By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
Spouses Bicker, Data Baddies, Malcolm Again, Hard to See
“The Miniature Wife,” a 10-episode series, premieres on April 9 on Peacock. It is a dramedy about the power imbalances between spouses Lindy (ELIZABETH BANKS, 52) and Les (Matthew Macfadyen).
Banks’ Jewish husband was her college sweetheart. They have been married since 2003, and they have two kids. Back in 2013, Banks said she had done all of the conversion classes, practices of Judaism, but hadn’t been ‘mikvah-dipped.’ A public update would be rare, one way or another. So, I’ll “count her in” until I learn more.
“Miniature Wife” has four “main cast” roles beside Lindy and Les. Two of the four have “Jewish ties.” There’s SOFIA ROSINSKY, 19. She plays Lindy’s sister. In 2013, when she was only six years old, she was in two TV pilots that didn’t get picked-up as a TV series. However, in 2016, when she was 9, her career took off. She was in a horror film (“The Other Side of the Door”) and she was in an original film for TV.
She has been in four theatrical films since then. None were a “biggie.” She’s had a main role in two TV series that ran for a year: “Fast Layne” and “Paper Girls.” She’s guest-starred in several TV shows.
Like many “quite young” actors, there isn’t much info about her religious background. I found just one good reference: her father is Jewish and her mother is not.
ZOE LISTER-JONES, 43, plays Vivienne, a friend. Lister-Jones’ mother, ARDELE LISTER, 74, is a video film creator, and many of her videos have won awards. Her father, BILL JONES, 74, is a well-known photographer. Lister was born Jewish. Jones converted to Judaism. Zoe grew-up in Brooklyn. Lister was the president of a Conservative synagogue and the family kept kosher.
Lister-Jones co-wrote and co-directed two films with DARYL WEIN, 43. They married in 2013. The films (“Lola Versus” and “Band Aid”) didn’t make much money despite getting good reviews. The couple also co-starred-in “Band Aid,” a film about a Jewish couple.
Lister-Jones and Wein broke-up in 2021. She is now “dating” Ms. SAMMI COHEN, a filmmaker. Cohen wrote and directed several films, including “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah,” a 2023 Netflix film. It starred ADAM SANDLER, his “real” wife, JACKIE SANDLER and SUNNY and SADIE, their “real” teenage daughters.
“Audacity” is an original AMC series (8 episodes, first season) that begins on Sunday, April 12. JONATHAN GLATZER, 56, created the series. He has written many TV episodes, but “Audacity” is the first series he created.
Here’s the “official” premise: “A self-appointed ‘inventor of the future’ tech CEO and his self-serving ‘performance psychologist’ are engulfed in a scandal sparked by the exploitation of personal data.”
There are 11 “main roles” in cast lists. Three roles are played by Jewish thespians: SIMON HELBERG, 45 (“The Big Bang Theory”) as Martin Phister; SARAH GOLDBERG, 40, as Joanne Felder; and PAUL ADELSTEIN, 56 (“Prison Break”) as Gary Felder.
“Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair” streams on Hulu and Disney+ on April 10. All four episodes stream on the 10th. Here’s the ‘official premise’: “Almost 20 years after the end of the original series, Malcolm now lives a happy life with his daughter Leah and girlfriend Tristan, having distanced himself from his birth family. He is forced to bring them into the family’s chaos when his parents Hal and Lois demand his presence for their 40th wedding anniversary party.”
One Jewish connection: JUSTIN BERFIELD, 40, returns as Reese, a brother of Malcolm. Reese lacked common sense but excelled at cooking and became a high school janitor at the end of the original series. (Berfield is now a producer).
Here’s a “very Jewish” film that I just became aware of. It is entitled “Fantasy Life.” Long story short: IMDB and Wikipedia didn’t provide the film’s opening date until just before it opened or just got it wrong. The film opened in New York, only, on March 27th (NY Times reviewed. Mixed review. But they loved AMANDA PEET) and only a very limited number of theaters showed it on April 3.
The film’s site provides a quite small list of the theaters showing the movie. When the film streams, I will provide much more info about the plot, the actors and the writer/director. (Only a Columbus theater played it in Ohio).
“Fantasy” was written and directed by MATTHEW SHEAR, 41. Shear also plays Sam, a major (Jewish) character. Sam loses his job and his “shrink” (played by JUDD HIRSCH, 91) hires him to watch his grandchildren. Peet, 54, plays the Jewish mother of the grandchildren. She wants to revive her moribund acting career.
