Maureen Ryan

Chicago

Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair

Critic and Journalist at Freelance

Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair. My book—Burn It Down: Power, Complicity & a Call for Change in Hollywood—is out now from Mariner Books.🔥🐉🌈 💚 She/her

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Articles

Agatha Christie Calling: An Exclusive Look at Anjelica Huston, Matthew Rhys, and Clarke Peters in ‘Towards Zero’

1 month ago | vanityfair.com | Maureen Ryan

The word “adventuress” conveys so much: Scandal, social-climbing, a hint of danger and, yes, adventure. That charged word is bandied about in the high-profile 1936 divorce case in Towards Zero, an Agatha Christie adaptation that premieres on BritBox in the US and Canada on April 16. The alleged adventuress is Kay (Mimi Keene), the new love of well-bred tennis star Nevile Strange (Oliver Jackson-Cohen).
Previously on ‘Severance’: Who the Hell Can Remember?

Jan 17, 2025 | vanityfair.com | Maureen Ryan

It’s a new year, so I suggest — no, command — that every single TV purveyor (especially big streamers) follow this resolution: Before a new season of a scripted show drops, release a meaningful and meaty “what happened in the previous season(s)” clip that is clearly labeled as such. We have much bigger problems right now, of course.
Sending up the Batsignal and asking for help

Sep 25, 2024 | burner-account.ghost.io | Maureen Ryan

Countless times, when people in the entertainment industry needed help, I’ve answered the call. I’ve done things behind the scenes and helped however I could more times than I can count. I’ve listened to folks’ stories and told them they weren’t wrong to feel the way they did after they experienced terrible things.
A Mitford Sisters First Look: ‘Outrageous’ Takes On the 1930s’ Brilliant, Scandalous Siblings

Aug 14, 2024 | vanityfair.com | Maureen Ryan

Can you love someone and hate their politics? That’s the urgent query threaded through Outrageous, a new drama about the aristocratic and rebellious Mitford sisters that arrives in 2025 on BritBox in the US and on U&Drama in the UK.
On Kamala Harris, Barack Obama and a theory. On Sleepy Hollow, moving forward and Not Going Back

Jul 24, 2024 | burner-account.ghost.io | Maureen Ryan

Politics is, to some degree, a game of symbolism. But the phrase “political theater” isn’t an inherently negative one: We all respond to symbols and images that are brilliantly arranged. Under the right conditions, we create real meaning from those building blocks.
Books. Bakes. Battlestar Galactica. (Recent Work and Upcoming Funtimes)

May 22, 2024 | burner-account.ghost.io | Maureen Ryan

Hello! It’s been a while. One big reason is that it’s now gardening season and I spend every spare minute doing dirt-based outdoor therapy in my yard. I'm having a lot of fun with it, while also dodging a massive brood of dazed cicadas, who are truly one of evolution's weirder tangents. (By the way, if you want pics of the garden or clues about other things I'm thinking about, I post images of my beautiful flower babies on my Instagram stories frequently.
Emma Stone Wants You To Call Her “Emily”

Apr 27, 2024 | vanityfair.com | Maureen Ryan

Emma Stone has two Oscars, two Golden Globes, and countless iconic roles. She just wants one more thing: for people to call her by her actual, birth name. Born Emily Jean Stone in 1988, the actor said in 2017 that she was compelled to choose a different moniker as a teen.
13 Undersung TV Gems to Binge Right This Second

Apr 24, 2024 | vanityfair.com | Maureen Ryan

We are sliding down the other side of Peak TV. Six hundred scripted shows were available to American consumers in 2022. That number sank by 14% last year, according to FX. Given the post-strikes slowdown and other cost-cutting pressures faced by Hollywood, the contraction is likely to continue indefinitely. I don’t love that trend for shows whose runs are unfairly cut short, or for industry workers who are battling brutal economic headwinds they didn’t create.
Matthews hires Clesceri as new police chief

Feb 13, 2024 | enquirerjournal.com | Maureen Ryan |Maureen Ryan Town

MATTHEWS, N.C. — The town of Matthews has hired Michael R. "Mike" Clesceri as the the next chief of the Matthews Police Department. Clesceri comes to the role with over 33 years of distinguished service in law enforcement, having most recently served as chief of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office in Woodstock, Ill.
The Unkillable ‘Wynonna Earp’ Will Return for One Last Ride

Feb 8, 2024 | vanityfair.com | Maureen Ryan

No matter how many changes the TV industry goes through, it simply cannot keep down a certain whiskey-loving badass and her crew. Vanity Fair can exclusively reveal that Wynonna Earp, the beloved drama that ended its four-season Syfy run in 2021, will return later this year with a scripted special on Tubi, tentatively titled Wynonna Earp: Vengeance. The 90-minute special was written by the show’s creator and executive producer, Emily Andras.