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empire

Famke Janssen on the Madness of Amsterdam Empire: Podcast

by jummy84 October 29, 2025

written by jummy84

Listen via: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Podcasts | More Platforms

Famke Janssen sat down with Kyle Meredith to talk about her new Netflix series Amsterdam Empire — a stylish revenge thriller set in her native Netherlands. The GoldenEye and X-Men star steps into the role of Betty, a former pop singer out to dismantle her husband’s weed-fueled coffee shop empire after a very public betrayal. The show marks Janssen’s rare return to acting in Dutch, as well as her first time serving as an executive producer and co–costume designer. “It’s one of those rare moments where everything came full circle,” she tells Meredith. Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.

For Janssen, Betty was far more than a scorned wife. “I didn’t want her to just be this angry whirlwind of a person,” she explains. “We’ve all seen that before. I wanted the anger to be rooted in real hurt and devastation.” As executive producer, Janssen helped shape Betty into a complex, unpredictable force — one whose pain feels lived-in, not scripted. “You think she’s crazy, but she’s actually just heartbroken and trying to survive in her own eccentric way,” she says.

Janssen also threw herself into the visual side, co-designing Betty’s flamboyant wardrobe and even performing a full-blown pop video for her character’s fictional one-hit wonder. “Betty had one hit 20 years ago, and she’s been stuck there ever since,” Janssen says. “She still dresses like that girl — colorful, loud, a little childish, but full of heart.” That aesthetic wasn’t just a look; it became part of Betty’s psyche. “She wants to be seen and remembered. There’s something both tragic and wonderful about that.”

Listen to Famke Janssen talk about Amsterdam Empire, acting in Dutch, and the creation of Betty’s wild wardrobe in the new episode above or by watching the video below. Keep up on all the latest episodes by following Kyle Meredith With… on your favorite podcast platform; plus, check out all the series on the Consequence Podcast Network.

Writer and Producer on ‘Empire,’ ‘Riverdale’

by jummy84 October 16, 2025

written by jummy84

TV writer and producer Yolonda E. Lawrence, who worked on series including Fox’s Empire and The CW’s Riverdale, died unexpectedly in Los Angeles on Friday. She was 56.

A native of Brooklyn and graduate of Syracuse University, Lawrence moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s to work in the industry. She began as a production assistant and production coordinator on series’ including The Crew, a comedy co-created by Marc Cherry, and the Fox drama 413 Hope St. before becoming an assistant to showrunners Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin (Chicago Hope, Judging Amy), who mentored her as a writer.

Lawrence landed her first staff job on the CBS drama Shark in 2006. She penned episodes of Lincoln Heights, Reaper, Shondaland’s Star-Crossed, ABC Family’s The Nine Lives of Chloe King and Witches of East End, among other shows.

She was a writer and supervising producer of Riverdale in 2017-18 before moving to Empire, where she rose to co-executive producer and co-developed a potential spinoff focused on Taraji P. Henson’s character with Danny Strong and Stacy A. Littlejohn. Recent credits included Showtime’s The First Lady, Peacock’s Bel-Air and Tyler Perry’s BET series Sistas. She also served as a mentor to a number of young Black creatives and others seeking a place in the industry.

Lawrence is survived by her mother, Barbara Simon, and siblings Ayana Simon and Craig Simon. A memorial service is being planned for this month in Los Angeles.

October 16, 2025 0 comments

Bollywood

Kris Jenner on building the Kardashian empire: ‘I never thought the exposure would be harmful…’

by jummy84 August 27, 2025

written by jummy84

Kris Jenner may be 69, but she’s still running the Kardashian-Jenner empire with the same drive that launched the family’s widely successful dynasty nearly two decades ago. Fresh off her Vogue Arabia cover, chatter about her latest facelift nearly overshadowed her assiduous strategy that transformed her clan into one of the biggest OTT cash cows of the 21st century.

The Kardashians

When Keeping Up With the Kardashians debuted, Kris was 51, a mom of six, juggling family and business in Calabasas. She had no doubts about opening her family’s private lives to the cameras. “To be perfectly honest, I never thought the exposure would be harmful. I just thought this was going to be a great journey. ‘Buckle your seatbelts, we are in for a wild ride, but we are going to have the time of our lives,’” she recalled in her interview with Vogue.

Rooted in practicality and faith, her ambition knew no bounds. “We were working in our stores in Calabasas, and I thought this would be a great way to give exposure to our business, as it was like an instant focus group. This was an immediate marketing tool and something that could come in handy for other things. I knew this was not a gamble. I also prayed about it. I got on my knees and I said, ‘Please Lord, lead me in the right direction,’ and that’s what I still do everyday. I have great spirituality and I’m very confident about my decisions, but I also feel we were led in the right direction,” she said.

Looking back at the moment the show began, when Kourtney was 28, Kim was 27, Khloé was 23, Rob was 20, and Kendall and Kylie were just 10 and 9, Kris sees it as the start of something none of them could have predicted. “But looking back, I never even dreamt that I could’ve had this amazing career starting at 51. I feel really lucky that it happened the way it did, allowing us to do it as a family,” she reflected.

Of course, the show revealed more than most families would ever allow. But Jenner insists she has no regrets about how open they’ve been. “You know, we don’t have any regrets. I don’t live with regrets,” she said. “We have a global television show in 200 countries and so many languages. Our enormous fanbase is very emotionally invested in the family. At this point, they want to see what we are doing, and they will know everything, especially as we live in the age of the internet. There’s nothing off-limits.”

From boutique owners in Calabasas to one of the most famous families on the planet, it’s quite clear that Kris Jenner’s gamble continues to pay off.

August 27, 2025 0 comments