FORTE MAG

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Key points

• Will Forte tells EW he got "very little sleep" as he prepared to revive MacGruber for Glen Powell's Saturday Night Live hosting gig.

• The comedian first played the character as an SNL cast member, then for a film and TV series.

• "It really was like the old days," says the actor, who's currently partnering with Teva to promote awareness for Huntington's disease.

Will Fortemakes writing MacGruber sound as stressful as, well,beingMacGruber.

TheLast Man on Earthstar tellsEntertainment Weeklyabout the whirlwind saga that led to his signatureSaturday Night Livecharacter's return while promoting his Huntington's disease awareness campaign with Teva.

Forte says thatGlen Powellwas instrumental in getting MacGruber back on the air when theRunning Manactor hostedSNLin November.

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"It came pretty late in the game," Forte says of the sketch. "I know Glen a little bit through friends and so he had reached out. My friend put us in touch 'cause he was coming to host for the first time and just had a couple questions about what the week was gonna be like. So we had a nice chat about that. And he said he had a MacGruber idea."

Forte explains that he was working on the second season of Netflix'sThe Four Seasonswith fellowSNLalum Tina Fey in Beacon, N.Y., when conversations transpired about reviving MacGruber for Powell's episode.

"I was like, 'Okay, I don't think I could even do it if they wanted me to,'" he remembers. "But I didn't know what they had in mind. I thought, 'Oh, maybe they just want MacGruber to come walk out in the monologue' or something like that."

The comedian knew he was in for something more involved when he heard that theSNLteam wanted "a traditional MacGruber," which ultimately ended up being a six-minute sketch in which the title hero (Forte) tries to evade questions from his allies (played by Powell and cast memberChloe Fineman) about his presence in the Epstein files.

"So me and my buddy John Solomon and Jorma Taccone — the original MacGruber team — we just started working and stayed up super late," Forte remembers. "It was really like old times, 'cause in those oldSNLwriting days, you are so sleep deprived. So it felt like home."

Forte says that jugglingSNL,Four Seasons, and his Huntington's awareness campaign was no easy feat.

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"It was a couple nights of getting very little sleep and having to try to write in the cracks ofFour Seasonsstuff, and then go act in someFour Seasonsscenes and then run into the computer and writing, and then going into the city, staying up til 3 to write, and then waking up at 6 to shoot MacGruber and then shooting it, and then going right up to Beacon again to do this night shoot," he remembers.

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"And then I had to come back down on Saturday for this Huntington's awareness campaign with Teva. We were shooting something that Saturday, and that's the day you're editing it," he continues. "And then as soon as the Teva shoot was over, I raced over to 30 Rock and tried to edit it. So, man, it really was like the old days."

The comedian reflects on how the new MacGruber experience compared to his originalSNLrun. "Back then, when all you're doing is focusing onSNL, you're always thinking like, 'Oh man, if we could have only had even 30 more minutes!'" he says. "But this was tough 'cause it was also all three of us — me, Jorma, and John — spread out all over the place. John was in California in Lone Pine with very bad reception.Jorma had been in an accidentwhere he fell off a ladder. So he was still on pain pills every once in a while. But we did it! It was really fun."

Forte, anSNLcast member from 2002-2010, first played the character on a Jan. 20, 2007 episode of the legendary sketch show. A spoof of 1980s adventure seriesMacGyver,MacGruber recurred nearly a dozen times during the actor's run on the show, and again when he hosted in 2022. The fan-favorite character launched aless successful feature filmand, later, aneight-episode series on Peacock.

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Forte partnered with Teva to raise awareness for Huntington's disease after his brother-in-law, Douglas, was diagnosed with the condition, an inherited disorder in which nerve cells in the brain decay over time, affecting movement, cognitive ability, and mental health.

"More people have Huntington's than have ALS, but everybody knows ALS, so that's why we're trying to get the word out about it," Forte explains. "We're trying to get some support and a bigger community going to support the people who have Huntington's, and to teach the people who don't have it about it."

Forte offers his perspective on supporting the Huntington's community. "The more you can be there to support your loved ones who are going through it and create a big community around them, the better," he says. "And to talk about it. Just talk about it. The more you talk about it, the better. 'cause It's easy to just get scared about, 'Oh, am I gonna say the right thing? What do I say?' But saying anything is better than saying nothing."

You can learn more about Forte's family's experience with Huntington's disease on theHonestlyHD website.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

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NEED TO KNOW

• Billie Holiday was one of the most influential singers of the 20th century, with hits including "God Bless the Child" and "Lover Man"

• Billy Crystal's uncle Milt Gabler was a record producer who launched the label Commodore Records in the 1930s

• The four episodes of the docuseries Black & Jewish America: An Interwoven History premieres on PBS between Feb. 3 and Feb. 24

Billie Crystalis known for comedic movies like 1989'sWhen Harry Met Sally...and 1991'sCity Slickers, and for hosting the Academy Awards nine times, making him second only to 19-time Oscar host Bob Hope. But the Emmy-winning Hollywood legend also has an unexpected major tie to Black history.

His uncle Milt Gabler produced one of jazz legend Billie Holiday's seminal singles: "Strange Fruit" — a protest song that became a musical cornerstone of the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the 20th century. It's one of many examples of the divine connection between Black and Jewish Americans.

The four-episode PBS docuseriesBlack & Jewish America: An Interwoven History, which premiered on Feb. 3 with the first episode, explores the histories of Black people and Jewish people in the United States and how those histories have diverged and intersected over the course of centuries.

"By the 1930s, the rise of facism in Europe drew Black and Jewish Americans even closer, as Nazi propaganda borrowed pages from the Jim Crow playbook," the docuseries' host and executive producer Henry Louis Gates Jr. says at the beginning of episode 2, "Strange Fruit." He adds, "After the Holocaust, there was a heightened awareness of their shared suffering as well as a growing recognition of their differences."

Jewish people were at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement alongside Black Americans, and many of popular music's mid-century classics were collaborations between Black and Jewish talent. For example, the greatest hits by the Black vocal group The Coasters, including "Yakety Yak" and "Poison Ivy," were written by the Jewish songwriting team Jerome Leiber and Michael Stoller.

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Then there was Atlantic Records legend Jerry Wexler, who produced landmark classics for Ray Charles ("What'd I Say"),Aretha Franklin("Respect") and Wilson Pickett ("Mustang Sally"). AndDionne Warwickmade her mark in the '60s with a string of hits written by the Jewish songwriting duo Burt Bacharach and Hal David, which Carole King and her husband Gerry Goffin helped craft classics by the Shirelles ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow"), Little Eva ("The Loco-Motion") and Franklin ("[You Make Me Feel Like] A Natural Woman").

Decades earlier, Holiday and Gabler made history with "Strange Fruit." As the documentary explains in a clip shared exclusively with PEOPLE, Gabler first heard "Strange Fruit" when Holiday herself sang it in Gabler's family store, in hopes that Milk would produce a recording of it.

"According to him, she sang it in the store a cappella," Crystal, 77, says of his uncle and Holiday in the clip. "And he said to me, 'I just cried like a baby. I said, We gotta record this thing. I don't care if we make a buck.' "

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Gabler recorded "Strange Fruit" on his Commodore record label after pretty much every other label turned it down.

"A White Jewish producer, and the greatest Black jazz singer of all-time, and an all-Black band, working together to produce art," Crystal adds. "Isn't that the metaphor for what we should be and where we should be at? Why can't the world be like this?"

Abel Meeropol, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, was working as a school teacher in New York City when he wrote "Strange Fruit" as a poem, and he published it in 1937. He was inspired by aphotothat showed the lynching of two Black teenagers in Indiana in 1930, and he later set his poem to music.

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Holiday performed it as both a mournful hymn and a political lamentation about the harsh realities of life in the Jim Crow South during the first part of the 20th century. "Southern trees bear a strange fruit, blood on the leaves and blood at the root, black body swinging in the Southern breeze, strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees," she sings in the first verse.

The song, released as a single in 1939, sparked outrage among racists in and out of power and made Holiday a target of the U.S. government. Banned by radio stations around the country, it nonetheless sold a million copies and became the biggest hit of her career.

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Gabler went on to produce a number of landmark recordings, including Bill Haley & His Comets' "Rock Around the Clock," the song widely credited as launching rock & roll into the mainstream in 1955. Both Holiday, who died in 1959 at age 44, and Gabler were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 2000 and 1993, respectively.

The obituary that ran inThe New York Timeswhen Gabler died in 2001 at age 90 underscored his enduring bond with Holiday. "At the time of his death," it read, "there was just one photo by his bedside. It was of Billie Holiday."

"Strange Fruit," the second episode ofBlack & Jewish America: An Interwoven Historypremieres on PBS Feb. 10 at 9 p.m. ET. Episodes 3 and 4 will follow on Feb. 17 and 24, respectively, at the same time. All episodes will be available to stream on PBS.org, thePBS appand PBS Documentaries Prime Video Channel.

Read the original article onPeople

Local and federal authorities said Friday they're "aware of a new message" regarding the disappearance of "Today" show co-hostSavannah Guthrie's mom,Nancy Guthrie, as the high-profile search continues.

"Investigators are actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity," the Pima County Sheriff's Department said in a post onsocial media.The FBI also posted asimilar statementon social media. It's unclear what kind of message it is.

Inanother social media post, a little after 4 p.m. local time Friday, the sheriff's department said that investigators were "conducting follow-up" at the home of Nancy Guthrie and "surrounding areas."

Two law enforcement sources told CBS News on Saturday that investigators are "developing good information" but that "nothing is imminent."

The road in front of the Guthrie home was restricted, the sheriff's department said, and late last night, what appeared to be a dark-colored SUV was towed from the home. The sources said the car was Nancy Guthrie's, and that investigators were examining it for possible fingerprints and potential other clues. Investigators also removed a camera from the roof of the home.

The FBI and the sheriff's office are continuing to canvass the neighborhood and are tracking down vehicles that were seen on surveillance cameras in the area the night Nancy Guthrie disappeared.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos spoke with CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti about the case on Friday, but was guarded about details, including how the abductor may have entered the home or if there were signs of forced entry. The sheriff's office said Saturday they had no planned briefings.

Investigators believe Nancy Guthrie is "still out there"after her family reported her missing to authorities on Sunday, after not finding her at home when she didn't show up for church that morning.

Bloodfound outside Nancy Guthrie's homehas been confirmed to be hers, local officials said this week.

The sheriff's department has said no suspect or person of interest has been identified in the case. Authorities are treating her disappearance as a criminal matter.

The FBI also announced a$50,000 rewardfor information leading to Nancy Guthrie's recovery or the arrest and conviction of the people involved in her disappearance.

A ransom note that investigators said they're taking seriously included a deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday, said Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI's field office in Phoenix. The note demanded payment in bitcoin, and if a transfer wasn't made, then a second demand was for next Monday, Janke said.

On Wednesday night, Savannah Guthrie appeared with her brother, Camron Guthrie, and sister, Annie Guthrie, in a video saying they're "ready to talk" but that they need to know their mother is alive.

"We need to know, without a doubt, that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please, reach out to us," Savannah Guthrie said.

Camron Guthrie alsomade an appeal on Thursdayon social media for their mom's return, saying, "Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you."

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