Though the names Christopher Abbott and Riley Keough may not ring a bell, you’ve likely seen their work. And now they are both together in director Trey Edward Shults' acclaimed horror movie “It Comes at Night” (opening in theaters on Friday).

Set in a world where an unknown sickness is slowly wiping out humanity, the movie stars Joel Edgerton as a man who has found refuge with his family in the woods. But when he takes in two young people (Abbott and Keough) and their child, paranoia leads to madness.

Abbott, 31, is known for being on the HBO series “Girls,” though he's also been in recent acclaimed indie movies like “Hello I Must Be Going” and “James White.” Keough, 28, was the star of the hit first season of “The Girlfriend Experience” and gave a powerful performance in last year’s indie hit “American Honey.” With raw and emotional performances in “It Comes at Night,” the two show why they're on the cusp of being major stars.

The actors talked to Business Insider in New York City recently about the instant chemistry they built on set, the challenge of finding work that challenges them, and how Keough kept it together on the set of Steven Soderbergh’s “Logan Lucky” when Daniel Craig never broke character.

Jason Guerrasio: Did you two know each other before filming started?

Riley Keough: No.

Guerrasio: Did you feel you two had to meet up before working together?

Keough: Trey wanted us to. We didn't want to. 

Christopher Abbott: But that's why we knew we were going to get along. Trey talked about this idea of maybe the whole cast go camping for a few weeks and me and Riley separately, before we knew each other, were like “Nah, I think we're good.” [Laughs]

Keough: I actually think there's no scenario that I could imagine to be worse than being stuck camping with someone you don't like. 

Abbott: And with another actor!

Keough: Who is an actor. [Laughs]

Abbott: So once we had the same opinion on that I was like, okay, she's cool. 

Guerrasio: Because of the subject matter, did the set tend to be tense or was there a loose vibe?

Abbott: It was really loose.

Keough: Chill.

Abbott: I mean, the scenes themselves, of course, were intense and sometimes physically exhausting to some extent, but outside of that, it was beautiful. It was summer up in the woods. The house was quite beautiful, though it doesn't look like it on camera. There were great places to eat.

Guerrasio: The movie has a horror vibe, but really it's more of a thriller about how we treat each other in society when things go wrong. Is that what you guys took away from it?

Abbott: I think that's exactly it. I think it's what one’s mind can create to actually be the monster. What you can create in your head that is scarier than what is actually out there. I think that's delving into one's own kind of psyche and how powerful the human mind is. What you can do to yourself is probably the scariest thing. 

Keough: Yeah, I feel the same. 

Guerrasio: Riley, in one of your scenes, you get into a frantic state. How hard is it to get into that kind of emotional zone?

Keough: I don't know. I think it's just adrenaline. I think we did three or four takes. 

Abbott: I just feel there's something to the fact that you just have to do it. 

Keough: Exactly. 

Abbott: It's in the script so you just have to do it. 

Keough: There's no option.

Abbott: I'm just speaking for myself, but egotistically, you don't want to be bad, you want it to be believable. So you either commit to it or you don't. 

Keough: It's allowing yourself to actually be emotional. 

Guerrasio: Both of you have done great in choosing unique and challenging roles to take on so far in your careers. How much of that is strategic and how much is just luck?

Abbott: I think it's a little bit of both. It's definitely luck when projects come around that are right for me age-wise. It's choice by me deciding to work with this person or them wanting to work with me. I don't necessarily believe in career path and having a trajectory. I like to just take it as it comes along and if it feels right to do in that moment, then I'll do it. 

Keough: I think it's both. I definitely make it a point to not do things I don't want to do. I know that some people do things for different reasons, either they are told that's the right thing to do —

Guerrasio: Someone tells them, “This is the path you're on so you have to take this job.”

Keough: Yeah. It's really in the moment, for me. The way I felt last year is different from how I feel now. 

Guerrasio: What's an instant no when roles come to you?

Keough: Anything that's boring. If the character or it's an underdeveloped female part. Like “the girlfriend.” 

Abbott: If the script isn't good or cliche or the director's work I'm not a fan of. Those are red flags. 

Keough: I actually wanted to direct before I wanted to act. 

Guerrasio: Really?

Keough: Yeah, I never really planed on acting. So that's something I wanted to go to school for and in the future that is something I would like to do because that was my first interest. But I'm also so aware of how hard it is. So that's very scary.

Guerrasio: Christopher, speaking of choosing roles, I always wanted to know, what led to you playing an Afghan fixer in "Whisky Tango Foxtrot"?

Abbott: I'm not denouncing the role at all, but it was one of those things where I still have to work. I'm not an A-list dude where I'm saying yes and no to a million things. I went in auditioning for a different role, I think I literally had a beard at the time that I went in, they asked me to go back in for the Afghan role, and I just went for it. And the directors were great, I love them. I said yes because it was going to be a challenge and I looked at it purely at an actor standpoint: This will be a challenge to do and I want to try it.

Guerrasio: I think you're one of the highlights of the movie, but did you get any backlash personally for doing that role at a time when whitewashing is such a major issue?

Abbott: Most people don't even know that's me. And I'm not saying I'm some kind of chameleon that just disappears in roles, but people just didn't connect the dots. And I also don't do a lot of press.

Guerrasio: Riley, was it hard keeping a straight face working across Daniel Craig doing that crazy character in "Lucky Logan"? 

Keough: My hardest thing is I get the giggles really bad, when I start laughing I just can't stop. When I'm working, too. And it doesn't matter how serious the scene is. So that was really hard because they [costars Channing Tatum and Adam Driver] were all so funny. It was ridiculous. And they wouldn't stop bantering between takes.

Guerrasio: But Daniel went back to his regular voice once shooting ended, right?

Keough: No, he was doing the voice the whole time. 

Guerrasio: Even when director Steven Soderbergh said cut, he would do the voice?

Keough: Yeah. If I saw him at the hotel after shooting he would be doing the voice. But I think the thing is because he's English he wanted to not lose the voice. It was really funny. 

Guerrasio: Was there a scene during shooting of "It Comes at Night" that gave you the giggles?

Keough: I don't know. Oh, when Try had us doing sex noises.

Abbott: Oh, that was hilarious. There was no sex scene, we just had to make noises.

Guerrasio: For the scene when the Travis character is listening in on you guys.

Abbott: Yeah. I thought I had to go closer to the mic because I was just standing next to Riley and she was like, "Get away from me," but I was like, "You have to do it in the microphone." 

Keough: [Laughs] That was funny.

SEE ALSO: The insane workouts Alison Brie did to get in shape for her new show

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When I first tried an "ultra-wide" monitor in 2016, I was hooked for both its gaming and productivity applications.

Ultra-wide monitors are a relatively new category of monitors that are, indeed, wider than regular monitor. But on Friday, Samsung introduced the first monitor in the new "super ultra-wide" category, and it's outrageously wide. 

It's called the CHG90, and it has an aspect ratio of 32:9. For comparison, ultra-wide monitors have a 21:9 aspect ratio, and a normal monitor has a 16:9 aspect ratio. 

The CHG90 is part of Samsung's gaming line of monitors that comes with specs and features that gamers can appreciate, like quick response times and AMD's FreeSync 2 technology.

But enough talk of aspect ratios and response times, check out the CHG90 and see just how crazy this thing is for yourself:

SEE ALSO: If you want games to look better than ever before, this super-wide curved screen will do the trick

Behold, the 49-inch CHG90 super ultra-wide gaming monitor from Samsung. Samsung's marketing photo simply doesn't do justice to the CHG90's incredible super ultra-width, so here it is displaying an Excel spreadsheet to help put it into perspective.

Here's a look from a different angle.

It's curved, which helps keep the CHG90's outer edges in your peripheral vision. Without the curve, you'd probably be physically turning your head constantly, which could get uncomfortable after a while.

It has a 178-degree viewing angle.

Jon Hamm says that teaching was his "fallback" career if he didn't make it in Hollywood. But with an Emmy award and multiple film roles on the horizon, Hamm still hasn't ruled out a return to the classroom.

"If it all went sideways, I was like, well, you know, it's the meanest thing, but those who can, do [and] those who can't, teach. It's not true," Hamm told NBC's "Sunday Today" show host Willie Geist in an interview airing on Sunday.

"I think teaching is one of the great professions on the planet and I had the good fortune to do it for a year," Hamm continued. "And I would definitely go back to it, and I might still."

Hamm was a daycare teacher during college for three years. After college, he taught drama for a year at his alma mater, John Burroughs High School in St. Louis, Missouri. One of his students at Burroughs was actress Ellie Kemper. A fun fact, because now Hamm guest-stars frequently on Kemper's Netflix comedy, "Unbelievable Kimmy Schmidt."

Hamm's respect for teachers stems from the void they filled after his mother died when he was 10 years old and his father passed away when he was 20.

"I've had some of the greatest teachers in the world and I owe a huge portion of my existence to them," he said. "I think being a parent and being a teacher are parallel lines in many ways. And obviously, growing up without parents for a certain portion of my life and having sort of 'alternative parents' for a larger portion of my life, I recognize that that's an important thing to provide to a kid. It can be the difference between literally life and death."

Watch Hamm on "Today" below:

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Taylor Swift has finally squashed her long-running beef with Spotify and has made her whole music catalog available on the streaming service, including her latest album "1989."

But if you don't have a premium account on Spotify, there are some annoying restrictions on the way you can listen — on mobile you can only listen on shuffle and with ads.

If you have an Amazon Prime account, however, there's an easy way to listen to ad-free, on-demand Taylor Swift you might not be aware of. 

One of the many benefits of having a Prime account is that you get access to Prime Music, an app that's more or less like Spotify and Apple Music, but has a smaller catalog. This is not to be confused with Amazon Music Unlimited, which is Amazon's full-fledged competitor to the on-demand giants.

So if you are a Prime member, and you want to jam out to ad-free Taylor Swift on your phone, you're in luck. The whole catalog is available on Prime Music (though presumably any new Swift album to come out won't be immediately available there). The only caveat is that the "deluxe" versions of her albums are only on Amazon Music Music Unlimited. But the "standard version" of her whole catalog is there, and you can even download it for offline listening.

And while you're there, it's worth checking out the catalog on Prime Music. My former colleague Jillian D'Onfro wrote a great post in 2015 about why she loved Prime Music. If you don't want to shell out $10 a month for one of the premium services, it can be a useful tool and a nice perk if you're already an Amazon Prime member.

SEE ALSO: I'm obsessed with a music streaming service millions of people probably don't know they can use for free

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It turns out Warner Bros. made a major error while making "Wonder Woman," and the studio will likely pay for it.

Though WB is overjoyed by the box-office success of its latest DC Comics Extended Universe release, according to reports, it didn't sign on the movie's director, Patty Jenkins, for a sequel. Now the studio is under fire from fans who want to see Jenkins return to continue telling the adventures of Diana Prince (played by Gal Gadot), after the movie opened to acclaim and exceeded projections at the box office.

It looks like the studio undershooting how well "Wonder Woman" would perform, along with plans to develop "Justice League Dark" and a Batgirl movie, led to its lack of attention to a "Wonder Woman" sequel.

One sign of the studio's surprise at the overwhelmingly positive reaction to "Wonder Woman" is its decision to move up the review embargo. For most movies, especially blockbusters, studios give critics a date and time when they can go live with reviews. Following early press screenings of the movie, Warner Bros. shifted that date a few days earlier, making it clear it was confident in how the movie would be received.

"Wonder Woman" has a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and had the biggest box-office opening ever for a female director.

Warner Bros. certainly would have had better negotiating footing if it locked down Jenkins prior to the release of "Wonder Woman," but now the leverage is clearly on Jenkins' side as sequel negotiations begin.  

And Jenkins is certainly up for another movie. As she told Business Insider during our Facebook Live interview with her, "I would love to and we’re all definitely excited about it."

Warner Bros. did not immediately reply to Business Insider's request for comment.

Watch our entire interview with Patty Jenkins below:

SEE ALSO: The insane workouts Alison Brie did to get in shape for her new show

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"The Mummy" reboot starring Tom Cruise debuts this weekend as the first installment in Universal's Dark Universe franchise, and it's about as bad as its nauseating trailer, which uses The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" way too many times (five).

Critics agree that the movie isn't a promising start to the many Dark Universe movies that are already in the works. 

It's a messy story packed with messier action, special effects, and exposition. Even veteran action star Tom Cruise can't save it from itself. While most critics are not loving the movie, some say that though it's a misstep, they're actually looking forward to the other movies in the Dark Universe. 

Here's what the critics are saying about "The Mummy":

SEE ALSO: 'The Mummy' has all the Tom Cruise tricks and thrilling action — but it's not enough

It's one of the worst movies Tom Cruise has ever done, if not the worst.

"This may be Tom Cruise's worst starring vehicle ever..." —Forbes

"Obviously the worst movie that Tom Cruise has ever made." —Indiewire

It prioritizes spectacle over story.

"It plays, in fact, like a movie directed by a producer, someone checking items off a to-do list rather than telling a story in a consistent tone." —The Boston Globe

"The movie is a pain in the sarcophagus. I fear that it will anger the gods." —Chicago Tribune

It's missing the excitement that made the Brendan Fraser trilogy fun.

"A messy and muddled product lacking even the carefree spirit of the Brendan Fraser Mummy trilogy." —AP

"Even Dwayne Johnson in the sequel of the 2002 reboot, 'The Scorpion King' is more fun than this." —Screen International

"Unlike the old movies that supposedly inspired it, 'The Mummy' has no atmosphere, no menace, no romance." —Newark Star-Ledger

Science fiction has been around for a long time, and has been around since the earliest days of television with "The Twilight Zone" and the original "Star Trek" series. And it's not going away. In fact, it's only getting more popular.

With network shows like "The X-Files," "Lost," and Netflix's "Stranger Things" tackling the genre over the past few decades, sci-fi shows are reaching a broader audience than ever before. "Orphan Black" has found critical acclaim and premieres its final season June 10.

If you're new to sci-fi or a die-hard fan looking for more, here are the best sci-fi shows according to critics, based on scores from Metacritic, which aggregates reviews of TV shows:

Note: superhero shows based on comic books were left out, along with older shows that don't have Metacritic scores ("The Twlight Zone," the original "Star Trek," the original "Doctor Who").

SEE ALSO: RANKED: The 11 best movies of 2017 so far

19. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987-1994)

Average Metacritic Score: 51

"Re-visiting Star Trek on television holds the same nostalgic, socko appeal that the boffo-box-office movies do. I didn't miss Kirk, Spock and friends." -Miami Herald

18. "Dollhouse," 2009-2010

Average Metacritic Score:57

17. "Quantum Leap" (1989-1993), five seasons

Average Metacritic Score: 61

"A canny and clever series that makes hardware take a back seat to humanity." -USA Today

Starting on June 9, a massive sale goes live on the PlayStation 4 digital storefront. It lasts just one week — the so-called "Days of Play" sale — and features some serious discounts on major games.

How about a copy of "Horizon Zero Dawn" for just under $40?

Indeed, it's no joke. Here's everything in the sale, with some highlights to start you out right.

1. "Battlefield 1"

Price: $29.99 (was $59.99)

2. "Mass Effect: Andromeda"

Price: $29.99 (was $59.99)

3. "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare"

Price: $44.39 (was $59.99)

Warning: Spoilers from the first four seasons of "Orphan Black" ahead.

"Orphan Black" embarks on its fifth and final season on Saturday.

At the center of the show is the building mystery behind a top-secret cloning project and Emmy-winning star Tatiana Maslany's portrayal of more than a dozen clone characters. Additionally, there are at least seven male clones played by Ari Millen.

With all those clones running around, we thought we could help you by creating a guide to the doppelgangers.

The show revolves around Sarah Manning (Maslany), who discovers that she is the result of a secret British cloning operation, Project LEDA. Over the seasons, we found out that the DNA for all the clones or "orphans" — even the males ones, which were part of a splinter program called Project Castor — can be traced to one woman, Kendall Malone (Alison Steadman). 

Here's a who's who for all the clones on "Orphan Black":

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Sarah Manning

"Orphan Black" revolves around Sarah Manning, a troubled Canadian woman who finds that taking on the identity of a woman who looks like her begins to unravel a deep mystery and more lookalikes. What sets Sarah apart from other illegal clones is her ability to have children.

Elizabeth "Beth" Childs

Elizabeth "Beth" Childs commits suicide and Sarah assumes her identity. In trying to piece together why Beth killed herself, Sarah learns more and more about the illegal cloning project.

Katja Obinger

German clone Katja Obinger was secretly working with Beth and had discovered other clones. Unaware that Sarah was impersonating Beth, she tried several times to get in contact with Beth but Sarah was unaware of their connection. Apparently sick and with a theory that someone was trying to kill the clones, she was suddenly shot dead after realizing Sarah was impersonating Beth.

Sarah gets a hold of a briefcase owned by Beth and discovers the identities of other clones inside.

Apple's first original TV show, "Planet of Apps," premiered its first episode this week.

The show is essentially "Shark Tank" for app developers. They pitch their ideas to a roster of celebrity judges with the end goal of raising money from VC firm Lightspeed Ventures.

Reviews of the first episode have been far from flattering, and now the show is in hot water for running a promotion on Friday featuring one of its contestants, Andrew Kemendo, that says he barely sees his kids because of his app development.

"For the ultimate reward, he'll put everything on the line," the official "Planet of the Apps" Twitter account wrote on Friday. The "reward" that's referenced is a potential investment of a few million dollars by Lightspeed Ventures, the first investor in Snapchat.

The founder and CEO of work chat tool Basecamp, Jason Fried, screenshotted the tweet before it was deleted from the "Planet of the Apps" account:

Others joined in criticizing the ad:

We've reached out to Apple for comment to confirm that the ad has been pulled.

SEE ALSO: Apple's first foray into making a TV show is an unintentionally comical train wreck

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There's a new grocery store in New York, but don't try to eat any of the food inside. "8 'Till Late" is an art installation from British artist Lucy Sparrow that sells products you would typically find in an NYC bodega, except everything is made out of felt. It's perfect for Instagramming, and yes, there's even a bodega cat. 

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CNN has cut ties with television host Reza Aslan by canceling his second season of "Believer," following a profane tweet in which he called President Donald Trump a "piece of s--t."

"CNN has decided to not move forward with production on the acquired series Believer with Reza Aslan," read a CNN statement via the entertainment news website Deadline. "We wish Reza and his production team all the best."

A message posted to Aslan's Twitter account on Saturday read, "This piece of s--t is not just an embarrassment to America and a stain on the presidency. He’s an embarrassment to humankind,"

The tweet came shortly after Trump called for a renewed travel ban following a terrorist attack in London.

Aslan later issued an apology, saying that he "lost his cool" and responded in "derogatory fashion."

"I should have used better language to express my shock and frustration at the president’s lack of decorum and sympathy for the victims of London," Aslan's statement read. "I apologize for my choice of words."

Aslan issued a statement on Twitter after CNN's announcement:

"Obviously I am very disappointed in this decision. Believer means a great deal to me and to the countless viewers it's reached. Its message of religious tolerance and exploration is extremely important right now. I am deeply grateful to CNN for giving me the opportunity to launch the show and to amplify my voice on their network. I am especially grateful to the legion of people within the Turner organization who worked so hard to make the show a hit series.

However, in these politically charged times, the tenor of our nation's discourse has become complicated, and I recognize that CNN needs to protect its brand as an unbiased news outlet. Similarly, I need to honor my voice. I am not a journalist. I am a social commentator and scholar. And so I agree with CNN that it is best that we part ways. I look forward to partnering with another platform in the future to continue to spread my message. I wish CNN all the best."

Aslan's show "Believer" premiered in March and showcased various religions and customs throughout the world. The second season of the show was announced in May and was already in production, CNN reported.

CNN also broke away from comedian Kathy Griffin after she posed with a bloody mock head of Trump last month.

SEE ALSO: CNN host calls Trump a 'piece of s---' over response to London attack

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Marvel just showed off the first teaser trailer for "Black Panther" and it looks amazing.

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In January 2016, a few dozen Americans entered and took up defensive positions at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.

The group was armed, comprised of militia group members, and stated an intention to occupy the federally-controlled land until it was turned over to locals. 

In February 2018, a video game featuring militant religious separatists who have taken over a rural Montana county is planned for release. It's the latest volley in the ongoing culture war currently roiling the United States.

This is "Far Cry 5," a new first-person shooter set in a fictional Montana county that's being taken over by a local, heavily-armed militia.

The game is very pretty, but it's also sure to ruffle some easily ruffled feathers.

SEE ALSO: These are the 10 best games on the Nintendo Switch (so far)

"Far Cry 5" takes place in (fictional) Hope County, Montana. It's representative of small town, rural America — lots of outdoor sports and logging, not a lot of museums and malls.

Previous "Far Cry" games brought players to despot-ruled, corruption-laced tropical lands. "Far Cry 5" is the first game in the series set in the US.

The hook with the "Far Cry" series is their massive, open-world environments filled with enemies to kill, animals to hunt, and adventures to be ventured. Think of it like a big sandbox full of very violent toys.

Sam Elliott is known for his deep drawl and a look that seems to be right out of a John Ford Western, thanks in large part to that mustache. It's led to four decades of steady work that has given us memorable supporting performances in movies like “Mask,” “Road House,” “Tombstone,” and “The Big Lebowski.”

But now Elliott finally has the floor to himself with his new movie, “The Hero” (in theaters on Friday). Starring as Lee Hayden, a washed-up movie star of an iconic Western struggling with the grind of the business and mortality, Elliott delivers a tour-de-force performance.

Elliott talked to Business Insider about his own career struggles — including the time he thought he “f---ed” himself out of a career — how he’s finally come to terms with his cowboy typecasting, and what he thinks of working with Bradley Cooper, who is making his directorial debut with a remake of “A Star Is Born.” 

Jason Guerrasio: Did it take some convincing to do this role or were you game from the start?

Sam Elliott: I was game from the beginning. I met [“The Hero” director] Brett Haley on another film a couple years prior. It was a picture that starred Blythe Danner called "I'll See You in My Dreams" and it was really a great experience working with Brett. We traveled a lot doing promotion for that film. We got to know each other fairly well and during the course of that, sitting next to each other on a plane or sitting around having a drink or dinner, we got to like each other and he and his writing partner Marc Basch came up with this idea for “The Hero.” I don't even know if Brett told me he was going to write something for me, but they gave me a presentation and I was in. It was very much close to home in some respects and in other respects not like me at all. I think every actor's dream is somebody writes something specifically for them. I've had people write parts for me over the years but I've never had anybody give me a script that I was on every page that was written with me in mind.

Guerrasio: And you got the plus of working with Nick Offerman again.

Elliott: I love Nick. I think on some level Nick is probably responsible for whatever's going on with my career right now.

Guerrasio: Really?

Elliott: I think probably. I've never asked Nick this but when I went and did "Parks and Rec," it was to play Nick's doppelganger. I can't imagine that those writers and producers didn't got to Nick and say, "Who do you want to play this character, since it's a reflection of you?" And I think Nick was the one who came up with it.

Guerrasio: You guys have such a comfort together on screen —

Elliott: And it's off screen as well.

Guerrasio: I could almost see you two smoking weed and watching old movies on a lazy day like your characters do in the movie.

Elliott: Well, I think you're right.

Guerrasio: You mention that some things about Lee hit close to home. You said once in an interview that in promoting one of your first movies, 1976’s "Lifeguard," "I kind of fucked myself out of a career on that level from being too honest and too opinionated." Is it fair to say you gave Lee that?

Elliott: I think it was there in Lee in some level. Maybe not to the degree that I was speaking of myself. There's a third quotation to that scenario, it's "honest, opinionated, and not very smart." All at the same time. And that's a lethal combination and I'll tell you what it came out of — it was the way Paramount chose to market that film. I'd spent six weeks on set with a guy named Dan Petrie who I have the greatest respect for, he's no longer alive, he directed the film. And we took that whole movie serious, even though it was a fluffy treatment because it was set on a beach. But it was about a guy who was at a point in his life that he had to make up his mind about what he wanted to do: be a lifeguard or get a real job. And when the marketing campaign came out I was on the road for a long time and every time we'd go into a city and start an interview people would start the interview by saying, "This movie is nothing like I expected it to be," based on the marketing, and we would go into this long discussion about the f---ing marketing. [Laughs] It was never positive. So in the end I never worked for Paramount again.

Guerrasio: So you were bitter.

Elliott: I wasn't bitter, it just irked the s--- out of me is the truth of it. It wasn't personal to anybody.

Guerrasio: But did you bring some of that into the Lee character?

Elliott: I suppose so. In that one conversation in the beginning of the movie when his agent calls him in the car about this group that wants to give him a lifetime achievement award and Lee's like, “Great but how about a f---ing job, you got a script for me?" I've had those times. I've had those periods in my career when I was sitting around waiting for a phone call and had an agent who was doing the same thing rather than going out there to shake the bushes looking for a job for me. It's a frustrating game, that's the downside of this business — the rejection.

Guerrasio: It's a helpless feeling because, like you say, you don't know if your agent is doing their job.

Elliott: Right. That's just the reality of it. And I don't know if I f---ed myself out of a career, how you phrased it, but the truth of it is I'm glad it's come now. And I suppose the work I've done over the last couple of years, all of a sudden I'm getting more attention than I've gotten in a long time.

Guerrasio: In my opinion, that’s because everyone can see your work through streaming and it's always showing up on cable.

Elliott: I think you're absolutely right, it's like it never goes away.

Guerrasio: One standout is playing The Stranger in "The Big Lebowski."

Elliott: Yep.

Guerrasio: That will be played until the end of time. And that's one where the Coens didn't just write the part for you — your name was in the script when describing the character.

Elliott: That's right.

Guerrasio: I mean, you can't really say no to the job when your name is in the script.

Elliott: You can't. And how do you say no to the Coen brothers, period? Even when your name isn't in the script.

Guerrasio: And I believe you were on the set of John Milius' movie "Rough Riders" when you got the script.

Elliott: That's right.

Guerrasio: What's crazy about that is Milius was one of the people the Coens modeled The Dude after.

Elliott: Yes he was. It all interconnected on some level. This goes back to "Tombstone." A guy named Jim Jacks, who produced "Tombstone," was a friend of the Coens. He's no longer alive, but Jim told me once while we were sitting at a pool in Tucson, he said, "You know who really loves you is the Coen brothers." And I said, "Yeah, right." And he said, "No, one of these days they are going to write something for you." And I just passed it off. So I'm down there doing "Rough Riders" with Milius and here comes this script and they delivered it up to the set and I couldn't wait to read it. At the time, I felt I was boxed into this Western thing and I felt a Coens script will definitely be a total departure from this Western thing that's got me. And I f---ing open the script and there's that character. He's a drugstore cowboy but he's still a cowboy. But after that I never once had any feeling that I'm boxed in with Westerns. Looking back on the long haul in my career, little films, big films, TV, the Western thing has been really good to me.

Guerrasio: Let me throw this hypothetical at you: If "Road House" and "Tombstone" are on TV at the same time, which one are you going to sit back and watch?

Elliott:“Tombstone.” No doubt.

Guerrasio: Do you have any animosity toward “Road House”?

Elliott: Oh, none. Not at all. If I could sit down and watch all those scenes with Patrick [Swayze] and myself I would watch “Road House.” But “Tombstone” is a different animal.

Guerrasio: Have you shot "A Star is Born" yet?

Elliott: I’m working on it right now. I literally have one more day on it.

Guerrasio: Give me your thoughts of Bradley Cooper as a director.

Elliott: Bradley is more than capable as a director. I think he's a great director. I don't know how he does it. I've gone to set when I'm not working just to watch him in action. He covers it all and boy the pressure is on him and he's delivering this amazing performance in which he's singing and playing the guitar. I mean, that guy is driven. He's super intelligent, has an incredible work ethic. He just wants it to be real, that's what he's striving for, some kind of honesty. And he's pulling it off. And Stefani [Lady Gaga] is equally incredible. She's going to surprise a lot of people with her acting ability. It's an amazing experience to be with them both.

Guerrasio: And I'm assuming you aren't a cowboy in this one so I'm excited to see that.

Elliott: Me too!

SEE ALSO: The 10 biggest box office bombs of 2017 so far

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In late 2014, Taylor Swift stunned the music industry by taking her music off Spotify and other streaming services, and announcing an exclusive deal with Apple Music.

The decision was, in part, motivated by the fact that Spotify users could listen to Swift’s music without a paid subscription, instead opting for the free, ad-supported tier. Apple Music, on the other hand, has no free option and is only available to paying subscribers.

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal a few months before her music was removed from the service, Swift wrote that "Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for."

Nearly three years later, in a breathtaking turn of events, Swift’s oeuvre made a surprise return to Spotify the very same day that pop star Katy Perry released her latest album.

Whether this was a move meant only to spite her bitter rival, or was instead a response to Spotify’s plans to restrict its free tier, the result is the same: It’s a blow to Apple Music.  

Earlier this week we reported that Apple Music is still trailing Spotify by a large margin — 27 million paid subscribers versus 50 million.

This chart shows that subscriber gap to stunning effect:

Think about that for a second: For its entire lifetime, Apple Music has been built into nearly every iPhone on the market and it had exclusive access to arguably the biggest star in pop music besides Beyoncé.  

Now, with Swift’s discography available on Spotify, Google Play and others, Apple is facing an even steeper hill to climb in order to overtake its chief rival. Prospective customers deciding between music services will no longer have Swift’s dulcet tones beckoning them towards Apple’s bosom as a deciding factor.  

It will be interesting to see what happens as the streaming services go head-to-head with even rosters of superstar talent. One thing is for sure: Taylor Swift will win either way.

SEE ALSO: Apple Music is still well behind Spotify, and that may be a problem for the HomePod

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I recently attended a showing of "Wonder Woman" exclusively for women and women-identifying viewers at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn, New York. When the Alamo Drafthouse announced its female-only screenings in May, the theater got backlash from men who were offended about the exclusion, as if they forgot that the 19th Amendment wasn't ratified until 1920, among other things like the wage gap.

While there was a man in attendance who began to ruin the experience for me and those around me, the hurt feelings got lost once the movie started. We were in this together, and we all united over our shared excitement for this amazing female-led and -directed superhero movie that means so much to us for so many reasons.

I could feel the camaraderie throughout the entire film, and have never felt more connected to dozens of strangers before. Not even when I saw "The Fate of the Furious" in 4DX, during which I made memories that will last lifetimes. 

Here's what it was like to watch a women-only screening of "Wonder Woman":

Warning: Mild spoilers for "Wonder Woman" below.

SEE ALSO: Why 'Wonder Woman' matters to women — and is already changing the movies we watch

The Alamo Drafthouse had entirely female staff work the screening.

I didn't see anyone dressed up, but there was a "Nasty Woman" T-shirt, and I saw a woman with a Wonder Woman koozie.

Since this screening was on a weeknight and more than a few days after the film's release, the hype to get dressed up for it wasn't there. 

We had a host who led chants of “I am Wonder Woman!" and "We are Wonder Women!"

The host also asked the audience if we were excited for “Justice League,” which got a faint applause followed by a much louder laugh. 

Lightspeed’s Jeremy Liew has a knack for finding innovative consumer tech before rival venture capitalists — he was the first to discover and invest in Snapchat, after all.

But now Liew is part of a new project to try and get an edge in the VC game: Apple’s new show that debuted this week, “Planet of the Apps.”

You can think of “Planet of the Apps” as a “Shark Tank” for app developers. App makers get help from celebrity mentors like Jessica Alba and Will.i.am, and then pitch Liew and his colleagues, hoping they’ll invest.

The show runs every Tuesday exclusively on Apple Music.

'A ton of reservations'

While a chance to work with Apple on its first big foray into TV — and raise the public profile of Lightspeed Venture Partners at the same time — might seem like a no-brainer, Liew told Business Insider his firm wasn’t immediately sold on the idea.

Lightspeed was the first investor in Jessica Alba’s startup The Honest Company, which sells natural and eco-friendly household products, and it was Alba who first approached Liew about being on the show.

“It wasn't on our list of things to do for 2017,” Liew said. And at first, Liew had a “ton of reservations,” he admitted.

Why?

“What if you make us look terrible,” he said, recounting his questions at the time. “Are we going to be the bad guys?” Lightspeed also had to commit to investing $10 million in various companies over the course of the show. What if they didn't find companies they liked?

But the concept grew on Liew, who realized that it would help him with his investing strategy. Liew, unlike some of his partners, invests in consumer tech. And on the consumer tech side of the business, finding the next big thing is often not about some specific technical expertise, but rather unique insights into consumer behavior, he said. Those types of insights often happen outside of Silicon Valley rather than inside, in places like Chattanooga or Fayetteville, Liew continued. The VC industry in general has always been great at tapping into that talent, and it’s sometimes hard for Liew to find those founders.

“In that context, you can’t know [the up-and-coming founders] already, they have to know you,” he said. “Brand is important.” Liew's hope is that if people have seen him on “Planet of the Apps,” Lightspeed will be on the short list of people they reach out to. It's not necessarily about the founders on the show (though a few will get investments from Lightspeed), but the ones who are watching at.

The critics

The risk, however, is that the show will make Lightspeed look silly. The early reviewers have not been kind to "Planet of the Apps," with Variety slamming the show as a “bland, tepid, barely competent knock-off of ‘Shark Tank.’” My colleague Avery Hartmans called it an "unintentionally comical train wreck." Ouch. (Though she was more favorable to Liew himself.)

But Liew said he’s not sweating the critics. “My future is not going to be in entertainment,” he said. He's a VC. What Liew wants is for viewers to think he’s asking the right questions to the founders. And most of the criticism has centered on the celebrity mentors, not the VCs.

In the end, Liew will take a few punches from critics if it means an increased public profile for Lightspeed. Finding the next Snapchat might depend on it.

SEE ALSO: How Snapchat's first investor — whose stake is now worth $2 billion — found Snapchat when it had less than 100,000 users

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In Hollywood, Alex Kurtzman is known for many things. He helped pen the first two movies of Michael Bay’s “Transformers” franchise, is a producer on the “Star Trek” franchise, and is the executive producer on numerous TV shows like “Scorpion” and “Hawaii Five-O.”

But now he’s taking on his most ambitious venture yet, launching some of the most iconic movie monsters into a franchise. 

It was five years ago when Kurtzman got a call from Universal that they wanted to reboot “The Mummy” franchise, which was a hit for the studio in the late 1990s-early 2000s for its fun adventure stories and likable stars Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.

Kurtzman was into the idea, but he wanted to bring an original feel to the story while also paying homage to not just the Fraser movies, but the original 1932 movie starring Boris Karloff as the monster.

With that, Dark Universe was born: a franchise in which the classic monsters of cinema’s past — Frankenstein, Dracula, The Invisible Man, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Wolf Man — would all be brought back to the screen in a modern setting.

“‘The Mummy’ existing in a larger world of gods and monsters began to emerge as a key idea,” Kurtzman told Business Insider. “And Tom was the first actor we went to.”

Navigating the Tom Cruise machine

That Tom is Tom Cruise, of course. In an era where the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Comics Extended Universe is already up and running, Universal needed a huge start to get Dark Universe off the ground.

Kurtzman has worked with Cruise in a screenwriting capacity since penning “Mission: Impossible III” back in 2006, so he was well aware of the hands-on approach Cruise takes with all his projects. But now, as the director of a Tom Cruise movie, Kurtzman saw first hand what it really entails.

“It's a constant back and forth, a constant partnership,” Kurtzman said. “Breaking down how we approach the filmmaking, everything is a conversation, nothing is taken for granted. He’s extremely thorough, he's extremely knowledgeable, he'll step on set and he'll know exactly what is going on everywhere and that's a tremendous benefit. When you're making a movie this big it's a benefit because there's so much to handle in it and having his basic knowledge was great.”

And Kurtzman said he never felt Cruise would overstep his bounds, in fact, he found that Cruise needed him. “He’s an actor who really likes to be directed,” Kurtzman said. “He likes to take input and try different things and experiment. He’s never not done anything I’ve asked him to do.”

Showcasing broken characters

The notion of Tom Cruise in a reboot of “The Mummy,” that's also the first in a series of monster movies, brought instant buzz when news hit the internet. But Kurtzman also felt the movie needed to work as a stand alone, too.

First, he teamed with screenwriter Jenny Lumet a year into development to change the Mummy character from a male to a female. Then, he used a plot device from the Karloff movie, that the Mummy has the power to control people’s minds, to develop a flawed hero.

“We have over 30 years of knowing Tom Cruise is going to save the day, in order to make the movie unpredictable I loved the idea that suddenly his control over the situation would be taken away from him,” Kurtzman said.

In doing this, the story revolves around Cruise playing a soldier of fortune named Nick Morton who discovers the tomb of an ancient princess (played by Sofia Boutella) and is cursed by her. This leads to Nick struggling to fight off the Mummy’s control while trying to save the world. (The movie also features Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.)

“That got me excited, it felt like it served two purposes in that it honored a key Mummy power but it also made a Tom Cruise movie feel different and interesting,” Kurtzman said.

Where Dark Universe goes from here

Though Kurtzman is dealing with the critical backlash“The Mummy” is receiving, he’s focused on extending the Dark Universe.

“I’m working with the studio to begin to design the world and form a group of really smart writers and directors that I have grown up loving and admiring and use that collective experience to inform where we go from here,” he said.

The next movie set to come out of the franchise is “Bride of Frankenstein,” directed by “Beauty and the Beast” director Bill Condon (Kurtzman is a producer on the film). Also in the works is Johnny Depp as The Invisible Man and Javier Bardem as Frankenstein.

Kurtzman said the biggest challenge with this endeavor is finding a balance. The fans of the old monster characters should get a familiar feel and tone from the movies that brings them back to why they fall in love with them. But the movies should also have an original story that gives it a new and modern feel. That's where the collective of talent being brought on comes in handy.

“My hope is with Dark Universe we will be able to bring in filmmakers like Bill [Condon] who bring their own signature to these films,” said Kurtzman, who added he's open to directing another movie within Dark Universe in the future. “I want the directors to expand and build on the identity of the world.” 

SEE ALSO: Legendary actor Sam Elliott explains how he almost 'f---ed' himself out of a career

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Before Joel Edgerton became a well-known actor with incredible performances in movies like "Warrior," "The Gift" (which he also directed), and last year's Oscar-nominated "Loving," the Australian played a young Uncle Owen in the "Star Wars" prequels "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith."

Though he got very little screen time and even less dialogue, Edgerton is part of the "Star Wars" saga and with Disney/Lucasfilm's endless plan for "Star Wars" sequels and anthology movies, the actor believes he can show up again. 

"I like the idea that Uncle Owen is one of those guys who has done some super cool s--- but has just never bragged about it," Edgerton told Business Insider while promoting his new movie "It Comes at Night" (opening in theaters on Friday). 

The character is best known as the moisture farmer who raised Luke Skywalker after Luke's father, Anakin, turned to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader. As Luke grew up, Owen kept him busy on the farm, though he had aspirations of going off and fighting the Empire.

A standalone movie fans want to see is one on Kenobi, which Ewan McGregor — who played Kenobi in the prequels — has said he wants to do. And Edgerton believes he should be in it, too.

"My idea is that he could go out and have some adventure and then he comes back and slips back into that unassuming moisture farmer role," Edgerton said. "Everyone talks about Obi-Wan being super cool, Owen secretly knows that he was there, and he did some of the cool s---, too."

But if Lucasfilm isn't into an Uncle Owen storyline, Edgerton has already made his case to "Star Wars: Episode IX" director Colin Trevorrow that he's willing to think outside the box.

"I saw Colin yesterday, I was like, 'Dude. "Star Wars." Me.' And he's like, 'You have already been in the "Star Wars" world,' and I was like, 'Yeah, I could be someone else,'" Edgerton said.

"My pitch to all of them is there's definitely some Owen possibilities," Edgerton went on to say, "but also, I was only in the movie for a pinch of time. How about I play someone else? I can do Boba Fett. I'll just never take off the mask."

SEE ALSO: Daniel Craig didn't break character or his weird voice while shooting 'Logan Lucky'

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