On Screen

The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN April 17 - 23, 2021 — 3 2 x 3.5" ad a) swango's b) greene cnty farmers 2 x 4" ad williams electric 2 x 1.5" ad ymca 2 x 1.5" ad doughty stevens 2 x 1.5" ad midway const. By George Dickie A detective investigates a murder that upends life in her hometown, thus forcing her to confront expectations from her past in a limited drama series upcoming on HBO. In "Mare of Easttown," a seven-part series premiering Sunday, April 18, Kate Winslet ("Ammonite," "Titanic") is cast in the role of Mare Sheehan, a 40-something police detective who investigates when a child's lifeless body is pulled from a local creek, a troubling crime that rocks her titular small Penn - sylvania town. It turns out the investigator herself is troubled. The daughter of a detec- tive, now deceased, she has struggled with expectations ever since she made the winning shot in a high-school basketball championship game 25 years earlier. She doesn't get along with her mother, Helen (Jean Smart, "Watch - men"), and spends her idle hours at the bar, where she hooks up with Richard (Guy Pearce, "Mildred Pierce"), a lo- cal writing professor. But she has a confidante in Lori (Julianne Nicholson, "August: Osage County"), her protec- tive best friend since childhood. The role was a challenging one for Winslet, who was just coming off play- ing British paleontologist Mary Anning in the 2020 feature film "Ammonite," and thus struggled to get into this com - pletely different character's headspace. "She's nothing like me," says Winslet, who won an Oscar for "The Reader." "So that's pretty scary in a great way if you're an actor like me who likes to feel terrified and exposed. And I just had never done anything like this, (I) was excited to read something that just gripped me right away. I really felt the sense of not just who she was, but the world that she lives in, where she comes from, that sense of community, being so entrenched in a society that you sort of forget who you are from time to time, and the sense of responsi - bility/burdens that Mare carries — for lots of reasons to do with her backstory — really, really intrigued me." For the part of Mare, Winslet did months of prep work, spending time with police departments in Easttown and Marple Township outside of Phila- delphia and working extensively with series creator Brad Ingelsby, a native of that area, to get the dialect and accent right. But in the end, it was one uni - versal theme that enabled Winslet to connect with the character. "That real sense of family and how much it means to her to hold that together at all costs," the British actress says. "And also to be able to admit to herself from time to time that she has failed in a lot of areas and tries desper - ately to correct those errors and to hold everyone as close to her as she can, even if she's a difficult person to live with from time to time. It doesn't change the fact that her love for her family is the thing that bolts her down and drives her in life and is her number one prior - ity. And that was something that I was able to connect with in the midst of all these other things that were so far away and so far removed from myself. Celebrity Scoop Celebrity Scoop A detective struggles with a murder and her past in HBO's 'Mare of Easttown' Cover Story Cover Story By George Dickie For most people, being an NFL player is a dream job and the cul- mination of years of hard work and dedication. But for A.J. Francis, it was merely a means to an end. Indeed, the 30-year-old native of suburban Washington, D.C., enjoyed and cherished his time as a nose tackle for five NFL teams. But it pales in comparison to the feeling the now-WWE Superstar in training gets when he steps into the ring. "I played Thursday Night Foot- ball in front of 10 million people watching at home Thanksgiving night, prime-time TV," he explains. "Made a play that ended up win- ning the game and that doesn't give me the same rush as an eight- minute match in front of nobody. The only way I can describe it is the first time I had a match in front of a crowd, I felt like I was home. ... It was like my whole life, I was a fish out of water and had to climb Checking in with A.J. Francis trees and now I finally got thrown in the ocean." On "WWE's Most Wanted Trea- sures," premiering Sunday, April 18, on A&E Network, Francis teams up with WWE legend Mick Foley to seek out and try to retrieve key mementos from WWE history that are in the hands of private col- lectors or museums or hidden away in someone's basement or attic. WWE's Stephanie McMahon and Paul "Triple H" Levesque lead the searches for items such as Kane's original mask, Ric Flair's Butterfly Robe, Andre the Giant's passport and Andy Kaufman's neck brace. For Francis, it's all about realizing his lifelong dream of becoming the WWE champion and the series is another step in that direction. "I played five years in the NFL and if I could have played 10, I would have played 10," he says. "But no matter what, I would've eventually made my way to WWE." Full name: Anthony Joseph Francis Birth date: May 7, 1990 Birthplace: Washington, D.C. Family ties: Father Mike is a high school coach and coun- selor; mother Carrie works in IT Education: Has a Master's in international security and economic policy from the University of Maryland Football career: New Eng- land Patriots (2013); Miami Dolphins (2013-15); Seattle Seahawks (2015); Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016); Washington Football Team (2016-17) TV credits: "WWE NXT," "WWE Raw," "WWE Smack- down!" "CCW Alive Wres- tling" Did you know: After WWE, Francis plans for a career in politics. "I feel as if you can make a huge difference in people's lives using politics if you do it the right way," he says. The Greeneville Sun The Greeneville Sun (423) 638-4182 GreenevilleSun.com One Y. One Community. Greene County YMCA 423-639-6107 www.greenecounty-ymca.org Doughty-Stevens Funeral Home 423-638-4141 www.doughty-stevens.com 1125 Tusculum Blvd. Greeneville, Tennessee Established 1892 Serving the community for 127 years! Up to 80% OFF! 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