- If a team gives her any space, Jaquez will make them pay. The guard can do it all, with assists, 3-pointers, in the paint, on the boards or by creating a steal. She should fit well within Golden State's "hard hat and lunch pail" culture, where they pride themselves on having energy on both sides of the ball.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 9. Washington Mystics: Raven Johnson, G South Carolina
- While Johnson has proven she can score when needed, it's her facilitation skills and defense that will make her a top 10 pick. The South Carolina guard does a great job of feeding her bigs and spreading the offense out to find the best shot. She is also a lockdown defender who leaves little room for error and isn't afraid of anyone on a court, regardless of size.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 10. Indiana Fever: Gianna Kneepkens, G, UCLA
- Kneepkens ended her college career shooting nearly 50-40-90, which is impressive and rare in today's college landscape. The UCLA guard's game isn't flashy, but it's often timely. Kneepkens knows how to step into the big moments, as she did in the national championship when she delivered two massive 3-point baskets during an extended Bruins' run.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 13. Atlanta Dream: Madina Okot, C, South Carolina
- Atlanta needs depth. Adding Okot would help the Dream with their post presence and perimeter shooting. The South Carolina big can score from multiple levels and will crash the glass. If Atlanta brings veteran center Brittney Griner back, Okot would learn from one of the best in league history at the position.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 14. Seattle Storm: Marta Suarez, F, TCU
- Suarez's NCAA Tournament run wasn't great, but she did have a breakout game against Virginia during the Sweet 16, which included a career high 33 points plus 10 rebounds. The outing was a glimpse of Suarez at her best, which could entice Seattle to add Suarez as depth now and starter later.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 15. Connecticut Sun: Cotie McMahon, F, Ole Miss
- McMahon would work well in a young core of players like Saniya Rivers, Leila Lacan, Aaliyah Edwards and Aneesah Morrow. The Ole Miss forward is a utility piece that the Sun could utilize to its advantage. She does most of her damage in the paint ― Connecticut's specialty ― and could also help facilitate, if needed. Once McMahon gets crisper as a defender, she'll be dynamite at the next level.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Our WNBA mock draft could be full of future stars

With the Women's Final Four complete, all eyes turn towards the 2026 WNBA Draft. The WNBA draft takes place Monday, April 13, in New York, and this year's event has a different feel. Unlike the last two drafts, where Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers were consensus No. 1 overall picks, this year's top spot is up for grabs. After an exciting March Madness, it's time to see who helped their stock and who fell down the draft board. Is Awa Fam still at the top? Is Azzi Fudd a top-five draft pick? Who vaulted into the first round?Here's USA TODAY's latest 2026 WNBA mock draft:1. Dallas Wings: Lauren Betts, C, UCLA- After a stellar NCAA Tournament run, Betts has done enough to earn consideration for the No. 1 overall pick. While the Bruins center will need to work on shooting more baskets in the mid-range and later from deep, she can be inserted into Dallas's lineup when the season starts on May 8. Her length and size make her an immediate threat in the post, along with her passing abilities and rebounding prowess.

Griner has led the WNBA in scoring twice and has been the league’s leader in blocked shots in eight seasons. She needs just 18 blocks to pass Margo Dydek for the most all-time in WNBA history.

Her 55.8% mark from the floor is also the third best career shooting percentage in WNBA history, trailing only Sylvia Fowles and Crystal Langhorne.

Griner had a prime season of her career taken from her in 2022 when she was wrongfully detained in a Russian prison for nearly 10 months. In the season before her arrest, she was second in MVP voting to Jonquel Jones.

Aside from her accomplishments in the WNBA, Griner won a national championship with Baylor in 2013 and was twice named National Player of the Year while playing for Kim Mulkey’s Lady Bears. She also owns three Olympic gold medals while playing for Team USA.

In Connecticut, Griner will team up with a young core of Saniyah Rivers, Aneesah Morrow, Aaliyah Edwards, Leïla Lacan and Diamond Miller — the latter of whom the team recently traded for.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:WNBA star Brittney Griner signing with Connecticut Sun

byAlex Forten

in

April 11, 2026

Brittney Griner signing with Connecticut Sun ahead of move to Houston

Brittney Griner is going to get the chance to play in front of her hometown crowd in Houston. She'll just have to wait one mor...

Read More

Lots of players rest and lots of playoff seeds are locked up on a 15-game Friday in the NBA

The Oklahoma City-Denver game could have starred the NBA's two most recent MVPs: the reigning one in Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a three-time winner in Nuggets forward Nikola Jokic.

Mavericks Spurs Basketball

Except they both sat out. They weren't alone.

All the other regular starters for the Thunder and Nuggets were ruled out, too. And around the league, no fewer than 168 players — including 14 members of the Memphis Grizzlies, who used only six players ina blowout loss at Utah— were held out on Friday night because of injuries or illnesses.

Every team in the league was playing game 81 — the next-to-last game — of their seasons on Friday night. They're all off Saturday, and then all teams play again Sunday to close the regular season.

Some teams had something to play for Friday. Some did not. Sometimes, that didn't seem to matter.

“If we didn’t clinch (the No. 1 overall seed) coming into tonight, everybody would be playing,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault told reporters before the game. “We’ve earned the right through 80 games to manage their bodies and stuff like that.”

Oklahoma City already had the No. 1 seed for the entirety of the postseason wrapped up, so rest and health appear to be the priority for the Thunder.

The Nuggets entered Friday still having seeding to play for, and in Jokic's case,there's still award eligibility to obtain.He needs to play in one more game, which would have to be Sunday if he's going to get on the ballot for MVP, All-NBA and other awards.

“We're all aware of that,” Nuggets coach David Adelman told reporters before the game, then said postgame that “an adult conversation” would be had on Saturday about the best course of action.

Some players got to award eligibility with a few extra minutes to spare.

San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama, needing to play 20 minutes to reach the 65-game standard and be eligible for postseason awards, was taken out after hitting exactly that number of minutes — then went back into the game, evidently having persuaded the Spurs that he needed a bit more on-court work.

He finished with 40 points, 13 rebounds and five assistsin 26 minutes.

“If I had 65 (games) before, I for sure wouldn't have played,” Wembanyama said.

Said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson: “We need as much on-the-job training, on-the-court experience together as we can. That's what we're trying to do without overdoing it.”

There was also a record shooting effort on Friday.Boston made 29 3-pointers,tying the record for 3s in a game. It was the fourth time in NBA history a team made 29, and the second time this week after Memphis did it on Monday in a loss to Cleveland.

“Hopefully, we didn't use them all up in one game,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.

Play-in dress rehearsal for Warriors?

Not everybody was resting for the playoffs.

Golden State was building for the postseason — or, at least, what it hopes will be a playoff run. The Warriors are going to the play-in tournament and tuned up by getting Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis in the starting lineup together for the first time this season.

“We’ll just take a look at that tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before Golden State played Sacramento. “We have a season full of data and film on some of the combinations. But some of decisions we have to make, there’s no data. It’s just kind of a hunch so we have give some of that a look tonight.”

Jazz and Grizzlies combine to use 13 players

Utah — a team that seems to have spent the season ensuring it would have a bottom-four record to guarantee a top-eight draft pick — used seven players in its 147-101 win over Memphis, and was the deeper team.

Advertisement

Memphis had only six players.

It wasn't the game of the year, to put it mildly.

“Congrats to the Jazz,” Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “They played a really good game. Shot the ball really well. We knew we had limited bodies going into this game. Guys gave everything they had, but you could see they were extremely fatigued.”

Jazz coach Will Hardy called the game a great way to end Utah's home schedule.

“Just a fun night,” Hardy said.

Playoff picture becomes clearer

Atlantabecame the 11th teamto grab one of the 12 guaranteed playoff spots, rolling past a Cleveland team that sat Donovan Mitchell.

“It feels great,” guard CJ McCollum said after the Hawks clinched either the No. 5 or No. 6 spot in the East. “The guys did a great job of rallying together.”

In other playoff-related news:

— Boston secured No. 2 in the East, behind No. 1 Detroit (which had previously clinched).

— New Yorklocked up No. 3in the East.

— Cleveland is certain to be No. 4 in the East after that loss to the Hawks.

— Atlanta knows it will be in the playoffs, either as the No. 5 or No. 6 seed.

— Charlotte will be in the play-in tournament after falling to Detroit.

— Orlando will be in no worse than the 7-vs.-8 play-in game in the East.

— Miami is locked into the 9-vs.-10 play-in game in the East.

— Portland beat the Los Angeles Clippers, giving the Trail Blazers the inside track to the No. 8 seed in the West. The Clippers would have wrapped up No. 8 with a victory, and now need help Sunday to avoid being No. 9. The difference? The teams in the 7-vs.-8 game get two chances to win one game and make the playoffs. The 9-vs.-10 teams have to win two elimination games to advance. “It's a very important win,” Blazers star Deni Avdija said.

AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this report.

AP NBA:https://apnews.com/nba

byAlex Forten

in

April 11, 2026

Lots of players rest and lots of playoff seeds are locked up on a 15-game Friday in the NBA

The Oklahoma City-Denver game could have starred the NBA's two most recent MVPs: the reigning one in Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Al...

Read More

Quinta Brunson breaks down Janine and Gregory's relationship cliffhanger on “Abbott Elementary” (exclusive)

Warning: This article contains spoilers fromAbbott Elementaryseason 5, episode 19, "Trip."

Quinta Brunsonknows thatAbbott Elementaryfans will be upset after Wednesday's episode, but she's not making any apologies.

"I don't even want to say I'm sorry," the show's creator and star tellsEntertainment Weekly. "We're all going to go on a nice sun ride with each other [after this], right?"

That remains in question after fans watched Janine (played by Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) teeter on the brink of ending their relationship afterseasons of waiting for them to finally get together.

In the episode aptly titled "Trip," the newly cohabitating couple find themselves unexpectedly at odds while planning a couple's trip. Just when they've finally landed on the Outer Banks as their destination, the itinerary proves to be a continuing source of obstacles between them. First, it's the question of whether to stay at a hotel or an Airbnb — which ends with a compromise of sourcing a B'n'B — only for the mode of transportation to prove truly insurmountable.

Although Gregory's inflexibility when it comes to choosing between taking a flight to the Outer Banks versus driving there is expected of the first-grade teacher, it's Janine's refusal to stand down that might be surprising for some fans. But maybe it shouldn't, Brunson reasons.

"This is a girl who has, over the years, learned to stand up for what she wants and to not compromise as much," the Emmy winner points out. "We talked about that a lot in the [writers'] room. Her learning, especially with a trip — there was a trip she wanted to take a few seasons ago and she was going to compromise for the sake of her mother and she learned not to do that. So she's trying to exercise that. She's trying to exercise her wants and getting what she needs."

And who couldn't respect the way Janine confronted Gregory about his less-than-compromising compromise of deciding they should go to Atlantic City instead of the Outer Banks?!

But between Janine's hard-won backbone and Gregory's doggedness, the episode-long back and forth ends with the unthinkable; the argument about their contrasting ideas for vacation ends with Janine suggesting that maybe, in light of their difficultly, they should break up.

This is why they say you should take a vacation before you move in together!

Despite the surety that fans would be sent into a tizzy over that emotional cliffhanger, Brunson shared that the fight was something she and the sitcom writers were excited about seeing played out.

"I think [we were excited] because Jeanine and Gregory are two characters we know very well, and more than anything, two characters wethinkwe know very well. So we think we know their relationship. We feel settled with it," she says. "But I think as with any relationship, the inside has its own dynamics. And I thought that they've been in such an easy ride since they got together, it was interesting to all of us to see some different layers there."

Advertisement

Brunson says she and the writers posed the question of what could be under the surface of Janine and Gregory's relationship to be unearthed, leading to their trials and tribulations on Wednesday.

"Gregory and Janine haven't had this kind of conflict yet," she adds. "So now it's like, what happens when these two developed characters — who have learned a lot of lessons and have done a lot of growing up — come to this kind of point in their relationship?"

But the actress notes that the fight between Janine and Gregory wasn't created simply for the sake of it; it also served as a "moment of growth" for Gregory. "I think that Gregory is a really solutions-based character, and I feel like he's like, 'I provided the solution. That's it.' And that's not always the case when it comes to our interpersonal relationships," she says. "I think that's true for all relationships, romantic, work relationships, and friendships. You really want to try to find something that actually works for both people, and that's just not always easy to do."

It was also a moment of challenge for Brunson and Williams behind the scenes. "We've been doing this for a long time now and you kind of get used to being able to play certain things with your character," Brunson says. "We're used to playing with the kids, we're used to playing nice and fun, and we're used to playing dramatic in other elements, but this was a new challenge for him and I as actors."

"It's kind of fun," the actress adds, laughing. "It's the stuff that makes you feel like you're back in acting class, your character, a new element throne at it, something new to develop. Who is Gregory in this moment? Who is Janine in this moment? And it's fun, honestly, as actors. This last episode and the one where they move in with each other were both episodes where Tyler and I felt a challenge in how we do these things to make sense."

Brunson shares that the challenge went beyond just her and Williams — even the episode's director and supervising director, Razan Ghalayini and Randall Einhorn, respectively, held "a longer tone meeting than usual."

"We really took the time to be like, how is this going to feel? This is a monumental moment for these two characters, as well as our writer of this episode, Ava Coleman," Brunson says. "I felt like we had a two-part tone meeting, which we very rarely do, because this is a big moment. And then on set, same. We took more time to shoot these scenes than we normally would because we really wanted to feel it out in rehearsal and feel it out in the direction."

Sign up forEntertainment Weekly's free daily newsletterto get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

She continues, "There were smaller elements like Razan choosing to shoot farther away rather than in closeups in certain scenes. Sometimes it was like, 'Oh, we need to be a bit further away for this because even our camera crew in the show doesn't feel like they should be this close to this discussion. This is between these two characters.' So it was a fun challenge for all of us."

Hopefully the knowledge that the crew behind the cameras were working hard to bring the drama will make any fans feeling personally victimized by the cliffhanger ending of Wednesday's episode feel better!

Abbott Elementaryairs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET onABC.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byAlex Forten

in

April 10, 2026

Quinta Brunson breaks down Janine and Gregory's relationship cliffhanger on “Abbott Elementary” (exclusive)

Warning: This article contains spoilers fromAbbott Elementaryseason 5, episode 19, "Trip." Quinta Brunsonknows thatAbbo...

Read More

Jayson Tatum scores 24 for Celtics in 1st game at Madison Square Garden since Achilles injury but Knicks win, 112-106

In his first game at Madison Square Garden sincesuffering a torn Achillesin last year’s NBA playoffs, Jayson Tatum scored 24 points in the Boston Celtics’ 112-106 loss over the New York Knicks on Thursday.

The Knicks held a 72-59 lead at the 6:56 mark of the third quarter before Boston surged ahead with a 24-9 run to take a two-point lead into the fourth. The Celtics went ahead 89-83 on consecutive 3-pointers by Baylor Scheierman and Tatum before the Knicks tied the score at 92-92 after scoring seven unanswered points.

From there, Boston took the lead three times and the Knicks tied the score before finally going ahead 99-98 on a Karl-Anthony Towns 3-pointer. The lead changed four more times before New York went up 109-104 on a free throw from Jalen Brunson and 3-pointer by Josh Hart. After Nikola Vučević rebounded in a missed 3 by Peyton Pritchard, Hart followed up with the dagger from long-range for the final margin.

Advertisement

Hart finished with a game-high 26 points, followed by 25 and 10 assists from Brunson. Towns added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who improved their record to 52-28 to keep hold onthe third seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics played without leading scorer Jaylen Brown, whosat out with tendinitisin his left Achilles tendon with the team playing the first of back-to-back games. Boston hosts the New Orleans Pelicans (26-54) at TD Garden on Friday.

This story will be updated with more information.

byAlex Forten

in

April 10, 2026

Jayson Tatum scores 24 for Celtics in 1st game at Madison Square Garden since Achilles injury but Knicks win, 112-106

In his first game at Madison Square Garden sincesuffering a torn Achillesin last year’s NBA playoffs, Jayson Tatum scored 24 points in ...

Read More

Daniel Hauser, Wisconsin edge North Dakota to reach Frozen Four final

Wisconsin scored twice in a 27-second span in the first period and Daniel Hauser made 21 saves en route to a 2-1 win over No. 2 North Dakota on Thursday in the first Frozen Four semifinal at Las Vegas.

Simon Tassy and Ryan Botterill netted the quick-fire goals for the Badgers (24-12-2), who shrugged off North Dakota's last-minute tally to move within one win of their seventh national championship and first since 2006.

The Badgers will face Denver in the final on Saturday after the Pioneers edged No. 1 Michigan 4-3 in double overtime later Thursday night.

Hauser outdueled North Dakota's Jan Spunar (35 saves) in a battle of freshman goalies, making 12 stops in the second period. Spunar and the Fighting Hawks (29-10-1) shut out both Merrimack and Quinnipiac in the Sioux Falls, S.D., regional to reach the Frozen Four for the first time since 2016.

For North Dakota, Ellis Rickwood broke Hauser's shutout bid with 51.8 seconds left in regulation.

Wisconsin finished with a dominant 37-22 advantage in shots and went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.

Hauser set the tone for a Wisconsin-dominated first period 4:24 in, stopping North Dakota's first shot on goal of the game when Tyler Young slipped a pass from behind the net to set up a point-blank chance for Cody Croal.

Advertisement

Denting the scoreboard first at 12:54, Tassy stepped into a wrist shot as he slid down into the right circle and received Vasily Zelenov's feed out of a battle in the corner.

Botterill doubled the Badger lead at 13:21. Defenseman Ben Dexheimer -- whose overtime game-winner was the difference against Michigan State in the Worcester, Mass., regional -- made a diagonal feed out of his own end to Botterill, who broke in at the blue line and beat two defenders for a shot that trickled five-hole on Spunar.

After being outshot 18-4 in the opening stanza, North Dakota pressured out of the first intermission, and Hauser made a key stop on Will Zellers' partial breakaway early in the second.

Wisconsin also killed off a two-man disadvantage for 1:57 before the halfway mark of the second period before the Badgers' Oliver Tulk made up for a defensive-zone turnover with a perfect diving backcheck to disrupt Ollie Josephson's potential try in the final minute.

One of North Dakota's best chances in the third came with 8:30 left and while short-handed, as Cole Reschny cut through two defenders and clanked a backhand shot off the crossbar.

With Spunar pulled for an extra attacker, Dylan James' wraparound attempt found the stick of Rickwood in front for a point-blank wrist shot goal atop the crease, but the Fighting Hawks got no closer than 2-1.

--Field Level Media

byAlex Forten

in

April 10, 2026

Daniel Hauser, Wisconsin edge North Dakota to reach Frozen Four final

Wisconsin scored twice in a 27-second span in the first period and Daniel Hauser made 21 saves en route to a 2-1 win over No. 2 North D...

Read More