Movies

Before he was Finn in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," John Boyega was just the suave dude repping the minority in a bunch of educational stock photos.

Boyega copped to taking the gig with Getty Images back in the day after someone shared them on his Twitter page. He says he used the money for a pair of Nike Air Force 1s and drama school ... so money well spent.

Everybody starts somewhere, kids.

J.J. Abrams had a big "thank you" dinner Thursday, no doubt heaping gratitude on Steven Spielberg ... the dude who got him the 'Star Wars' gig.

The most famous directors in the world dined at Craig's in WeHo, where J.J. no doubt profusely thanked the "Jurassic Park" director for singing J.J.'s praised to 'Star Wars' producer Kathleen Kennedy, saying he was a must hire.

Keegan-Michael Key -- one half of comedy duo "Key & Peele" -- is cutting ties with his wife of 17 years, Cynthia Blaise.

Key filed his divorce docs on December 31 ... a popular move in Hollywood. He and Cynthia got married in Dec. of 1998.

According to the docs, they separated back in November 2015. They have no kids, and he's asking the court to figure out spousal support down the line.

Cynthia works behind the scenes in Hollywood -- she's been a dialect coach on big movies like, "Bad Teacher," "8 Mile" and "Miami Vice."

We're guessing Keegan did NOT quote one of his best skits when he broke the break-up news to her.

Jill Whelan, who hit it big played Capt. Stubing's daughter on "Love Boat," has fallen on hard times ... she's getting divorced and has no source of income to support herself.

Whelan, who also hilariously played the little girl with the IV tube in "Airplane!" is in the middle of a divorce and filed legal docs showing she's basically broke -- $5k in assets.

Jill married Michael Chaykowsky and moved to New Jersey in 2004. She says he pulls in $126k a year and lives in the lap of luxury in a 10 bedroom mansion on 14 acres.

For her part, Jill just started a podcast but is not making any money. The 49-year-old actress acknowledges the opportunities for an actress her age are few and far between.

She's asking for spousal support for herself and child support for their 10-year-old son.

Jerry Heller has already made it clear ... "Straight Outta Compton" is defamatory, but if it gets an Oscar nod it will bring his rage to a new level.

Jerry will be on "TMZ Live" Thursday and he unloads about the flick, saying the Oscars puts the movie on a world stage so everyone will see the portrayal of him which he says is pure fiction.

Jerry says Cube, Dre and Eazy-E's widow are the ones who engineered his portrayal, and he thinks it's simply a case of African American anti-Semitism, at the very least on Cube's part and he suggests the sentiment goes beyond Cube himself.

By the way ... check out the video and hear him talk about a plot to kill Suge Knight.

Samuel L. Jackson says there's no way around it ... Donald Trump's 100% lying about never having played a game of golf with him.

Jackson brushed off Trump's diss at LAX Wednesday. The presidential candidate panned the actor earlier in the day -- denying they ever played golf together at his golf club and trashing his acting.

The whole thing started when Jackson said in an interview he played a round with Trump and accused him of being a cheater on the links.

"Blackish" actor Anthony Anderson jumped to Jackson's defense, saying he'd been part of the golf outing and the two even enjoyed shrimp and hot dogs with The Donald!!

Jackson tells us he's not trying to bring Trump down, but he can't ignore the lie ... saying there's even a trail of proof, including a receipt from the lunch.

Former rival pop stars Jessica Simpson and Christina Aguilera had a chance to reignite their battle during an epic party ... but only one of 'em made it to the stage.

The singers and their husbands hit up Linda Perry's L.A. party to celebrate the music she wrote for the new movie "Freeheld" -- and it turned into a major jam session.

Christina performed a bluesy cover of John Lennon's "Mother." Juliette Lewis, Courtney Love and Perry also took the mic. Even Jess' lil sis, Ashlee Simpson, performed.

Jessica did NOT sing, and instead chose to just chill at the event. Props to her though ... she did not need assistance leaving the party this time.

Quentin Tarantino -- known to drop a 4-letter word or two -- appropriately, left one in cement when he got a huge Hollywood honor at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

QT was immortalized Tuesday when he put his hand and footprints in sidewalk outside the legendary theatre. But the shoes he was wearing had "F*** U" in the soles, and yeah ... now that's in the cement too.

Of course, Tarantino's shoes are replicas of the same pair Uma Thurman wore in 'Kill Bill.'

It's unclear if the theatre will let the curses slide or censor the sidewalk. Gotta say ... it would be fitting to leave it as is, but we'll see.

Floyd Mayweather says UFC champ Conor McGregor can be as brash and arrogant as he wants without catching any heat ... because of the color of his skin.

Mayweather did an interview with the guys over at FightHype.com last week, and when the subject of the flamboyant McGregor came up ... Mayweather went off.

"He talks a lot trash and people praise him for it, but when I did it, they say I'm cocky and arrogant. So biased."

He goes on to say ... "I ain't racist at all, but I'm telling you racism still exists."

Floyd then brings Ronda Rousey and Laila Ali into it ... questioning why Laila didn't get the endorsement and movie love Ronda does ... even though he feels Ali accomplished more.

Add Colin Farrell to the growing list of people who think this could finally be Leonardo Dicaprio's year to win an Oscar.

We got Colin arriving at LAX Sunday night and he had high praise for Leo's performance in "The Revenant" -- making it clear there's more bromance between the actors than rivalry.

As a bonus ... the Irish native also shed some light on why football (soccer) is so popular in his homeland and still struggling in the States. We also love his New Year's resolution!

James Caan says his estranged wife is hammering him for money to the point he has to take crappy roles just to make enough money to feed the beast.

Caan just filed legal docs in his divorce case, claiming he wants to retire but estranged wife Linda Caan is blowing through his savings and he's forced to keep working to pay the bills.

Caan, who has started in epic movies including "The Godfather," says he has medical issues and at 75 wants to hang it up.

What he says is particularly galling is that he feels she's forcing him to sully his reputation, saying, "I am no longer willing to take parts in films and/or television shows which detract from the 50 years I have spent building my reputation."

Caan says just this past summer, he was forced to do a film called, "Sicilian Vampire." He says it was humiliating ... the premiere was in NYC and only 50 people showed.

As for what he's currently paying ... $13,000 a month in child support for their 2 children. It appears she's asking for more money and he's filed these documents in response.

This time you can't blame the North Koreans ... a new legal dispute has erupted over the "The Interview" ... a bigger disaster movie than 'Poseidon Adventure.'

You'll recall Sony got cold feet after the studio got hacked and the hackers threatened violence at the theaters ... the flick was yanked from movie houses for a short period of time and streamed instead.

According to a new lawsuit, the company that did the streaming -- Kernel Films -- hired a company called Neustar, which provides digital security to protect the streams.

Neustar claims the streaming went fine but when it came time for Kernel Films to pay the $1.1 million fee, the check wasn't in the mail.

Neustar is now suing Kernel for the $1.1 mil.

As for "The Interview" ... not worth the trouble, right?

Jason Wingreen, who voiced the villain Boba Fett in "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" and played Harry the bartender on "All In The Family" has died.

Wingreen died at his home in L.A. on Christmas day according to a statement from his son.

Wingreen, who has almost 200 credits to his name also appeared on "The Twlight Zone," "Archie Bunker's Place" and "The Untouchables."

The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the story, said he died after a brief illness.

He was 95-years-old.

R.I.P.

Amiah Miller is just 11 and she made more in a few weeks than a lot of people make all year.

The pint-sized blonde scored a role in "War for the Planet of the Apes," which started filming in October.

According to the minor's contract filed with the court, her paycheck for the gig ... a sweet $65,000.

Mark Salling's movie metamorphosis may never be seen in theaters, but we got hold of a couple of pics.

Mark had a starring role in 'Gods and Secrets,' which is still in production. He plays a tortured villain and looks every bit the part.

As we reported, it's more than likely that his role will be recast and reshot in the wake of his child porn arrest.

Bella might have ended up with Edward in the "Twilight" series ... but he's out of the picture, so it's Jacob's time now!

Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner staged a mini "Twilight" reunion Tuesday night at The Nice Guy in West Hollywood.

They arrived together, but left separately ... in fact, Taylor took off with an unknown girl.