7xm asia login registration HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Aidan O'Connell will start at quarterback when the Las Vegas Raiders visit their AFC West rival and two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Friday. Raiders coach Antonio Pierce made the announcement Wednesday, saying O'Connell had progressed well after breaking his right thumb on Oct. 20 in a 20-15 loss to the Los Angeles Rams . “He’s been dialed in obviously throughout this time that he’s been on (injured reserve),” Pierce said. "He’s been at all the meetings. He’s been very encouraging on the sideline. He’s got that laser-eye focus right now. Great opportunity for him.” Gardner Minshew broke his left collarbone on Sunday in a game against the Denver Broncos and is out for the season . The Raiders could have gone with Desmond Ridder to replace Minshew. Las Vegas signed Ridder off Arizona’s practice squad on Oct. 21. He started 13 games for Atlanta last season, passing for 2,836 yards and 12 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. Pierce opted for O'Connell, who became the starter midway through last season and went 5-4 the rest of the way. Minshew beat him out for the job in the preseason but then struggled through five games. Pierce then put O'Connell in the starting lineup on Oct. 13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. O'Connell completed 27 of 40 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown with an interception in the 32-13 loss . Then O'Connell was injured early the following week at Los Angeles and was placed on IR, sidelining him for at least four weeks. The Raiders on Monday designated him to return to practice, opening a three-week window in which O'Connell could be activated. That came this week. “He carried himself like a starter, even when he was on IR," Pierce said. "He did that when he was a backup. He did a great job of just being engaged with the players, engaged on the sideline, in meeting rooms. He’s the one speaking up, talking. You could just look at his eyes. You can look at his demeanor. "He wasn’t a guy like: ‘All right, I’m out for the season. I’m not going to play. No, I’ll be back. I’m ready to be back.’ And he worked his tail off to get back.” O'Connell has a short week to prepare, complicated further because the Raiders aren't having full practices. He was the last opposing quarterback to win at Arrowhead Stadium. Even though he didn't complete a pass after the first quarter, the Raiders walked away 20-14 winners in that Christmas Day game. Las Vegas can only play a little bit of a spoiler this week. The Raiders at 2-9 have lost seven consecutive games, and the Chiefs have their sights on becoming the first team to win three Super Bowls in a row. “Let’s call a spade a spade,” Pierce said. "The best team in football against the worst team in football. Let’s change the narrative, right? Let’s go out there and make it a dog fight. Let’s make it ugly. Let’s make it scrappy. It’s Black Friday. Let’s create a little chaos. Let’s get back to Raider football and have some fun and some personality. Let it loose.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLNYPD recovers DNA with manhunt for CEO's killer dragging onThe Latest: Former President Jimmy Carter is dead at age 100

Dear Eric: We live on a lake and love hosting our great-nieces and nephews on school breaks and the entire family on vacations. My husband and I have no children. Our niece’s families are dear to us. Our 11-year-old great-nephew has been gaming now for about a year. When he comes to visit, instead of reading or playing cards or board games with us, he wants to disappear with his video games. We feel vacated. How do we navigate this with his parents who think his being on a video gaming team at school is awesome and I think it is a bad omen? What is a fair place of compromise and balance? — Game Off Dear Game Off: Let his parents parent their child. The other night I re-watched the movie “Network” from 1977. In it, a character in his 60s dismisses a character played by Faye Dunaway by saying, “She’s the television generation. She learned life from Bugs Bunny. The only reality she knows is what comes to her over her TV set.” Every generation has anxieties about the ways that technology is changing social interactions or altering the minds of the generations below. While some of those concerns are valid, those of Faye Dunaway’s generation (now in their 70s and 80s) would argue that they’ve managed to stay quite well-rounded, despite TV. In moderation, video games have been shown to improve a child’s cognitive function and working memory. While your great-nephew’s gaming might not be your choice, it’s important that you not seek to undermine the research and thinking that his parents have done about it. What you’re really yearning for is a sense of togetherness as a family, so try talking to your niece and her spouse about group activities you can plan to meet your great-nephew where he is. Dear Eric: I eat at a local restaurant a couple times a week and tend to get one of three meals. This one waitress asks me what I want to eat, but then interrupts me to make guesses or tell me my choice. I just put my head down and nod yes or no to the guesses. It’s frustrating, but not life-threatening. She enjoys it. I hate it. However, if I were to say something, it would force her to make the choice of being herself, doing something she likes doing, or appeasing me so I can order the way I want to order. I don’t know if this is a big enough problem to have a “high road.” The answer will not change my life. She can easily change, and I can easily suffer. The question is who gets to be themselves? — Speaking Up Dear Speaking Up: I worked in the service industry for more than a decade. I loved it. I loved seeing regulars, meeting new people and carrying a lot of beverages in my hands at one time. The whole bit. I also loved knowing what people wanted, but I would always ask and confirm. That’s part of the job. She may think you’re a regular who likes to be known in this way. So, informing her that that’s not the case won’t be keeping her from being herself. It will be helping her to do her job better. You may not have the kind of temperament that easily or comfortably course-corrects in social situations. That’s just fine. But know you won’t be causing her suffering by saying something like, “I’ve already decided on my meal. Let’s skip the guessing today and I’ll just tell you.” This also clears the path for the two of you to talk about something else, if you want. Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com . Get local news delivered to your inbox!

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Many social media users — including journalists and academics — are celebrating the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday, implying that he got what he deserved. Anthony Zenkus, a Columbia University School of Social Work professor who works in “anti-violence” activism, took to X to sarcastically “mourn” the late healthcare executive: “Today, we mourn the death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, gunned down.... wait, I’m sorry — today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires,” Zenkus wrote in a post that received over 100,000 likes. Rob DenBleyker, the co-creator of the Cyanide & Happiness comic series, wrote, “If all health insurance CEOs live in fear of being murdered maybe premiums will come down”: Former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz has been continuously justifying Thompson’s slaying and even went so far as to post other health insurance CEOs’ names and photos on the left-leaning social media platform Bluesky. In a Substack blog post , Lorenz explained “why ‘we’ want insurance executives dead”: While clarifying that running an insurance company “does not mean people should murder them,” Lorenz argued that “if you’ve watched a loved one suffer and die from insurance denial, it’s normal to wish the people responsible would suffer the same fate.” Other social media users mocked Thompson’s surviving wife and children, garnering thousands of likes and similar comments: UnitedHealthcare, Anthem BlueCross BlueShield, CareSource, Medica, and Elevance Health are all among healthcare companies that have taken down their web pages listing their executives since Thompson was gunned down outside a midtown Manhattan hotel, Breitbart News reported. Thompson, 50, was shot multiple times by a masked gunman as he arrived for a conference around 6:45 a.m. before the attacker “fled eastbound off of 6th Avenue,” according to the New York Post . The CEO was later pronounced dead at a hospital. New York Police Department (NYPD) officials released security photos of the suspect and said the killing “does not appear to be a random act of violence,” and that evidence points to it being a “premeditated, targeted attack”:Copy link Copied Copy link Copied Subscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Already a subscriber? Login Australian shares are poised to rise, though futures could fade as selling gathered momentum in New York. Disappointments from Dell and HP – which each were more than 12 per cent lower, and CrowdStrike dragged tech stocks. All seven of the magnificent seven slid, paced by Nvidia. Though the group was paring its earlier losses in mid-afternoon trading. Copy link Copied Copy link Copied Subscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Already a subscriber? Login Introducing your Newsfeed Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you. Latest In Equity markets Fetching latest articles Most Viewed In MarketsLA ROCHELLE HELD off a second-half fightback by Bath in the Somerset mist on Friday to win their opening Champions Cup pool game 24-20. Both sides had trouble holding onto the ball in the rainy, windy English south west country. “The conditions changed the game in terms of getting the ball wide in this wind. You have to play to conditions,” La Rochelle scrum half Tawera Kerr-Barlow told broadcaster Premier Sports. “Bath wrestled back the momentum and we were really fortunate to hold on at the end.” La Rochelle, competition winners in 2022 and 2023, dominated the first half and their forwards turned pressure into tries. Flanker Oscar Jegou barged over for the first after a ruck close to the Bath line. Prop Reda Wardi touched down after La Rochelle mauled the home pack backwards from a lineout. Kerr-Barlow scampered over following a lineout close to the line after 31 minutes. Bath’s pack responded after 47 minutes when they drove La Rochelle back in a maul and hooker Tom Dunn touched down. The English league leaders cut the gap to one point afer Guy Pepper hacked through, Tawera Barlow was among players who dived and failed to gather the slippery ball. Bath lock Quinn Roux finally managed to get a hand on it behind the line after 56 minutes. Ihaia West booted a penalty to take his tally to nine points and put La Rochelle four points up with 22 minutes left. Bath pressed but struggled to hold on to the slippery ball. “I liked how we stayed calm and didn’t chase it,” said Bath captain Charlie Ewels. “We had opportunities to then win the game but we didn’t take those chances.”

Emanuel Wallace, 27, from east London, is better known as Big Manny by his 1.9 million followers on TikTok, where he shares videos explaining various science experiments from his back garden while using Jamaican Patois phrases and London slang. In early December, Mr Wallace won the Education Creator of the Year award at the TikTok Awards ceremony, which he said is a “symbol that anything that you put your mind to you can achieve”. The content creator began making videos during the coronavirus pandemic when schools turned to online learning but has since expanded his teaching from videos to paper after releasing his debut book Science Is Lit in August. He believes his “unconventional” teaching methods help to make his content relatable for younger audiences by using slang deriving from his Jamaican and British heritage. “The language that I use, it’s a combination between Jamaican Patois and London slang because I have Jamaican heritage,” the TikToker, who holds a bachelors and masters degree in biomedical science, told the PA news agency. “That’s why in my videos sometimes I might say things like ‘Wagwan’ or ‘you dun know’. I just want to connect with the young people more, so I speak in the same way that they speak. “The words that I use, the way that I deliver the lesson as well, I would say that my method of teaching is quite unconventional. I speak in a way that is quite conversational.” Examples of his videos include lithium batteries catching fire after being sandwiched inside a raw chicken breast, as well as mixing gold with gallium to create blue gold, earning millions of views. Mr Wallace hopes his content will help make the science industry more diverse, saying “the scientists that I was taught about, none of them look like me”. “Now me being a scientist is showing young people that they can become one as well, regardless of the background that they come from, the upbringing that they’ve had,” he said. “I just want to make it seem more attainable and possible for them because if I can do it, and I come from the same place as you, there’s no reason why you can’t do it as well.” The TikToker has seen a shift in more young people turning to the app as a learning resource and feels short-form videos will soon become a part of the national curriculum in schools. “I’m seeing (young people) using that a lot more – social media as a resource for education – and I feel like in the future, it’s going to become more and more popular as well,” he said. “I get a lot of comments from students saying that my teacher showed my video in the classroom as a resource, so I feel like these short form videos are going to be integrated within the national curriculum at some point in the near future.” He also uses his platform to raise awareness of different social issues, which he said is “extremely important”. One of his videos highlighted an anti-knife campaign backed by actor Idris Elba, which earned more than 39 million views, while his clip about the banning of disposable vapes was viewed more than 4.6 million times. He said there is some pressure being a teacher with a large following online but hopes he can be a role model for young people. “I’m aware that I am in the public eye and there’s a lot of young people watching me,” he said. “Young people can be impressionable, so I make sure that I conduct myself appropriately, so that I can be a role model. “I always have the same message for young people, specifically. I tell them to stay curious. Always ask questions and look a little bit deeper into things.” His plans for 2025 include publishing a second Science Is Lit book and expanding his teaching to television where he soon hopes to create his own science show.Dr. Oz agrees to stop promoting health and wellness products if confirmed: TransitionWith the girls basketball season set to start next week, here is a look at the state’s divisional alignments in each of the 15 conferences for the 2024-25 season. Burlington County Scholastic League Freedom Division Bordentown Burlington City Burlington Township Maple Shade Moorestown Friends Palmyra Pennsauken Tech Independence Division Doane Academy Florence KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy Riverside STEMCivics Willingboro Liberty Division Cinnaminson Holy Cross Prep Thrive Charter Westampton Tech Patriot Division Delran Medford Tech Northern Burlington Pemberton Pennsauken Big North Conference American Division Cliffside Park Dumont Dwight-Morrow Fort Lee Ridgefield Park Freedom Division Hackensack Northern Highlands Paramus Ramapo Ridgewood Independence Division Fair Lawn Lakeland Passaic Valley Wayne Hills Wayne Valley West Milford Liberty Division Bergen Tech Clifton Passaic Passaic Tech Paterson Eastside Paterson Kennedy National Division Bergenfield Demarest Old Tappan Pascack Valley Teaneck Tenafly Patriot Division Indian Hills Mahwah Pascack Hills Ramsey River Dell Westwood United Division DePaul Holy Angels Immaculate Heart Paramus Catholic Cape-Atlantic League American Division Absegami Atlantic City Holy Spirit Mainland Middle Township Our Lady of Mercy Wildwood Catholic National Division Cedar Creek Egg Harbor Hammonton Lower Cape May Millville Ocean City Vineland United Division Atlantic Tech Bridgeton Buena Cape May Tech Oakcrest Pleasantville St. Joseph (Hamm.) Colonial Conference Liberty Division Haddon Heights Haddon Township Haddonfield Sterling West Deptford Woodbury Patriot Division Audubon Collingswood Gateway Gloucester Lindenwold Paulsboro Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division Ewing Hightstown Hopewell Valley Notre Dame Nottingham Princeton Robbinsville Trenton Valley Division Allentown Hamilton West Lawrence Princeton Day Steinert West Windsor-Plainsboro North West Windsor-Plainsboro South Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division Carteret Dunellen Highland Park Iselin Kennedy Metuchen Sayreville South River Timothy Christian Gold Division Calvary Christian (Old Bridge) East Brunswick Magnet Mother Seton New Brunswick Perth Amboy Magnet Piscataway Magnet Somerset Tech South Amboy Wardlaw-Hartridge Woodbridge Magnet Red Division Colonia East Brunswick Monroe North Plainfield Old Bridge Piscataway South Brunswick St. Thomas Aquinas White Division Edison J.P. Stevens Middlesex North Brunswick Perth Amboy South Plainfield Spotswood Woodbridge Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League American Division Bayonne Hudson Catholic Kearny St. Dominic Union City National Divison Hoboken Lincoln Memorial North Bergen Snyder Patriot Division BelovED Charter Dickinson Ferris McNair University Charter Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference American Division Chatham Mendham Montville Morristown Pope John Randolph Colonial Division Dover Hopatcong Kittatinny Newton Sussex Tech Wallkill Valley Freedom Division Hackettstown High Point Jefferson Lenape Valley North Warren Vernon Independence Division Boonton Kinnelon Parsippany St. Elizabeth Villa Walsh Whippany Park Liberty Division Hanover Park Madison Morris Catholic Morris Tech Morristown-Beard Mountain Lakes Pequannock National Division Morris Hills Morris Knolls Mount Olive Parsippany Hills Roxbury Sparta West Morris North Jersey Interscholastic Conference Independent Saddle River Day American Division Elmwood Park Garfield Lodi Manchester Regional Paterson Charter Saddle Brook Colonial Division Butler Eastern Christian Glen Rock Hawthorne Hawthorne Christian Pompton Lakes Liberty Division Bogota Dwight-Englewood Leonia New Milford Palisades Park Ridgefield Meadowlands Division Becton Hasbrouck Heights St. Mary (Ruth.) Wallington Wood-Ridge National Division Harrison Lyndhurst North Arlington Rutherford Secaucus Weehawken Patriot Division Cresskill Emerson Boro Midland Park Park Ridge Waldwick Olympic Conference American Division Cherokee Cherry Hill East Eastern Lenape Rancocas Valley National Division Bishop Eustace Camden Camden Catholic Camden Eastside Paul VI Patriot Division Cherry Hill West Moorestown Seneca Shawnee Winslow Super Essex Conference American Division Glen Ridge Montclair Immaculate Mount St. Dominic Newark Academy University West Orange Colonial Division Bloomfield Cedar Grove East Orange Montclair North Star Academy Verona Freedom Division Arts Barringer Belleville Irvington Newark Collegiate Science Park St. Benedict’s Weequahic Independence Division Livingston Millburn Montclair Kimberley Newark East Side Newark Lab Newark Tech Liberty Division Caldwell Columbia Newark Central Nutley Payne Tech West Essex National Division Bard Golda Och Orange Shabazz St. Vincent Technology West Caldwell Tech West Side Shore Conference A Central Division Howell Jackson Memorial Manasquan Neptune St. Rose Wall A Coastal Division Holmdel Middletown North Red Bank Catholic Red Bank Regional Rumson-Fair Haven St. John Vianney A North Division Colts Neck Marlboro Ocean Township Ranney Shore Trinity Hall A South Division Central Regional Donovan Catholic Manchester Township Southern Toms River East Toms River North B Central Division Brick Memorial Jackson Liberty Lakewood New Egypt Point Pleasant Beach Point Pleasant Boro B Coastal Division Henry Hudson Keansburg Keyport Matawan Middletown North Raritan B North Division Asbury Park Freehold Borough Freehold Township Long Branch Manalapan Monmouth B South Division Barnegat Brick Township Lacey Pinelands Toms River South Skyland Conference Delaware Division Franklin Gill St. Bernard’s Hillsborough Hunterdon Central Phillipsburg Rutgers Prep Mountain Division Belvidere Bernards Bound Brook Manville South Hunterdon Raritan Division Mount St. Mary Pingry Ridge Voorhees Warren Hills Watchung Hills Valley Division Bridgewater-Raritan Delaware Valley Immaculata Montgomery North Hunterdon Somerville Tri-County Conference Classic Division Clayton Gloucester Catholic Pitman Salem Salem Tech Wildwood Diamond Division Glassboro Overbrook Penns Grove Schalick Woodstown Liberty Division Cumberland Delsea Deptford Highland Timber Creek Triton Royal Division Clearview Gloucester Tech Kingsway Washington Township Williamstown Union County Conference Mountain Division Dayton Gov. Livingston Johnson Oak Knoll Roselle Summit Union Catholic Valley Division Brearley Hillside Kent Place Linden Rahway Roselle Park Union Watchung Division Cranford Elizabeth New Providence Plainfield Roselle Catholic Scotch Plains-Fanwood Westfield RECOMMENDED • nj .com Final Group 2 boys soccer season stat leaders for 2024 Dec. 3, 2024, 1:19 p.m. Final Group 3 boys soccer season stat leaders for 2024 Dec. 3, 2024, 1:20 p.m. Lauren Knego may be reached at lknego@njadvancemedia.com . Follow her at @laurenknego The N.J. High School Sports newsletter now appears in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now! Follow us on social: Facebook | Instagram | X (formerly Twitter )Jude Law has been killing a wide range of roles since he broke out in Anthony Minghella’s “ The Talented Mr. Ripley ” in 1999. Twenty-five years later, Law’s latest performance as grizzled FBI agent Terry Husk in hardboiled ’80s actioner “ The Order ” (Vertical, December 6) is a departure: The actor not only masters an American accent (he’s done that before, in “Cold Mountain” and other roles), but he’s embodying a gun-wielding Western masculine archetype: rugged, angry, laconic, righteous. Think Clint Eastwood , although Law told me that he channeled Gene Hackman and Paul Newman in our video interview (above). Law’s latest incarnation since he founded Riff Raff Entertainment in 2017: producer. “I love finding material,” he said. “I love reading. I love thinking about who would be good in what role and taking the reins and being able to nurture ideas. I still sit and hope that I get phone calls from certain filmmakers who are making their own things, but when you just spend your time doing that, there’s a certain sense of powerlessness. So producing is a way of taking slight control over the future. You go through ebbs and flows of success and failure, and being the hot ticket and not being the hot ticket. And so you have to dodge those bullets a little. But right now, it feels like my choices are honestly on ‘what haven’t I done? How can I stretch and build this acting muscle, and who am I?'” Riff Raff came aboard “ The Order ” at the script stage, excited by the potential for the hardboiled action story adapted by “King Richard” writer Zack Baylin from the 1989 nonfiction book “The Silent Brotherhood” by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt about how the FBI chased down white supremacist terrorist groups in the Pacific Northwest. Law’s first choice for director was Australian Justin Kurzel (“Nitram”). “This extraordinary untold true story, at the heart, had these uncomfortable, relevant tentacles to today’s divisive, political social terrain,” said Law. “There was also this potential for a great genre movie, a thrilling cat-and-mouse drama. And the one person who deals with this kind of male, violent terrain brilliantly, unpacks it with such clarity and humanity, is Justin Kurzel. He elevated the whole thing from the day he got involved. [He] has a non-judgmental approach to these characters, looking at their decision-making, the communities around them, and the world that encourages them to behave the way they do, and see through the actions that they enact.” “The Order” is partly fictionalized. “The biggest change is my character,” said Law. “[Baylin] made a choice early on to draw on some of the special agents that were involved in the case, but amalgamate them. I was grateful because it gave me an opportunity to develop what Husk needed to influence and steer the story. This guy is broken physically and emotionally; he thinks his greatest battles are behind him, and that he’s almost halfway to retirement, but in fact, the biggest fight is in front. But an awful lot of it really happened.” Law is unrecognizable as Husk. He built up his body and grew a mustache. “We talked about performances by people like Hackman and Newman in their 50s and 60s,” said Law, “Popeye Doyle in ‘The French Connection,’ and where and how they were allowed as performers to play these sometimes damaged, willful men, but who had a good heart. You had to have faith that they were morally correct, but they sometimes used immoral ways to win their moral argument.” Law read and interviewed agents about the period to get an understanding of the mindset. “What is it to be that devoted?” he said. “What sparks that initially? Is it a belief in the agency? In America? Is it a belief, sometimes, in just catching a bad guy? And trying to understand the physical effect of the pressures of that job, losing family, drinking and smoking that much to relieve the stress. Men like that were looked at in a different way when they were making movies in the 70s and 80s, and they were allowed a little more elbow room to be themselves. It was interesting to embody him and try and remember what manhood was then, and masculinity.” Though set in the ’80s, “The Order” is all too relevant today. “It was this historical piece that had this incredible timely substance to it,” said Law. “It’s important to dismantle these situations so that we hopefully learn from them and understand rather than point fingers or say, ‘this is wrong, this is right. He’s good, he’s bad.’ I sincerely believe very few people are bad. A lot of bad decisions are made, and toxic environments are created, in which bad decisions are easier to make.” Known for his golden-boy looks, Law has long tried to move away from them. “I was always a little uncomfortable in my 20s,” he said. “I took the craft of acting seriously. I was passionate about it. I was inspired by actors who I saw as fearless and boundless, and I wanted to do the same. And it irritated me that there was attention being put more on what I looked like than on the work I was doing. And I probably took that too seriously for a while and beat myself up about it and said no to certain things and tried, like any 20-year-old, to prove my chops. I don’t feel I ever leaned into it fully. But right now, on the other side of 50, I’m happy and excited to be able to take on roles where that is not the emphasis, and if it is, then it’s the emphasis of someone who used to be the good-looking guy. There’s not a lot to get out of the character who is simply the good-looking guy. It’s the same for women, there’s not a lot to play with.” That’s why Law steered into so much character acting, from Gigolo Joe in Steven Spielberg’s “A.I.” in his 20s and Maguire in Sam Mendes’ “The Road to Perdition” to gout-riddled King Henry the Eighth in “Firebrand.” “It’s the area where my curiosity lies,” said Law. “There’s a challenge in trying to mine them for plausibility and embody them. You have to find the truth within yourself. But you also have to layer them up so that they are three-dimensional and realistic. And not go too far so that you’re playing a caricature. It’s a lovely juggling act. To me, the sweet spot of what I do is where you’re physically, internally, and superficially imagining what they must be like, but also not signposting.” “The Talented Mr. Ripley” marked Law’s big breakout role and his first Oscar nomination. “Yeah, my career changed after ‘Ripley,'” said Law. “I’d done a couple of films before, and they’d been pretty well received, and I’d gotten those early promising young actor awards and recognition. But now I was in the company of all these people who were pretty heavy hitters already, and certainly a couple of steps further down the line than me. Matt [Damon] was doing ‘Good Will Hunting,’ Gwyneth [Paltrow] had just won for ‘Shakespeare in Love.’ Philip [Seymour Hoffman] was about to do ‘Boogie Nights’ and Cate Blanchett was about to do ‘Elizabeth.’ Being in their company lit a certain light on my work. And things changed.” A second Oscar nomination followed for Minghella’s “Cold Mountain,” his first American role. And Law enjoyed his comedic character role as Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes franchise opposite Robert Downey, Jr. A third movie is in the offing. “The journey of getting that right has been almost more complicated than making the first two films,” Law said. “There have been various scripts. With the amount of time that passed, we want to deliver something special and extraordinary, but also investigate the time that’s passed. What have they been doing? Have they been back together? We got pretty close a couple of years ago, and then it all went quiet again.” Law and the Downeys are friends; he went to see Downey’s play in New York, “McNeal,” and learned there’s a new script to read. “Hopefully, this is the one. Otherwise, what will happen eventually is we’ll make it one day, and we’ll both be withered, old, gray.” On Law’s wish list of who he’d like to work with: the Coen brothers and Paul Thomas Anderson. “Three people I’m hoping to go back and work with are Justin Kurzel, David O. Russell, and Brady Corbet,” he said. “Even from his first film, ‘Childhood of a Leader,’ It was clear this was an incredible talent, and I had such a great time on ‘Vox Lux.’ It was such an unusual experience. I’m so proud and so happy that he’s having the success he is with [‘The Brutalist’].” The landscape for making mid-range budget movies like “The Brutalist” and “The Order” has changed. “It is amazing that it got made,” said Law. “It’s never been easy. The sad side is all this creative energy is spent fighting, and that’s not because you’re asking for a ton more money or a ton more time. It’s just a little more so that you’re not up against it. Now, sometimes being up against it actually can help the peace. Case in point, on ‘The Order” we were fighting to the first day for a little more time, a little more budget. And in fact, Justin made such a bold decision. ‘Nope, this is what we’ve got. We are going to shoot this at such top speed, we’re going to capture that energy, it is going to be in the film.’ In a weird way, it paid off. But nonetheless, the fight to get it there and then get it seen is exhausting.” Another example: period drama “Firebrand” started out well at Cannes and then got hit by the strikes. “So we couldn’t promote it,” said Law. “We put a pin in it for a year, and it’s slightly lost its energy, certainly here in the States. It did pretty well in Europe. Again, it’s finding that distributor that understands a film like ‘The Order’ or ‘Firebrand,’ and knows how to get to the audiences that want to see it. And then it’s demonstrating to the business as a whole that those audiences are out there. You make it for a sensible figure. You get that sensible figure back. Not everything’s going to be some smash hit, but be smart, you know?” On the TV side, “ Star Wars: Skeleton Crew ” (Disney+, December 2) came Law’s way a couple of years ago, pre-strike, and was then postponed. He worked with “an extraordinary group of directors,” he said. “We’ve got David Lowery, Jon Watts is the showrunner, the Daniels, Lee Isaac Chung, Bryce Dallas Howard.” After a childhood watching Disney animation, Law remembers seeing “Star Wars” in 1977 and “being blown away. It was life-altering, and it dominated my play for the next 10 years as a kid. Jon had a brilliant concept: a lot of our generation remember seeing [‘Star Wars’] through the eyes and fantastical imagination of children. He’s made the protagonists kids in that world, trying to survive. I play someone who is mysterious, contradictory, potentially a helping hand, potentially not.” Next up: Law has just finished “Black Rabbit,” an eight-episode limited series produced by Riff Raff, pitched by screenwriter Baylin during “The Order.” “It’s about a guy who runs a successful downtown restaurant/nightclub in New York,” said Law. “A brother returns and destroys his world. It looks at all the characters behind the scenes, in the restaurant, in the front of the house, the financiers, the friends. Jason Bateman plays my brother and directed the first two, Justin Kurzel directed the final two.”

are reporting a “boom” in the market, with experts suggesting Brexit may have played a part. Surging sales across the country are thought to have been aided by stricter regulations on imports from across Europe following Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. Tesco and Waitrose are now filling their shelves with the more than 200 registered cured meat producers available in the UK. Producers have vowed to prove – like they have with cheese and Andy Mackenzie is the executive chef for Exclusive Collection, which runs a number of Michelin-starred restaurants and five-star hotels. The 60-year-old, who has trained the likes of last year’s MasterChef: The Professionals winner , said he had “absolutely” seen an increase in demand for British charcuterie. “Especially in kitchens, rather than buying things that have come from around the world, we are starting to produce it ourselves,” he told The Telegraph. “We know if you are going to buy from France or Italy you are going to pay extra. Now British charcuterie is becoming more popular, why wouldn’t we be choosing British over foreign? It’s kind of a no brainer.” He compared the growing popularity and availability with that of sparkling English wine and cheese. “Some of the quality of the stuff is amazing,” he continued. “Like our cheese, we are now giving the French and Italian a run for their money. And we are beating the French at English sparkling wine.” He urged those who hadn’t tried British produce to do so, adding: “When you do try it, you wonder why you have been buying foreign-made when you have it on your doorstep from great artisan producers.” Mr Mackenzie said he hoped the more people that indulged would help bring the price down. However, Tesco and Waitrose – which said its customers “love a charcuterie board” – are the only supermarkets across the country currently stocking British charcuterie. Despite this, award-winning butcher Simon Broadribb, 57, said he had seen a “boom” in popularity. “It’s a growing thing,” he said. “A few years ago people wouldn’t have known what it was.” The owner of Upton of Bassett, in Southampton, Hampshire said he now had customers coming in asking for specific dishes they previously would have turned their noses up at. Guanciale – cured pork cheeks – now flies off his meat counter with locals eager to make a “proper carbonara”, he said. Mr Broadribb also noted more British entrants at the most recent World Charcuterie awards. “There’s a massive boom in the charcuterie market,” he continued. “A lot more people are interested in it. It’s good, more people know the product.” He added that Brexit “could well be” the reason, having recently experienced difficulties importing goods himself. “If someone is importing charcuterie, you only have to have one hiccup [in the supply chain] and things start getting expensive,” he said. “People know more about charcuterie and try it with their own pigs and beef. We have got some great stuff on offer and should probably be doing it ourselves anyway.” Former MasterChef winner, Dhruv Baker, told he credited Brexit with the upturn in fortunes. “I think we are seeing fewer smaller continental artisan products in the UK post-Brexit,” he said. “Largely due to the increased cost and time involved with exporting alongside much stricter controls.” A Waitrose spokesman told The Telegraph: “We champion British farming at Waitrose and proudly support award-winning British brands such as The Real Cure, that use responsibly and locally sourced ingredients from Dorset. “We know our customers love a charcuterie board and this allows them to showcase the best of British ingredients, paired with our award-winning British cheeses.”