By Alicia Rancilio
NEW YORK (AP) --"Ozark" will drop its final seven episodes of the series April 29, wrapping up the story of a couple, played by Jason Bateman and Laura Linney (Marty and Wendy Byrde), whose family moves to Missouri and descends deeper and deeper into a life of money laundering, drugs and murder.
Tom Pelphrey (Ben) is no longer on the show, but his character has made a lasting imprint. Pelphrey's character was introduced in season three as Wendy's brother. A tortured soul with a heart of gold, Ben had bipolar disorder and stopped taking his medication. His resulting erratic behavior threatened the Byrde's underbelly operation.
Spoiler alert: In the season three finale, Wendy left Ben in the path of a hitman and the show has operated since as though the character is dead (although fans hope it's not true.) Ben looms large over the remaining "Ozark" story.
A pivotal scene for Pelphrey and for viewers, was of Ben riding in a taxi. He talks at the driver for more than four minutes, in a very non-linear pattern, quickly shifting topics while sometimes in tears, highlighting his mental illness.
"As an actor, there's nothing you want more or there's nothing more than having good material," said Pelphrey recently over Zoom. "I'd had weeks to prepare, so I memorized it back and forth and up and down, and I knew it as good as I knew my name. We did that speech so many different times in so many different ways and each time they would just let me go."
Pelphrey was already on an upward career trajectory going into "Ozark," but he admits it "was a game changer job." Later that year, he also appeared in David Fincher's "Mank" and next co-stars with Josh Brolin in the supernatural mystery series " Outer Range " for Amazon Prime, also debuting this month.
Filming began on "Outer Range" in January 2021 in New Mexico, when the pandemic and restrictions kept many people indoors. Safety protocols on set were strict, and Pelphrey describes it as "a strange sense of being completely isolated, juxtaposed with the most amazing cast." He says the filming bubble brought the cast closer together, and they all still keep in touch.
Work keeps Pelphrey on the move. He likes to drive to his filming locations with his trusty dog, Blue. He just filmed a limited series with Elizabeth Olsen and Jesse Plemons called "Love and Death" for HBO Max. He also has a role in "She Said" based on the book by New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, about their investigation into Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and sexual misconduct.
Pelphrey, originally from New Jersey, says he isn't sure what comes next. "I've thankfully had a very good run recently. But it also means. I haven't really been home in a long time. I am completely at peace and grateful."
Local school staple “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” from 1939 hits the big screen nationwide
Most Maine schoolchildren know about the boy lost for more than a week in 1939 after climbing the state's tallest mountain. Now the rest of the U.S. is getting in on the story.
Opening in 650 movie theaters on Friday, "Lost on a Mountain in Maine" tells the harrowing tale of 12-year-old Donn Fendler, who spent nine days on Mount Katahdin and the surrounding wilderness before being rescued. The gripping story of survival commanded the nation's attention in the days before World War II and the boy's grit earned an award from the president.
For decades, Fendler and Joseph B. Egan's book, published the same year as the rescue, has been required reading in many Maine classrooms, like third-grade teacher Kimberly Nielsen's.
"I love that the overarching theme is that Donn never gave up. He just never quits. He goes and goes," said Nielsen, a teacher at Crooked River Elementary School in Casco, who also read the book multiple times with her own kids.
Separated from his hiking group in bad weather atop Mount Katahdin, Fendler used techniques learned as a Boy Scout to survive. He made his way through the woods to the east branch of the Penobscot River, where he was found more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) from where he started. Bruised and cut, starved and without pants or shoes, he survived nine days by eating berries and lost 15 pounds (7 kilograms).
The boy's peril sparked a massive search and was the focus of newspaper headlines and nightly radio broadcasts. Hundreds of volunteers streamed into the region to help.
The movie builds on the children's book, as told by Fendler to Egan, by drawing upon additional interviews and archival footage to reinforce the importance of family, faith and community during difficult times,... Read More