Michael Schulman
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Michael Schulman
@michaelschulman.bsky.social
11K followers 200 following 480 posts
Staff writer at The New Yorker. Author of "Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep" and "Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears." www.michael-schulman.com
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michaelschulman.bsky.social
Thoughts on pet insurance? My cat may need treatment for something but I never got insurance. Is it worth it? Any advice?
October 15, 2025 at 6:16 PM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
Rizzo from Grease
October 15, 2025 at 4:09 AM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
On his recovery after his 2012 stroke, which left the left half of his body paralyzed.
With so much of your movement restricted, what’s kept you moving forward? It must have required a lot of will power. I guess it did. But I live quite happily in my mind. And I, in the words of my mother, just got on with it.
October 12, 2025 at 3:58 PM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
On the time his coke dealer was in the string section of the New York Philharmonic.
You write about how, during that period in New York, you took to cocaine “like a duck to water.” Maybe my favorite fact in the whole book is that your dealer was a member of the string section of the New York Philharmonic. I think he played the cello. It’s extraordinary, isn’t it? I don’t know how that happened. But he was a very nice man, as opposed to most coke dealers, I imagine. He felt he was helping out another artist, I think.
October 12, 2025 at 3:56 PM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
On a "Who's more famous" contest with Mr. Loaf.
What was your relationship with Meat Loaf, whom you murder with an axe in the movie? We were great friends, actually. I remember a moment when he was in New York with his girlfriend, later his wife, Leslie Loaf, which is what we all called her, and he said, “Timmy, I’m more famous than you are”—because he had a huge hit record, his very first album. I don’t remember which hotel we were in, but it was probably on one of the major avenues of Manhattan, and he said, “You and I should just walk down the street and see who recognizes who.” I said all right, and we did it. In fact, nobody recognized either of us. I thought that was funny. And he didn’t. He had an enormous ego.
October 12, 2025 at 3:55 PM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
This line from Nick Stoller, lol.
On set, Stoller said, Byrne was an “improv machine,” particularly during her “flirtatious conversations with the since fallen and disreputable Russell Brand.”
October 10, 2025 at 3:03 PM
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October 4, 2025 at 2:28 AM
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Twinsies!
October 4, 2025 at 2:22 AM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
Received this e-mail today. Huge if true!
I am the greatest intelligence of all times. The next best prospect in all Arts and Sciences. One day I will be the most historic and the most popular personality on Earth. I became superoptic to prove I am not hyperoptic and not supervisioned because I am hypervisioned.
September 8, 2025 at 2:24 PM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
I know we hate “circling back” etc but this is a crazy way to start a PR pitch.
Hi Michael, Hope you had some semblance of a relaxing long weekend. Happy early Tr*mp being gone soon maybe?? Something is up!!! maybe??
September 2, 2025 at 7:39 PM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
I stand by “assless chaps.” www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Humor can short-circuit the checking machinery. When a humorist and a checker click, they stick together. Anne Stringfield used to check Steve Martin’s Shouts & Murmurs. They ended up married. Usually, things go the other way. I once took part in a closing meeting during which we debated, for ten minutes, whether Michael Schulman’s use of the phrase “assless chaps” was redundant and meaningless; technically speaking, all chaps are assless.
August 26, 2025 at 10:19 AM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
They moved on to a scene in which Gianna spars with Anthony in his apartment. King had written LuPone a saucy exit line: “Questo corridoio puzza,” which translates to “This hallway stinks.” LuPone gave him options, punching her “P”s: “Questo corridoio puzza!” (Pugnacious.) “Questo corridoio puzza.” (Droll.) “Questo corridoio puzza! Ugh!” (Revolted.) When they wrapped, King told her, “You are a delight.”
July 25, 2025 at 2:26 AM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
Finally! I’ve been waiting to find out which take they used…
July 25, 2025 at 2:26 AM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
I mean COME ON.
I do remember how taken I was by his mind, which didn’t so much impose order on things as see the order that was already there. Raised in Connecticut in a Catholic household, he had faith—and perhaps that faith would extend to me beyond this moment of possibility? Let me tell you more about this moment, and moments that preceded it, because they all live together: First, you are standing by yourself in the world, and it’s fine. Then you blink and find yourself sitting in the palm of someone’s hand. That person peers down at you with the look of a connoisseur gazing at a curiosity, until suddenly a shy surprise fills both of you and alters the world as you know it. This might be too much to put on one meeting, but it’s all true.
July 19, 2025 at 9:18 PM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
Took me half a day to realize that the Putin-esque dictator in "Superman" is Zlatko Burić, who was SO good as the Russian capitalist in "Triangle of Sadness." This face!
July 13, 2025 at 4:01 PM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
It’s 1994. A time traveller from the future warns you that someday an actor from the Flintstones movie will be deemed an enemy of the state. Who’s your first guess?
Rosie O’Donnell, Rick Moranis, John Goodman, and Elizabeth Perkins
July 12, 2025 at 9:40 PM
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View from my sick day window. “ICE out of New York!”
June 11, 2025 at 1:06 AM
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Ohhhh boy. Feeling seen.
June 9, 2025 at 3:00 AM
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HOPE for the future.
Cole Escola introducing Oh Mary! on TV.
June 9, 2025 at 1:23 AM
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Patti LuPone’s statement.
I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful. I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview, which were inappropriate, and I am devastated that my behavior has offended others and has run counter to what we hold dear in this community. I hope to have the chance to speak to Audra and Kecia personally to offer my sincere apologies. "I wholeheartedly agree with everything that was written in the open letter shared yesterday. From middle school drama clubs to professional stages, theatre has always been about lifting each other up and welcoming those who feel they don't belong anywhere else. I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for it, and I am committed to making this right. Our entire theatre community deserves better.
May 31, 2025 at 9:29 PM
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Literally a raccoon wrote this.
NEED TO KNOW Patti LuPone said her flock of chickens was killed in a "horrific" attack by a raccoon "There was blood and feathers and guts all over the place," LuPone told The New Yorker LuPone also shared updates on her relationships with stars like Audra McDonald and Kevin Kline
May 28, 2025 at 2:16 AM
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And THIS is what happens when you bring up Audra McDonald. 👀
I mentioned that Audra McDonald—the Tony-decorated Broadway star—had given the video supportive emojis. “Exactly,” LuPone said. “And I thought, You should know better. That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend”—hard “D.” The two singers had some long-ago rift, LuPone said, but she didn’t want to elaborate. When I asked what she had thought of McDonald’s current production of “Gypsy,” she stared at me, in silence, for fifteen seconds. Then she turned to the window and sighed, “What a beautiful day.”
May 26, 2025 at 2:19 PM
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This is what happens when you bring up Glenn Close in “Sunset Boulevard.”
LuPone was contracted to follow the role to Broadway, but she found out from Liz Smith’s column that she was being dumped for Close. The repudiation, mirroring Hollywood’s abandonment of Norma, only deepened her remaining performances in London. “I’d felt rejection, but not that kind of rejection,” LuPone said. Years later, at a Kennedy Center tribute to Barbara Cook, Close took a seat next to LuPone. “She said, ‘I had nothing to do with it,’ ” LuPone recalled. “I wanted to go, ‘Bullshit, bitch!’ ”
May 26, 2025 at 2:18 PM
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This is what happens when you go to a hockey game with Patti LuPone.
LuPone didn’t see much overlap. “It was all sex appeal,” she recalled of her hockey fixation. “It was rare to have anything in common except for the party that we were going to.” Soon she was shouting at the players, “Take your clothes off, boys! Naked hockey! No cups—I want full frontal! HA!” “They have to wear skates,” White chimed in. “And the helmets.” LuPone grunted, “Does anyone still wear a hat?”
May 26, 2025 at 2:16 PM
michaelschulman.bsky.social
PSA: Not only the new Paul Reubens doc but much of the Pee-wee Herman oeuvre is on Max. 🤪
May 24, 2025 at 3:11 AM