44 | JUNE 1 • 2023 

A WOMAN FRIEND, WHAT 
AN IDEA! EVEN MORE 
SPIDER-MAN 

Platonic is a 10-episode 
Apple TV+ series that began 
on May 24. Before last week, 
the plot description in media 
outlets was minimal. This one 
line was repeated, every-
where: “Seth Rogen and 
Rose Byrne co-star as pla-
tonic friends who re-connect 
after a long rift.”
On May 20, the NY Times 
ran a long, detailed piece 
about Platonic. The upside 
of all this detail was that I 
learned that Platonic tries to 
do something very different 
and fresh in the genre of 
female/male friendships. If 
the series works, it will be 
something quite special. 

 Platonic is not about a 
man and a woman who 
are friends and eventually 
become lovers (as in When 
Harry Met Sally). Here’s the 
Times description of the set-
up: “Sylvia (Byrne), a happily 
married but slightly bored 
woman, tries to rekindle a 
friendship with Will (Rogen), a 
middle-aged man-child going 
through a painful divorce. 
Sylvia and Will used to hang 
out, partying and laughing 
but never sleeping togeth-
er. They eventually went 
their separate ways, largely 
because Sylvia didn’t care for 
Will’s wife. Now Will is back, 
lonely and a bit needy.”
 The Times article then 
outlined the pluses and 
minuses in their renewed 
friendship — and how, like 
many men and women, they 
manage to have a satisfac-
tory “pals” relationship. The 
Times pointed out that older 
couples (40+) are more like-
ly than younger couples to 
have such a relationship.

Platonic was created by 
and written by Seth Rogen, 
40, Nicholas Stoller, 47, and 
Francesca Delbanco, 46. 
Stoller also directs.
I have previously noted 
that Delbanco is Stoller’s 
wife, and that she is the 
daughter of Nicholas 
Delbanco, 80, a prominent 
author who taught for a few 
years at the University of 
Michigan. Francesca got her 
MFA degree from U-M.
Stoller directed the big hits 
Forgetting Sarah Marshall 
and Neighbors. He also 
directed and co-wrote The 
Five-Year Engagement, 
which was set in Ann Arbor. 
Spider-Man — Across the 
Spider-Verse is an animat-
ed superhero film about, of 
course, Spider-Man. But it is 
set in a multiverse of alter-
nate universes. It has a very 
complicated plot. Here are 
the Jewish (voice) actors in 
“big” roles: Hailee Steinfeld, 
26, voices Spider-Woman; 
Jake Johnson, 44, voices an 
old “version” of Spider-Man, 
and Jason Schwartzman, 
42, voices Spot, a villain 
(these three actors are secu-
lar and have a Jewish father).
Appearing in smaller voice 
roles are Rachel Dratch, 
57, and Andy Samberg, 44. 
(Opens on June 2). 
Two interviews with Bille 
Boulett, who played Anne 
Frank in the Hulu/Disney 

mini-series A Small Light, 
appeared just as the series 
concluded last month. In 
both interviews, she said she 
is Jewish — and she gave 
informed “Jewish answers” 
about everything she was 
asked about — Jewish food, 
Jewish songs, holidays, the 
Holocaust. 
I previously wrote that I 
was pretty sure Boulett was 
not Jewish. She was hard to 
run down: she’s 18 years old, 
has few credits and grew 
up in two countries (U.K. 
and France). I’m glad she is 
Jewish — it’s nice to see a 
dramatization of the Frank 
family that has an almost 
all-Jewish cast.
I’m sure you remember 
Jonah Hauer-King, the “hot” 
27-year-old guy who is play-
ing Prince Eric in the new 
live-action version of The 
Little Mermaid. In my last col-
umn, I wrote that his mother 
is Jewish, and that Jonah 
was raised Jewish.
I wrote that it was unclear 
whether his father, Jeremy 
King, is Jewish. A friend told 
me that he discussed his 
background in a 2019 online 
video. In the video, you see 
King being interviewed (with 
others) at a UK Jewish Book 
Week festival “foodie” event. 
Until recently, King was the 
co-owner of several top U.K. 
restaurants. 
Early in the interview, 

I learned that Jeremy is 
divorced from Jonah’s 
mother, Debra Hauer. 
Jeremy went on to say that 
he isn’t Jewish but may 
have some Jewish ancestry. 
A bit after this, he said 
that Jews were his most 
loyal customers, and he 
appreciated that they vocally 
complained if something was 
wrong. Most customers, he 
said, just “moaned.” 
 This is the first time 
that I am telling a personal 
anecdote in this column. 
Over the years, I’ve told this 
story to many friends and 
even a few editors and they 
all laughed. 
The original animated film 
The Little Mermaid (1989) 
was a huge hit. Young chil-
dren especially loved it. 
My niece, Allie, began 
kindergarten about a year 
after the film opened. Rachel, 
a Korean-American girl, was 
Allie’s classmate and friend. 
One day, Allie proudly told 
Rachel that her Hebrew 
name was Ariel, which is 
also the name of the Little 
Mermaid. Rachel, a very 
clever girl, replied: “Well, my 
Hebrew name is Sleeping 
Beauty.” Allie said, “Wow,” 
and ran home and told her 
mother, Elaine, that Rachel’s 
Hebrew name is Sleeping 
Beauty. Elaine was amused, 
of course, and relayed this 
story to our family. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

IMDB

Bille Boulett 

BY STEPHEN MCCARTHY/COLLISION VIA SPORTSFILE 

Seth Rogen

BY SACHYN 

Jason Schwartzman