Mel

ACTOR Rudy Youngblood has been arrested in Texas after allegedly “choking” a family member.

Belton police took the 43-year-old into custody early Tuesday morning after responding to an incident involving a family or household member.

According to authorities, Youngblood allegedly assaulted the victim by impeding their breathing or circulation.

He was booked into Bell County Jail, where he remains held on a $20,000 bond.

Cops say more trouble could be on the way for Apocalypto star Rudy Youngblood – after a shocking discovery during his arrest.

According to police, the actor and former Belton student had an active warrant out of Travis County when he was taken into custody – and officers allegedly found a white crystalline substance on him at the scene.

The 43-year-old is currently locked up in Bell County Jail, and authorities warn that lab results could lead to even more charges piling up against him.

TMZ has contacted the Belton Police Department for further details, but no additional information has been released so far.

Youngblood shot to fame in 2006 playing Jaguar Paw in Apocalypto, and has since appeared in The Haunting of Hell Hole Mine (2023) and Dandelion Season (2021).

He is set to star in the upcoming period drama La Matadora, currently in pre-production, and has several other projects in the pipeline.

The actor was only recently released from jail in Athens, Greece, after spending a week behind bars following a confrontation with police officers late last year.

The 42-year-old Apocalypto star spent New Year’s Eve in custody after allegedly being intoxicated and threatening officers with a knife during a routine police check in the early hours of December 27.

Youngblood claimed the officers were not wearing identifying insignia and failed to explain his rights during the altercation outside an Athens-area precinct.

The Texas-born actor – who has a previous arrest for being drunk and disorderly in 2017 – was charged with resisting arrest, making threats, and carrying a weapon after police found a pocketknife on him.

He received a 10-month suspended prison sentence but was initially held due to an expired visa, which triggered a deportation order.

He later successfully appealed the deportation and was granted permission to leave Greece voluntarily. Upon his release, Youngblood appeared to be in good spirits and was photographed smiling.

MEL B has shared the first look at her second wedding in Morocco.

The star – aka Scary Spice – tied the knot with hairdresser Rory McPhee, 37, at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on July 5 in a star-studded ceremony.

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However, the only other Spice Girl in attendance on her big day was Emma ‘Baby Spice’ Bunton.

It was previously reported that Mel’s second wedding in Morocco – which she described as “more informal, sexy and beautiful” – would give the other Spice Girls the opportunity to reunite and celebrate their band mates nuptials.

Now Mel, 50, has shared the first snap from her second big day, where she stunned in a strapless sheer gown covered in red beading.

Meanwhile Rory looked dapper in a short white tuxedo jacket, black trousers and bow tie.

The newlyweds beamed and danced in the snap in front of their Moroccan venue, and Mel caption the snap: “We got married!!! Again!

“A wedding so good we keep the celebration going with our closest and dearest in our fav place at @selmanmarrakech [three heart emojis] we had the time of our lives!!”

And it seems Mel C, who had missed the London ceremony, was in attendance as she commented: “What a weekend! So happy we got to share it with you [three heart emojis].”

Mel’s sister Danielle also shared pictures on her Instagram Stories of the celebrations.

MEL B is spotted along with two of her Spice Girl bandmates at her 50th birthday bash.

Emma Bunton and Mel C were among the guests in leopard-print outfits, in homage to Scary Spice Mel’s best-known stage get-ups.

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But Geri Horner and Victoria Beckham were not at the Leeds party on Saturday.

Insiders said Posh was away for work and Geri declined the invitation to the event.

We told last week how the Girls’ ex-manager is in talks for them to reunite as avatars, following in the steps of Abba.

An insider spilled: “Mel’s throwing a huge party in Leeds for her 50th. It’s also her fiance’s birthday today so it’s a joint celebration and will be a real family affair.

“But Geri and Posh can’t make it. Posh had a work commitment she couldn’t get out of. 

“It’s a bit awkward given the reunion excitement.”

The Sun has contacted their reps for comment.

The snub comes just days after we revealed plans for the group to reunite as Avatars, following in the footsteps of pop legends Abba.

It would see holograms of Geri, Mels B and C, Emma Bunton and Victoria playing their biggest hits.

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This story is full of spoilers for “The Last of Us” Season 2, especially the finale.

Season 2 of HBO’s “The Last of Us” ends with the ultimate cliffhanger (seriously, if you have not seen and do not want to know, please stop reading right now): An Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) vs. Ellie (Bella Ramsey) face-off in which only Abby has a weapon. As Ellie cries out, a gun goes off and … we are sent back in time to Day 1, Abby’s viewpoint.

So if any of y’all were looking for some kind of closure, emotional or narrative, well, you have got a bit of a wait.

The episode itself played out like a mini-epic. Picking up where last week’s mostly flashback episode ended, Ellie returns to the theater to find Jesse (Young Mazino) tending to Dina (Isabela Merced), who got an arrow through the leg, courtesy of the Seraphites, in Episode 5. When Dina refuses an anesthetic slug of alcohol during the proceedings, Jesse gets the wind up. As he and Ellie then set out to find Tommy (Gabriel Luna), he (kinda) tricks Ellie into revealing Dina’s pregnancy.

That admission only adds fuel to the tension between Ellie, with her obsessive need to make Abby pay for killing Joel, and Jesse, who is angry at Ellie for putting her personal desire for revenge above the needs of the community back in Jackson. High words are spoken before the two split up, with Jesse going to search for Tommy, Ellie to continue tracking Abby.

After a frankly weird hero’s journey in which she braves stormy seas and faces execution by the Seraphites, Ellie makes it to the abandoned aquarium to find Abby. There she surprises Mel (Ariela Barer) and Owen (Spencer Lord), two of the former Fireflies who were with Abby when she killed Joel (Pedro Pascal). When Owen reaches for a gun, Ellie fires, shooting him through the throat. The bullet also, alas, hits Mel, who reveals her advanced pregnancy and, as she bleeds out, begs Ellie to cut the baby out. Horrified, Ellie can do no such thing, and Mel dies even as Jesse and Tommy show up.

Ellie (Bella Ramsey) also has to battle the elements in “The Last of Us” Season 2 finale.

(Liane Hentscher / HBO)

It’s a powerful and terrible scene. Upon their return to the safety of the theater, Ellie is, understandably, very shaken and appears to be rethinking the wisdom of her revenge tour when Abby shows up and kills Jesse (sob). As Ellie takes responsibility for Mel and Owen’s deaths and struggles to explain, we see her original fury reflected in Abby’s face. She points the gun at Ellie, a shot rings out and the story resets on Day 1 of the outbreak.

The Times’ Lorraine Ali, Tracy Brown and Mary McNamara discuss the finale and the season that came before it.

McNamara: As someone who has not played the game but has watched a lot of television, I am going to make the wild guess that Ellie is not dead. Not that I expect to discover this for quite a while, as the final scene indicates that Season 3 will be giving us Abby’s backstory before bringing us (one hopes) back to the theater and the series’ present.

This finale, like much of what preceded it, felt both rushed and oddly slow. This season has been very much (and at times too obviously) focused on Ellie’s growth, as a person and a main character. And with the exception of her love for Dina, I’m not sure how much is there. That Ellie is relentless has been made abundantly clear; ditto the fact that she is confused about her purpose in life. But I admit I was relieved when Jesse read her the riot act about how this mission of vengeance put so many people in danger, including and especially the woman Ellie claims to love.

The stakes in Season 1 were very clear — get Ellie to where she can be used to make a cure — even if they were subverted in the end. This season, the main tension appears to be more about Ellie becoming mature enough to accept that not all heroes have to make dramatic sacrifices or win a blood feud.

That’s a fine message, but it required a lot of attention on her emotional growth, which honestly seemed to occur mostly in the final few minutes, while offering only tantalizing slivers of the larger forces around her. How do you introduce a crazy cult and not offer any real explanation for it? How do you enlist Jeffrey Wright (or for that matter, Hettienne Park) as WLF commanders and then give them so little to do? Not to mention poor Mel and Owen, who are sacrificed, apparently, merely to broaden Ellie’s worldview.

I realize that some of this is about staying true(ish) to the game, which I understand offers different viewpoints, but even with the action-packed finale, it’s hard not to feel like Season 2 was simply a preamble to Season 3. What do you think, “Last of Us” player Tracy Brown?

Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) remains a mystery in “The Last of Us” Season 2 finale.

(Liane Hentscher / HBO)

Brown: I have to agree with you, Mary — the finale’s pacing felt a bit awkward as it barreled its way toward the perspective shift into Abby’s side of the story that will likely be the focus of Season 3, while also trying to pack in familiar moments from the game. I also think you’re feeling a version of the confusion and frustration that “The Last of Us: Part II” players felt when Ellie and Abby’s showdown at the theater abruptly cut to something completely different and you’re suddenly being forced to play as the character you’ve spent hours trying to hunt down.

In the game, up until that cliffhanger, you’ve primarily been playing as Ellie outside of a few sequences before Joel’s death. Players don’t learn much about the Washington Liberation Front or the Seraphites or their conflict until they get to Abby’s side of the story. And when you’re playing a game, you’re used to knowing only as much as the character you’re playing as and learning more about any enemies as you go. You’re also much more mission-oriented — as great as a game’s story is, you’re main focus is gathering as much information as you can to accomplish your goal. The mission and the themes are a bit more straightforward in the first “Last of Us” game.

In “The Last of Us: Part II,” there’s a bait and switch. You start the game’s main storyline playing as Ellie, with the assumption that your mission is to get revenge, only to find yourself suddenly playing as Abby. Because “Part II” is more about an exploration of trauma and cycles of violence, Abby and her story have to be more than something you learn about as Ellie. In the game, the perspective shift is essential and revelatory because, navigating any discomfort while playing as Abby is part of the experience. It’s something dependent on the unique way players become attached to characters they play as.

In television, stories can unfold differently. Because audiences are not playing as Ellie, they can be introduced to Abby’s ties to the events in Salt Lake City and characters like Isaac (Wright) much sooner than in the game because we’re not locked into one point of view. And that freedom brings its own challenges. I should also mention that as acclaimed as the franchise is, “Part II” was a bit more divisive among players too. Lorraine, what did you think about the finale?

Ali: You’ve both expressed many of the same feelings I have about the finale and about Season 2 in general. Does that mean I can have the night off? If I took my cues from Ellie, I’d do just that. Ellie predictably put her own interests above everyone and everything else, which didn’t leave much room for an interesting story twist or character growth in the Season 2 finale. To Mary’s point about pacing, Episode 7 spent precious time hammering away on what we already know: Ellie’s need for revenge put everyone who cares about her in danger. Poor Dina. The only way Jesse was getting that crossbow bolt out of her leg was pulling it straight through. The credits are nearly ready to roll by the time Ellie realizes her single-minded quest is as barbaric as Abby’s killing of Joel, but not before she gunned down a pregnant woman.

Tracy, I wonder if the trouble the show had picking out where to spend its time is partly a game-to-TV adaptation problem. You mentioned the shifting perspectives in the game, of players seeing the world through Ellie’s and then Abby’s eyes. But serieswatchers are a passive audience and that left the show with a lot of options to tackle and/or leave out. The finale’s hopscotching from scenario to scenario appeared like it was born out of duty rather than purpose. Ellie’s choppy boat ride, the rogue wave washing her ashore, her capture and release at the hands of the cult — all were colorful and dramatic but felt abrupt and even extraneous to the story. That said, the decaying Costco storefront was a nice touch even if it was totally random.

Lastly, I loved the Seattle-centric soundtrack and poster choices of grunge bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. But a lot of great female bands came out of the Pacific Northwest too, and I can’t help but feel the feral screams of 7 Year B— would have been a perfect soundtrack for Ellie’s rage. So what do we all think about the last moments of the finale, which set us up for Season 3?

Jesse (Young Mazino) is not too pleased with Dina (Isabela Merced) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in “The Last of Us” Season 2 finale.

McNamara: I love the granular music criticism, Lorraine! For the life of me, I could not figure out what to make of Ellie’s brief capture by the Seraphites, which felt a lot like finale padding — don’t forget the crazy cult in the woods about which we know nothing yet! — or even her “Twelfth Night”-like near-drowning. (“What country, friends, is this?”)

I can see how the switch from Ellie to Abby might work in the game — you’ll never understand your “enemy” until you walk a mile in her shoes — but for a series to flip viewpoints seasonally (as opposed to episodically) is a big ask for viewers, especially those not familiar with the game.

With the exception of Ellie and Dina’s burgeoning relationship, much of this season felt like a big teaser reel for Season 3. Ramsey is a talented actor, but the task of carrying the show by portraying a recognizable teen on a complicated existential journey in the middle of a life-or-death adventure tale is a formidable one, especially without the benefit of an older, wiser guide/co-star. But then no one said adapting a game to a series would be easy.

As for the final moments, well, as I said, I don’t think Ellie’s dead, though Jesse certainly is, which is tragic — he and Tommy were the real heroes of Season 2. I am intrigued by the “Day 1“-ness of the final scene. I always like when postapocalyptic tales take the time to explain how it all went down. So I will be counting the months to see what happens next, which I suppose is what every TV writer wants.

Brown: I’ll refrain from spoiling Ellie’s fate here, even though the game with the answer came out in 2020! But I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the cut to Abby’s “Seattle Day 1” signals the show is likely sticking to the structure of the game — meaning Season 3 will tell Abby’s story, following the former Firefly for the same three days that Ellie has spent in the Emerald City leading up to their violent reunion. If the show stays true to the game, we won’t be seeing what happens to Ellie following that cliffhanger gunshot until the story reaches that part of “Day 3” from Abby’s perspective. Sorry, Mary!

I was a bit surprised when I realized the show was going to follow this same route, especially after it introduced Abby’s backstory so early. One of the perks of television is that it’s possible to follow the multiple storylines of more than one character, so I thought the show might try weaving Ellie and Abby’s narratives a bit more. One benefit of following the game’s road map, though, is there are distinct breaks in the overall story to build seasons around. (I’m calling it now that the Season 3 finale will be around their clash at the theater again.)

Back to Lorraine’s point, I do think that some of the struggles of this season comes down to the choices around which game moments to give space to. Some game-to-TV moments were very successful, like Joel taking Ellie to the museum for her birthday in Episode 6. Others, like Ellie taking that boat to get to the aquarium, were a bit less successful. Ellie getting tossed around those waves was a great nod to that sequence in the game, but on the show, it wasn’t as clear why she even needed to hop on the boat to begin with.

We’ve all mentioned how Dina and Ellie’s relationship has been one of the highlights of this season. Without spoiling anything, what I am most curious about is how Ellie’s excitement around Dina’s pregnancy and becoming a dad is going to affect the story to come. How about you, Lorraine, is there hope for “The Last of Us” to win you back?

Ali: There is always hope, Tracy, even in the blighted, rotting, fungus-filled world of “The Last of Us.” My meager hope for the Season 3 opener? That Ellie emerges a survivor, and her comeback scene is set to Pearl Jam’s “Alive.”

The Spice Girls’ Netflix biopic is reportedly back on track – with the streamer signing a huge name to write the script

Spice Girls fans will be over the moon to hear that the band’s Netflix biopic is back on track, according to reports. Not only that, the streamer has reportedly signed a huge comedian to write the plot.

Last year, it was reported that The Spice Girls were set to be the subject of a tell-all TV drama whether they are involved or not. It was revealed that a biopic was going to be made to mark 30 years since the release of their hit Wannabe. It’s expected to air sometime next year.

At the time, a source told the Sun: “Executives are keen to have all the group on board providing as much input as possible – after all they are pop royalty. But Netflix are the organisation who defied the wishes of real royalty and went ahead and made The Crown, so they aren’t afraid to go it alone when they have to.”

However, it was reported that things could be put on hold due to alleged rifts in the band. Now, it looks like the streamer has been granted the green light once again, with Channel 4 comedian Jack Rooke on script writing duties.

“Bagging Jack is a real coup for the project and might be the crucial element that drives the drama forward after its rocky start,” a source told the Sun.

The source then went on to say that Jack already has a great relationship with Mel C, as she’s a huge fan of his show Big Boys.

“Of course, Netflix has yet to confirm it has commissioned the show and there’s still a lot to play for. But there now seems to be a genuine will to make things happen,” the source continued.

The Mirror has contacted Netflix for comment.

The girl group exploded onto the music scene in 1996 and went on to be one of the most successful British bands in the world. Geri Halliwell, 51, Victoria Beckham, 50, Mel B, 49, Mel C, 50, and Emma Bunton, 48, had worldwide success and went on to release two albums before Ginger Spice sensationally quit.

It isn’t the band’s first tie to the streaming service. In 2022, Emma and Mel B took part in The Circle USA where they were seen catfishing the other contestants pretending to be a man named Jared.

The duo admitted they are “massive fans” of the reality show, with Mel adding: “So when they asked us [to appear], no brainer.”

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Spice Girl’s Mel B is set to marry her soon-to-be husband Rory McPhee, at the historic London landmark three years after their engagement, but fans are wondering how they landed the swanky booking

Melanie Brown, better known as Mel B, is head over heels for her soon-to-be husband as they plan to tie the knot at none other than St Paul’s Cathedral in the centre of London. The America’s Got Talent judge has already revealed some insight into her wedding planning, and she confirmed on TODAY that they will be exchanging vows at the iconic cathedral.

It’s the same spot that the late Princess Diana and Prince Charles’s royal wedding took place, back in 1981. While many people dream of hosting a wedding at the sought-after spot, Mel B revealed the VIP treatment that allowed her to secure the gig.

She explained that it’s thanks to her MBE title (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) that she can be wed in the historic building.

READ MORE: Spice Girls star Mel B shares genius way she prepared for her upcoming wedding

On TODAY, she shared: “I got an MBE for all my charity work that I’ve been doing. It was actually Prince William that gave me my little honorary badge. And it’s quite a big deal.

“I didn’t realise how much of a big deal it was until I started reading about it, and then I started getting really nervous. It was really lovely. So because of that, I am going to get married in the same church as Princess Diana.”

While the date of the wedding is unknown, it’s thought that St Paul’s only hosts a small amount of weddings each year, and so the couple is on the waiting list. Although one thing already ticked off the list is the ever-important wedding dress, which she has had designed by her fellow Spice Girls member.

Victoria Beckham will be designing both Mel B’s dress and her mother’s. The pop star revealed that it was an “honour” to receive it.

“I don’t think it would be fair to just have one [wedding dress]. Just have as many as you want — at least three, right?” she added. “One to actually get married in, which is the proper ceremony, very proper at this church, St Paul’s. And then maybe I want to change out of that.”

Her partner Rory McPhee is a hair stylist and businessman from Leeds and was a “family friend” of Mel’s way before the two started dating. It’s thought that the famous couple have been an item since 2018, but he popped the question back in 2022.

Thanks to his hairdressing skills, which Mel B grew fond of during her time spent in the UK, they were able to bond on a deeper level.

She confessed on TODAY: “So when I went back to England, he would come over and give me hair treatments and get my natural curls back. And as he was nurturing my curls back, I guess he was nurturing my trust and belief in a relationship.”

Just days before beginning his second term as president, Donald Trump called Hollywood “a great but very troubled place.”

Then, with his usual aplomb and bombast, he named Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson to be his “special ambassadors.” The actors would be his “eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Hollywood had “lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries,” said Trump, and his trio of envoys will help bring it “back — bigger, better, and stronger than ever before!”

Four months later, many of those who work in Hollywood — industry players and officials who have been actively engaged in efforts to boost production — say as far as Trump’s envoys are concerned, it has been mostly “crickets.”

While the administration has taken a protectionist stance on American manufacturing and business, implementing a slew of global tariffs, it has not made any further announcements regarding the Hollywood envoys, their roles, goals or priorities to revitalize the struggling entertainment industry here.

The ambassadors themselves have, for the most part, kept a low profile.

“We have reached out to all three and never heard back,” said Pamala Buzick Kim, co-founder of Stay in LA, a grassroots campaign aimed at spurring local film and TV production.

She said the lack of communication has left many wondering whether Trump’s envoys are “just a bumper sticker, or are they going to, actually understand what the needs and issues, are and fight for the industry as a whole here in the States?”

A spokesperson for the California Film Commission said its executive director, Colleen Bell, had a “productive” conversation with Voight, but did not elaborate on their discussion.

An individual involved with Mayor Karen Bass’ entertainment business task force formed last year, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said they were unaware of any contact with the envoys.

Others, including the Motion Picture Assn., which represents the major media companies and streamers, declined to comment on whether they have had any interaction with Trump’s ambassadors.

“I haven’t heard of anyone having any outreach from anyone from that group,” said Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), a former film producer and a longtime advocate for the entertainment industry.

Friedman announced a new push to bolster production earlier this month with members of various Hollywood unions and 10 other members of Congress. “It doesn’t seem like a serious effort to me,” she said.

The White House declined to comment.

Trump’s announcement did put a national spotlight on the homegrown film industry, which continues to struggle to rebound following a trifecta of hits: the pandemic, labor strikes and more recently, the wildfires.

More problematic, California has lost its competitive edge as film crews continue to be enticed by generous incentives — leading to an exodus of productions to hubs like Georgia and New Mexico and countries including Australia, Britain and Canada.

While Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed raising the amount of money allocated annually to California’s film and TV tax credit program to $750 million from $330 million, the state legislature has yet to approve the measure and the industry remains under pressure.

In the first quarter of this year, on-location production dropped 22.4% compared to the same period last year, according to a report released in April by the nonprofit organization FilmLA, which tracks shoot days in the Greater Los Angeles region.

“I think part of the problem with California is they came to take this industry for granted a little bit,” Ben Affleck told the Associated Press in an interview last week while promoting his latest film, “The Accountant 2,” in Los Angeles.

Within the industry, the surprise appointment of the three actors as the president’s special emissaries was received with a mixture of shock, bemusement and eye rolls.

“When they were announced, I think we were all curious about what those three think and what they think is the issue,” said Buzick Kim. “Because I don’t know if any of them have a history of speaking out on this front.”

Indeed, it appears that no one was more taken aback by the appointment than the actors themselves.

“I got the tweet at the same time as all of you and was just as surprised. Nevertheless, I heed the call. My duty as a citizen is to give any help and insight I can,” said Gibson in a statement. “Any chance the position comes with an Ambassador’s residence?” he quipped, in reference to the loss of his Malibu properties in the wildfires.

Neither Stallone nor Voight has commented publicly. Representatives for the actors did not respond to requests for comment.

Following his appointment as ambassador, Voight’s longtime business partner Steven Paul, an independent film producer and chairman/chief executive of SP Media Group, issued a press release saying that the actor had tapped him as a “special advisor.” Along with Voight’s fellow ambassadors, “we will be working within the industry to find ways to bring runaway productions back to America while working with the government to explore a potential federal tax incentive tied to a pro-American cultural standard, among other initiatives that support independent American productions,” the statement said.

Voight, Paul and Trump had discussed a new “America First” initiative pertaining to film production over dinner in February, according to the statement.

A representative for Paul said he was not immediately available for comment.

All three Hollywood emissaries have been avid supporters of the president: Voight attended events at both inaugurations, Stallone has visited Mar-a-Lago and Gibson, who has a history of making racist and antisemitic remarks (for which he later apologized), ridiculed Kamala Harris during the election, saying she had “the IQ of a fence post.”

They all generated celebrity wattage during the 1980s (said to be Trump’s favorite decade) — Voight was nominated for an Oscar for “Runaway Train.” It was an era when mainstream action films rose to prominence in popular culture (think Stallone’s “Rambo” and Gibson’s “Lethal Weapon” franchises) that promoted the idea of American strength and masculinity.

None has been known to be particularly involved in the nuts and bolts of Hollywood production issues of tax incentives and permits.

For the past three years, Stallone has starred in the Taylor Sheridan drama “Tulsa King,” about a New York mobster who sets up shop in Oklahoma after his release from prison. Incidentally, the Paramount+ series was originally called “Kansas City Mob” and was set to film in Missouri, until it received a more than $14 million rebate to shoot episodes of the first season in Oklahoma City.

Although Trump’s announcement has largely been met with skepticism in liberal Hollywood, many see this as an opportunity to bring needed attention to an important American industry.

“I don’t know if any one of those three can move the needle but the fact that it’s being discussed at the federal level is a positive,” said Gregg Bilson, whose Sunland-based ISS Props has served the industry for three generations.

Bilson is a member of the California Production Coalition, a group that voices the concerns of the small businesses serving the film and TV industry.

While few believe the actors will roll up their sleeves on the issues — at least so far — their appointment has renewed interest in the idea of implementing federal tax credits.

“If Trump is willing to fight for all these other industries with tariffs, what’s he doing for us? What’s he doing to ensure that our jobs are protected here in the United States?” asked Rachel Cannon, an actress who starred on “Fresh Off the Boat. ” She later moved back to Oklahoma City, where she founded Prairie Surf Studios and more recently Rock Paper Cannon, a venture to bring television production to Oklahoma.

Cannon, a production advocate who helped recruit “Tulsa King” and the film “Twisters” to Oklahoma, sees a federal incentive as a path to making the American film industry more competitive with nations whose generous rebates have shifted the axis of power away from Hollywood to the U.K., Canada and other countries.

“I think what we really need to be doing is banding together and asking for a federal rebate program that can stack, because that can help subsidize these productions to stay in America. States can only offer so much that you need to have some federal support,” she said.

Friedman, who has long supported the idea of a federal film tax credit, agrees.

“L.A. still has to be that dream factory, that place where people go to make it in the movies or TV. That’s incredibly important to our local economy,” she said. “But we also have to recognize that we are losing not just to other states, but we’re losing to other nations. And we have to do something about that.”

For now, everyone is waiting to see if Trump and his chosen trio.

“I don’t know how much Trump has really drilled into the desire for that program that he said he wants to keep Hollywood here at home,” Cannon said. “I just want to make sure there’s a policy that follows up to ensure that it happens because, throwing out a press release with nothing behind it — it’s not going to help us.”

Washington bureau chief Michael Wilner contributed to this report