"Guess what, I'm alive!"

The Independent’s entertainment newsletter [SUBSCRIBE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( February 18, 2023 [View in browser](   All hail Alice Neel. The New York portrait painter, who was hugely underappreciated in her lifetime (1900-1984), has been undergoing something of a reputation renaissance. That will be helped by the fact that, this weekend, the biggest UK exhibition of her work to date is opening at the Barbican. Expect to see it all over your Instagram feed. I loved [Eloise Hendy’s wonderful deep dive into Neel’s life and work](, which contains the brilliant nugget that when Neel was in her eighties, she would rang her friends just to say, “Guess what, I’m alive!” Mark Hudson [reviewed the show](, describing the works as “easy on the eye”. He writes: “I think it would be hard to come away without applauding her sheer guts in keeping going, pursuing her vision through the best and worst of times.” We’re in the thick of awards season now, with the Bafta Awards taking place on Sunday evening. The Indy culture team will be bringing you all of the latest news from the red carpet and ceremony, so join us for updates on who won, who was robbed, and who did the silliest speech. (Matilda the Musical for the Best British Film Award or the whole thing is pointless.) Last weekend, we saw two ceremonies with gender-neutral awards categories: the Brits and WhatsOnStage. [I’ve written this week’s State of the Arts column about whether the measure is really progressive as the industry might think](. Alice Neel, ‘The Spanish Family’, 1943, and ‘Ron Kajiwara’, 1971 (The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel) Elsewhere, I loved [Helen Brown’s chat with Sam Neill](. Nicole Vassell spoke to [Leila Farzad](, the breakout star of I Hate Suzie, about her first big lead TV role. Adam White talked to The Whale star Hong Chau about [backlash and hitting Brendan Fraser](. Will Taylor wondered [why there are no great songs in movie musicals anymore](. And here’s one to avoid this week:[Clarisse Loughrey says in her one-star review of]([The Son](, “Decades of research and armies of scientists might need to be deployed to figure out what happened here.” Oh, and am I the only one who wants to [read anything and everything]( about the surreal forthcoming [S Club 7 reunion](? The gang are getting back together after 25 years, and [I don’t know if Claudia Winkleman will be buying a ticket](. Have a great weekend, Jessie [@jessiecath](   What to do this weekend Exhibition | Alice Neel: Hot off the Griddle The feisty New York portrait painter may have been ignored for much of her career, but Alice Neel (1900-84) is [certainly having a moment now](. Her vibrant images of Black activists, art world luvvies and street hustlers may verge at times on caricature, but they give a gossipy and highly entertaining sense of a time and place. Mark Hudson | Chief Art Critic   Theatre | Standing at the Sky's Edge, National Theatre Who better to provide the songs for a musical about Sheffield than Richard Hawley, local legend? This acclaimed musical, about the famed Park Hill estate, opened in London this week after sold-out runs at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. “You’ve got the whole history of a post-war Britain in a f***ing musical,” Hawley [recently explained]( in an interview with our music correspondent Megan Graye. Jessie Thompson | Arts Editor @jessiecath   Film | Marcel the Shell with Shoes On Jenny Slate (Everything Everywhere All at Once and Parks and Recreation) voices a wincingly cute talking shell here, in an oddly life-affirming mockumentary that combines live action with stop-motion animation. It’s also the final one of this year’s Best Animated Feature Oscar nominees to be released in the UK – have they saved the best for last Adam White | Film Editor @__adamwhite   TV | British Academy Film Awards The biggest stars in film will be gathering this weekend at the first Baftas ceremony to take place away from the Royal Albert Hall in seven years. This year, the red carpet will be rolled out at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s Southbank, with the extraordinary duo of Richard E Grant and Alison Hammond on hosting duties. Prince William and Princess Kate will be in attendance, and the biggest nominee of the night is war drama All Quiet on the Western Front, with a whopping 14 nods. Ellie Harrison | TV Editor @Ellie_Harrison   Books | The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore The first novel from book publicist extraordinaire turned debut author Georgina Moore has inspired comparisons with Mary Wesley, Rosamunde Pilcher and Elizabeth Jane Howard . A rompy family saga, it explores the aftermath of a passionate, doomed love affair – and the legacy its unravelling leaves on the couple’s children. Jessie Thompson | Arts Editor @jessiecath   [The Saturday Interview – Adam Brody]( [Oscars image]( Adam Brody stars in 'Fleishman Is in Trouble' (FX) Seth! No, not that Seth. Adam Brody of The OC fame is playing a character called Seth in a new adaptation of Taffy Brodesser-Akner's bestseller Fleishman Is in Trouble. [He spoke to Annabel Nugent]( about not getting typecast, his marriage to Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester, and the pressure (or not) of being a teen heart-throb. [Oscars image]( Brody in 'Fleishman Is in Trouble' (Matthias Clamer/FX) Read an extract from our Saturday Interview below… Brody has been married to Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester (one of a handful of teen stars who were as widely loved as Brody was) since 2014. “If I’ve learned anything, you have to really swallow your ego and pride,” he says. “You have to listen and accept the other’s perspective – and probably compromise.” It’s good advice. They’re coming up to their 10-year anniversary. The Seth of FX’s Fleishman is a finance bro, clinging to the last vestiges of his youth while his friends decamp to the suburbs and have kids – a choice which, Brody would like to clarify, doesn’t make him selfish. “You don’t have to settle down. You don’t have to have kids,” he says. “In fact, don’t if you don’t want to, for God’s sake.” If ever there was an actor in danger of being typecast, it was Brody. It’s surprising then that FX’s Fleishman is the latest in a string of works that turn his boyish charm inside out. Life after The OC looked very un-Seth. He did a tonal 180 with Jennifer’s Body (more on that later), the horror-comedy Ready or Not, and the crime drama StartUp. By all counts, Brody has a long and varied career, including a turn in Billy & Billie, a criminally underrated series about step-siblings who fall in love. For what it’s worth, Brody has never felt pigeonholed. “I’ve always had enough confidence about it where I’m like, either I won’t be because I’m good enough not to be – or if I am, then it’s my own fault.” And if he was, well, Brody laughs, there’s worse things. “I like what I do. I enjoy and am decent in the romance and romantic-comedy space,” he says. “I also don’t think I carry a machine gun as well as some other guys.” [Read the full interview here](   Weekend Shelf-Care Weekend Shelf-Care Alex Niven Here's a fascinating, timely read: Alex Niven, a proud Northerner, has written about how we define the region today. He explores the culture and politics of the north, making the case for a kind of "radical regionalism". A book I recently read and loved is… When the Circus Leaves Town by David Proudlove, a travelogue about the closure of traditional football grounds in England and Wales. Underneath the ostensible subject it's a wonderfully intricate and humane history of the last 30 years or so of British civic life, which puts to shame a thousand journalistic commentaries on the "Red Wall", "Brexit Britain", etc. My three fantasy literary dinner party guests would be… I'm going to go very northern on this one and say Emily Brontë, Anthony Burgess and Andrea Dunbar. Apocalyptic fun. Not finishing books: my stance is… Life is way too short for bad books. I'd go further and say it's too short even for good books that don't have an impact by about the halfway point. I gave up on Gravity's Rainbow on a summer's day in the park many years' ago when I realised it would make a much better headrest than reading matter. I didn't necessarily think it was a bad book, just not for me. And very sturdy. My writing routine is… I have three young kids so it's heavily dependent on them, and on the day job. As a society I don't think we've yet worked out a viable way for parents to be creatively productive in a context where they're also probably both working most of the time. That said, I usually find that if I can somehow hack out three to four hours of writing most weekdays, something will come out of that eventually. But it's difficult, and indeed a big social problem. 'The North Will Rise Again: In Search of the Future in Northern Heartlands' by Alex Niven is published by Bloomsbury   Enjoying this newsletter? Unlock unlimited, ad-free reading on the website and in The Independent app when you subscribe – plus, benefit from our [welcome offer when you join today](.   [INDYBEST]( / [BEST BUYS]( What to buy from Sephora’s new store, according to the head buyer There’s not long to wait until the big [London launch](. In the meantime, shop Catherine Womersley's top buys online including [hair oil]( and [bronzer.]( [Shop now](       OTHER NEWSLETTERS YOU MIGHT LIKE [Climate News] Climate News Every Friday, 12pm (UK time) Written by Louise Boyle [Join now]( [Simon Calder's Travel Week] Simon Calder's Travel Week Every Friday, 7am (UK time) Written by Simon Calder [Join now]( If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. [The Independent]( Join the conversation or follow us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's entertainment newsletter. Add us to your safe list of senders. If you do not want to receive The Independent's entertainment newsletter, please [unsubscribe](list_name=IND_Culture_Newsletter_CDP). If you no longer wish to receive any newsletters or promotional emails from The Independent, you can unsubscribe [here](. 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