With the FXX series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia set to premiere its 14th season this week, show creator and star Rob McElhenney shared the gay evolution of his character, “Mac,” in a new Rolling Stone interview. It seems Mac’s coming out in Season 11 was never really meant to be the character becoming full-on gay. Explaining that the writing approach on the show is to “take whatever viewpoint any character has to the extreme,” McElhenney said the writers came up with the gay angle because Mac “is such an arch-arch Catholic conservative when it suits him, and when it doesn’t, he drops that.” Noting that many Christian conservatives are homophobic, the creators began bouncing ideas on how to take that to the next level and satirize that. “And that’s when I thought, ‘Let’s make him gay,’” says McElhenney. Looking back over past seasons, the writers felt some of Mac’s subtext played into that storyline. So in Season 11, Mac came out during an episode involving a gay couple on a Christian cruise.
McElhenney tells Rolling Stone the intent wasn’t to create a “gay character for comedic effect, that was there just to be gay and to be funny because he was gay.” The point was to poke fun at the ‘hypocrisy’ of an arch-conservative coming out. At the end of the episode, however, Mac went back in the closet in a plot twist. But the positive outpouring from fans about Mac’s coming out made McElhenney and his team realize “we screwed it up.” So, in Season 12, Mac came out again and stayed out. “It felt good that we were recognizing a part of our audience in a way that was not pandering, that wasn’t offensive or upsetting or a caricature,” says McElhenney. And that led to the finale of last season when Mac performed a shirtless, interpretive modern dance as a way to finally come out to his father, who has spent most of Mac’s life in prison.
The dance sequence, which has become one of the critical high points of the series, was born out of “always trying to surprise people and do something different.” Explaining the show tends to stay away from “tapping into emotional resonance,” the 42-year-old actor shared that the creative team wanted to stretch and do something different. And since McElhenney had no dance experience whatsoever, the intricately choreographed dance would definitely be ‘a stretch.’ After four months of intense training and rehearsals, the challenging segment closed the season in spectacularly unexpected style. When Season 14 debuts, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will tie the 1950s family comedy The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet for the most seasons by a live-action sitcom. Tune in to see what’s next for Mac and his irreverent bunch of misfits this Wednesday, September 25, at 10 pm on FXX.
Well, look at Sam Smith get down with his bad self.
After a tremendously successful year that saw Dancing With a Stranger garner an amazing one billion streams, hitting #1 in both the US and UK, and going platinum in 15 countries, it seems Mr. Smith is in the mood to dance about.
Smith begins his new single, “How Do You Sleep,” singing ‘I’m done hating myself for feeling / I’m done crying myself awake,’ to an ambient, light-as-air accompaniment before the track kicks into a mid-tempo dance groove complete with hooky chorus.
And that’s when Smith surprises by busting a move (a lot of them!) with a company of half-naked male dancers choreographed by Parris Goebel.
It’s a nice change of pace for the 4-time Grammy Award winner.
The singer tweeted to his fans, “My heart is beating so fast. I’m so proud of this one. Thank you to all the beautiful humans who’ve helped me really come out my shell over the past year. I hope you all enjoy this & please learn the moves so we can dance together soon.”
HOW DO YOU SLEEP? My heart is beating so fast. I’m so proud of this one. Thank you to all the beautiful humans who’ve helped me really come out my shell over the past year. I hope you all enjoy this & please learn the moves so we can dance together soon x https://t.co/HpvK3IPeYQ
Regular viewers of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia have noticed this season that the character of ‘Mac,’ played by series creator Rob McElhenney, has been looking a bit different this season.
Wednesday’s night’s season finale revealed Mac’s super-jacked body but also the reason why.
In the episode titled, “Mac Finds His Pride,” McElhenney performs a jaw-dropping modern dance in order to express his coming out to his father.
The character came out to friends in 2016, but hasn’t been able to find the words to open up to his father.
In the finale, Frank (Danny DeVito) is trying to convince Mac to prance on the gang’s gay pride parade float, but Mac isn’t feeling it. In his own way, Frank tries to help: “I never really got you and, to be honest, now that you’re gay I get you even less. Nothing against it, I just don’t get it.” Nevertheless, he vows to help Mac find his pride, which involves coming out of the closet to his imprisoned father, Luther (Gregory Scott Cummins).
But Mac can’t open up to his father, at least, not with words. Which is a good thing because if he did, it would sound something like what he threw at Frank when he tried to explain his internal struggle: “There’s like this storm inside of me and it’s been raging my whole life, and I’m down on my knees, and I’m looking for answers, and then God comes down to me and it’s a very hot chick and she pulls me up and we start dancing.”
The episode ends with a dance that literally brings that raging storm to life as he performs a modern dance in the rain for his father and fellow prison inmates.
DeVito’s ‘Frank’ watches in awe. And as the dance comes to a close, he says, “Oh my god, I get it. I get it.”
Rob McElhenney & Kylie Shea
The stunning dance sequence, which also features gorgeous work by professional ballerina Kylie Shea, took seven months of development, training and rehearsals before the cameras even began rolling.
For one thing, McElhenney has never danced before in his life.
And, in order to become ‘Fat Mac’ for season 7 of Sunny, he had to gain 50 pounds of fat. Now, he needed to drop all that and get into shape just to be able to approach the movement and partnering that would be required.
A post shared by RobMcElhenney (@robmcelhenney) on Sep 5, 2018 at 8:57pm PDT
Working with trainer Arin Babaian, who helped Channing Tatum get into Magic Mike shape, McElhenney began a regimen that consisted of no alcohol, no eating after 7PM, no carbs or sugar, lifting weights six days a week, stretching an hour a day and running three miles every day.
And that was before he started working with choreographers Alison Faulk and Leo Moctezuma.
It would take two and a half months of rehearsals to develop and finesse the dance.
“Rob came out of the writers room saying he wanted it to represent the struggle, the push and pull, and that helped Leo and me to put the choreography together in a way that showed vulnerability and strength,” Faulk tells Vulture. “The woman represents the light and the good and everything pure and amazing — and he’s the dark. So it’s basically a giant metaphor for being able to love and accept yourself.”
Finally, the day of reckoning came.
After shooting for 12 hours, director Todd Biermann says that most of what the TV audience sees was from the last three takes.
Watch the emotionally charged dance as it closes season 13 finale of Sunny below.
• InstaHunk Thiago Oliveira offers a sneak peek at his Halloween costume. I think it’s a dragon, but who really cares – I’d give him all my Halloween candy if he showed up at my door looking like that.
• A new survey by Bespoke shows millennials are coming out an average of 4-5 years earlier than Gen Xers or Baby Boomers.
• Speaking of Halloween, this dad was surprised people had a negative reaction to his and his son’s Halloween costumes. Imagine that. Hmmm…
• The lower House of Czech Republic’s Parliament is considering legislation that would make the country the first former Eastern Bloc nation to embrace marriage equality. A recent poll shows 67% support for same-sex marriage in the Czech Republic.
• The daughter of a Missouri Republican running for Congress is begging voters to reject her own racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic father.
• Thanks to Larry at TheOUTfrontfor pointing up “Enough” – a new music video featuring Australian pop star Sia’s song “I’m Still Here” along with 130 students of the National Dance Institute.
From the video description: It’s unacceptable that firearms are the second leading cause of death for American children and teens.
If you’re a student, get involved in the movement to end gun violence by texting STUDENTS to 644-33. Watch “Enough” below.
Will & Grace star Sean Hayes filled in for Ellen DeGeneres today as guest-host for her talk show.
Explaining her absence, Hayes shared, “She tripped and fell and is trapped under the weight of her own wallet.” He then admitted, “I really don’t know where she is. I assume Home Depot – that’s where all the lesbians go…?”
Along the way, Hayes reminded the audience that, although he hasn’t hosted a ‘talk show’ before, he does have some experience to draw upon.
“I do know my way around a television stage – I’m on a little show called Will & Grace,” said the sitcom veteran.
“And before that, I was on another show – called Will & Grace.”
“I’ve also been on Broadway. Maybe you’ve heard of the award-winning musical, Hamilton? (Applause) I saw that, too.”
Hayes assured the ELLEN audience that he’s “not going to change” anything in the show, except for that dancing thing.
“I don’t have anything prepared,” says Hayes. “And these shoes aren’t even good for dancing.”
Featuring a virtual ‘who’s who’ from the world of dance including Chita Rivera, Graciela Danielle, Andy Blankenbuehler, Warren Carlyle, Susan Stroman and more, the dance documentary Transmission: Roots To Branches does a deep dive into the history, lineage and future progressions of Jazz Dance.
“Don’t you feel wonderful when your spirit finally meets your body, and it turns into dance?”
“It’s not easy. But anything that’s good is not easy.”
– Broadway icon Chita Rivera
Featuring interviews and choreography from some of the worlds leading dance voices, Transmission aims to shine a light on Jazz Dance.
The film is still being shot and the creators are looking to raise funds for the next block of filming.
With screenings at dozens of major film festivals, Rebels on Pointe celebrates the all-male ballet company’s top-shelf technique as well as the dancers’ incredible physical comedy that is the foundation of the company’s broad appeal.
Clip description:
Rebels on Pointe is the first-ever, cinéma vérité documentary film celebrating Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo — the all-male, drag ballet company founded over 40 years ago on the heels of New York’s Stonewall riots.
The company has performed in over 500 cities and 33 countries, and has a cult following around the world. The film juxtaposes exclusive, behind-the-scenes access and intimate, character-driven stories of its dancers, highlighted by amazing performances shot around the world.
Rebels on Pointe ultimately celebrates our shared humanity through universal themes of identity, dreams, family, love, loss, determination and resilience… proving that a ballerina is not merely a woman dancing, but an act of revolution in a tutu.
The documentary will have it’s U.S. theatrical premiere tonight in NYC and then roll out additional showings across the country. Click here for more info.
Check out this number from Italian talent show Amici featuring contestants dancing & stripping in a locker room setting to “Breathe On Me,” from Britney’s hit 2003 album In The Zone.
While political pundits paid a lot of attention to Hillary Clinton’s focus and discipline during the presidential debates thus far, Ellen zeroed in on that crucial moment when the former secretary of state was able to bring her famous dance moves to the fore.
Later in the interview, Hillary spoke about Trump’s odd body language during the 2nd debate:
“It was clear that my opponent Donald Trump was going to try to dominate the space almost to the exclusion of the people who were sitting there. They were sitting there so we could talk to them. And because of the revelation of the public video and everything that came out on Access Hollywood, he was really all wrought up and you could just sense how much anger he had, and so he was trying to dominate and then literally stalk me around the stage, and I would just feel this presence behind me. I thought, ‘whoa, this is really weird.’”
With the FXX series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia set to premiere its 14th season this week, show creator and star Rob McElhenney shared the gay evolution of his character, “Mac,” in a new Rolling Stone interview. It seems Mac’s coming out in Season 11 was never really meant to be the character becoming full-on gay. Explaining that the writing approach on the show is to “take whatever viewpoint any character has to the extreme,” McElhenney said the writers came up with the gay angle because Mac “is such an arch-arch Catholic conservative when it suits him, and when it doesn’t, he drops that.” Noting that many Christian conservatives are homophobic, the creators began bouncing ideas on how to take that to the next level and satirize that. “And that’s when I thought, ‘Let’s make him gay,’” says McElhenney. Looking back over past seasons, the writers felt some of Mac’s subtext played into that storyline. So in Season 11, Mac came out during an episode involving a gay couple on a Christian cruise. 
