‘Bum-numbing’ dilemma for new Robin

Brenton Thwaites in “That Sugar Film”

Brenton Thwaites was announced as one of the actors cast in the live-action “Titans” series last week, set to play Dick Grayson, aka Robin and, later, Nightwing.

Not soon after, Google searches were made by devout comic-book readers, intended to check if the “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” actor had the right posterior for the role!

As the young adult hero Nightwing, he’ll be clad in dark spandex, but several comic-book artists over the years have highlighted his, well, assets—some intentionally, others not necessarily. The hero is portrayed in the comics as handsome and hot, hence the subsequent spike in Google searches.

While Thwaites, 28, has yet to post about the casting in social media accounts, fans seem to like the Australian actor, an “unexpected” but still favorable choice. Others declared that they still need to verify if he had the certain body part for it.

Their searches may have landed them on sites highlighting just that—those that have screen caps of his 2015 film, “Son of a Gun,” where he bared that much-discussed derriere.

Mindy Kaling

Mindy ‘schools’ Reese on white privilege

Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Pacific Standard, provides better acting opportunities for her and her colleagues. But, while she’s been progressive and working actively for women empowerment, she admitted in a recent essay for Glamour that she has learned about things that she’s been taking for granted as a white woman.

Witherspoon related that she asked her “A Wrinkle in Time” costar Mindy Kaling, “Don’t you ever get exhausted by always having to create your own roles?” To this, the Indian-American Kaling replied, “Reese, I’ve never had anything that I didn’t create for myself.”

The enlightening response made Witherspoon realize the greater challenges faced by minorities: “I thought, wow, I feel like a jerk for asking that; I used to have parts that just showed up for me. I can’t imagine how hard it is to write your own parts and simultaneously have to change people’s perceptions of what a woman of color is in today’s society.”

The latter will appear as guest in the final season of Kaling’s show, “The Mindy Project,” set to air next week. “A Wrinkle in Time,” which also stars Oprah Winfrey, will be in cinemas in March 2018.—OLIVER PULUMBARIT