Entertainment News Roundup: 'Zone of Interest' star: watching myself as Auschwitz commandant frightening; 'May December' director: women pay higher price than men for breaking rules and more

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

'Zone of Interest' star: watching myself as Auschwitz commandant frightening

German actor Christian Friedel said on Saturday that watching himself as the commandant of the Auschwitz death camp in Jonathan Glazer's film "The Zone of Interest" frightened him.

"The challenge in this project (was) for us to find authenticity in the situations," he told journalists after the film's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday evening.

'May December' director: women pay higher price than men for breaking rules

Todd Haynes' new romantic drama "May December" shines a critical spotlight on the way women who break society's rules are held to much stricter standards than badly behaving men. In the movie, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night, Julianne Moore plays a woman whose relationship with a 13-year-old boy drew national tabloid headlines.

McQueen documentary juxtaposes Amsterdam's Nazi-occupied past with the present

Filmmaker Steve McQueen's new documentary "Occupied City," which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this week, juxtaposes modern-day shots of Amsterdam against narration of what happened in specific locations in the city during Nazi occupation, with the aim of drawing a connection between the time periods. The British director of the 2014 Oscar-winning film "12 Years a Slave" said that looking at the past was important for understanding the war in Ukraine or the rise of the far right.

'Killers of Flower Moon' star says Native Americans need allies like Scorsese

Lily Gladstone, who grew up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and stars in Martin Scorsese's study of white society's treachery, said the director was a powerful ally in telling the world what communities like hers had always known. In the film "Killers of the Flower Moon", which premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, Gladstone plays Mollie Burkhart, a member of the Osage Nation whose family members die under suspicious conditions in 1920s Oklahoma.

Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman anchor Cannes competitor 'May December'

Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore anchor director Todd Haynes' fourth attempt at a Palme d'Or in the drama "May December," which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night. Moore plays an older star who became tabloid fodder two decades earlier because of her relationship with a much younger man, played by Charles Melton - best known for "Riverdale".

Warner Bros Discovery chief booed at Boston University graduation, videos show

Warner Bros Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav was booed by students after taking the stage at Boston University to accept his honorary degree and give the 2023 commencement speech, amid an ongoing strike by film and television writers over pay, videos that surfaced on social media show. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the incident on Sunday. Boston University did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Michelle Yeoh introduces mythological heroes in TV show 'American Born Chinese'

Michelle Yeoh, the first Asian actress to win an Oscar, is excited to introduce her friends, and the world, to a television show based on Chinese myths, “American Born Chinese.”

“We had these mythological well-known characters that I grew up with and this may be a nice way to introduce them to my friends here (from America) who might not have the knowledge yet,” said Yeoh, who portrays Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy in the show.

Cate Blanchett dons habit in Australian director's conversion tale

Cate Blanchett, fresh off her Oscar-nominated performance in "Tar", stars as an eccentric nun at a monastery in 1940s Australia that takes in an Indigenous boy with intriguing powers in "The New Boy," which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Newcomer Aswan Reid plays the titular 9-year-old New Boy in the film by Warwick Thornton based on his own experience of walking into a church for the first time at the age of 11.

Jennifer Lawrence-produced Afghan documentary premieres at Cannes

While the world watched Kabul fall and the Taliban surge back to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S. troops, actor Jennifer Lawrence and producer Justine Ciarrocchi were asking themselves what they could do to support women's rights. "Jen's first response was to find an Afghan filmmaker and give them a platform," Ciarrocchi told The Hollywood Reporter.

'Firebrand' puts spotlight on Henry VIII's sixth wife

For Brazilian director Karim Ainouz, the prospect of making a film about King Henry VIII's court was particularly exciting with its focus on Catherine Parr, the wife who survived Henry. Ainouz, who doesn't have a special connection to England, said his aim was to raise Parr into the spotlight.

(With inputs from agencies.)