Topline:
Actor/comedian Lamorne Morris is best known for his roles in the 2010s sitcom New Girl and the dramatic Fargo TV series, which earned him an Emmy. In Spider-Noir, Morris says he got to borrow from both experiences, and “play in both the levity and the stakes.”
Read on... for his take on Marvel fans and working with Nicolas Cage.
In the new live-action Prime Video series Spider-Noir, based on the Marvel comic Spider-Man Noir, actor and comedian Lamorne Morris plays a reporter named Robbie Robertson who is best friends with Ben Reilly (played by Nicolas Cage), a private investigator grappling with his superhero past.
Morris is best known for his roles as Winston in the 2010s sitcom New Girl (which he currently co-hosts a rewatch podcast about called The Mess Around), and more recently as a North Dakota deputy in FX’s Fargo, which earned him an Emmy.
In Spider-Noir, Morris told LAist host Julia Paskin that he got to borrow from both experiences, and “play in both the levity and the stakes.”
And while the show is set in a version of 1930s New York City, it was filmed in Los Angeles. Morris noted, “ Downtown L.A. looks probably more like 1930s New York than New York does,” and confirmed a fun tidbit — a real-life bar used as a filming location in the series, The Prince in Koreatown, was also regularly featured in New Girl.
Morris stars alongside Nicolas Cage who Spiderman fans will remember as the voice of a version of Spider-Noir in the 2018 animated film Into the Spider-Verse. The Amazon Prime series does blend in some original comic book characters like Joseph “Robbie” Robertson, played by Morris.
Some highlights of their conversation are below, including why the anticipation of comic book fans’ reactions to the show made him more nervous than meeting Nicolas Cage for the first time.
While Morris said he welcomes fan reactions to his work, going back to his New Girl days (“ I love when I read fan feedback [...] I'm one of those actors that can appreciate it”) entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where fans can be “ real precious about their characters,” did intimidate him a bit.
”It being a comic book genre, that's where I feel the pressure because the fans are serious. The fans are like, ‘Hey, don't f--- this up.’ And you're just like, "Okay. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.’ So that pressure is there. We've gotten some pretty cool reviews so far, [but] the ultimate test is what the fans are saying. That's the final boss right there.”
Morris said the advantage of portraying the character of Robbie Robertson was that while there is some information about him in the comic books, and a portrayal of Robertson by the late actor Bill Nunn (who Wilson called “one of the greats”) in the 2000s Spider-Man trilogy of films by director Sam Raimi — there still was some room for Morris to make his own interpretations of the character.
“I got a chance to really make Robbie my own,” Morris said. “Which is all you can ask for.”
In doing some research on real-life Black reporters from that era, Morris’s friend brought up reporter Ted Poston, who was the first Black reporter for The New York Post (and only the third Black reporter to work for a major daily New York City newspaper) and was with the paper for more than three decades, from 1936 to 1972.
After finding out about Poston’s life and work, Morris said, ”uncovering truths and breaking down walls [...] it was one of those things where I said, ‘Man. I know I'm doing research on Robbie Robertson, but I would love to shed more light on Ted Poston just because he meant so much to culture and he meant so much to the profession of journalism.”
Another inspiration was the 1995 film Devil in a Blue Dress, starring Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle, and based on Walter Mosley’s novel set in post-WWII Los Angeles.
When showrunner Oren Uziel encouraged Morris to lean into an “old-timey” texture and tone for the character’s way of speaking, paying homage to “the noir of it all, to the black-and-white of it all” (all of the episodes of the series are available in both color and black-and-white) Morris looked for a character from around that time period who wouldn’t sound “too cartoony” or “over the top.”
So he watched Devil in a Blue Dress and studied Washington and Cheadle’s approaches: “They came at it from two different energies. And I thought if I can watch two master actors make two completely different choices, but they both work brilliantly for the film, then [it was] dealer's choice for myself.”
When it came to working with Nicolas Cage, Morris said he had to work past his own fandom to get to a place where he could work comfortably.
To do that, Morris said, he tried to get his “million” questions out of his system as quickly as possible — like “What’s it like being Nic Cage?” and “What do you eat for lunch?”
When he went on a weekend trip with friends to New Orleans, Morris said he texted Cage, who he’d heard “bought a haunted hotel or something in New Orleans” — a mansion, it turns out — and asked Cage what they should do.
“The messages I got back in return were insane,” Morris said. “He broke down every restaurant, who to talk to when I got there, where to get the best drinks, where to get this, where to get that.”
Beyond being a lesson that meeting your heroes isn’t always a bad idea, Morris said it also served a purpose for the work they were doing.
”What you're doing is you're breaking down those walls so you can remove those nerves,” Morris explained. “When you don't know someone personally and you have to jump right into something where you're best friends, you need to build that chemistry quickly. So for me, that's what it was. It was just being silly, asking him everything.”
Topline:
The U.S. Department of Justice has attempted to use a number of tactics in recent weeks to remove California voters they say are likely noncitizens from state voter rolls. Election experts stressed that there are safeguards in place to ensure voters’ legitimate ballots are counted.
About the case: Election security officials told LAist that the federal government’s case is unlikely to succeed and that voters should proceed filling out their ballots as normal. “I don't think most people in the L.A. area or beyond will actually encounter any of the disruption that the administration is trying to project,” Loyola Marymount law professor Justin Levitt said.
The backstory: Last week, Department of Justice election officials sent a list of 20,000 California voters it says it has “high confidence” are not citizens. L.A. County election officials said they received records on a thumb drive, which they could not open for security reasons. Two days later, the Trump administration sued California for not complying with its request to use the list to remove any noncitizens from local voter rolls. California on Tuesday filed an extensive response to the DOJ lawsuit, saying it “borders on the absurd.”
Casting your vote: Levitt recommended voting as early as possible to give time to check your registration and resolve any issues. If you have concerns, he recommended visiting an early voting center in person.
After you vote: UCLA law professor Rick Hasen encouraged voters to double-check the status of their ballots to ensure they’ve been processed and counted. “We have very good ballot tracking,” Hasen said. “California is not going to simply start throwing out ballots from people who are on an unvetted federal list of supposed noncitizen voters.”
Read on ... for more about the back-and-forth between the federal government and the state.
The U.S. Department of Justice has attempted to use a number of tactics in recent weeks to remove California voters they say are likely noncitizens from state voter rolls — despite the voting process having already begun.
Election security experts told LAist, however, that the federal government’s case is unlikely to succeed, and that voters should proceed filling out their ballots as normal.
“I don't think most people in the L.A. area or beyond will actually encounter any of the disruption that the administration is trying to project,” Loyola Law School professor Justin Levitt said.
Last week, Department of Justice election officials sent a list of 20,000 California voters it says it has “high confidence” are not citizens. (L.A. County election officials said they received records on a thumb drive, which they could not open for security reasons.) Two days later, the Trump administration sued California for not complying with its request to use the list to remove any noncitizens from local voter rolls.
California on Tuesday filed an extensive response to the DOJ lawsuit, saying it “borders on the absurd.”
Separately this week, the DOJ announced it had filed charges against 28 people, accusing them of registering to vote as noncitizens.
DOJ representatives said Monday they are attempting to keep U.S. citizens’ votes from being canceled out by noncitizens.
“We have an election coming up next month,” Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney, said. “Our biggest priority is to safeguard the integrity of the election.”
Essayli suggested he may prosecute election officials who knowingly process ballots “once we’ve informed them who the non-citizens are” and indicated the DOJ is working on “many more cases.”
Regarding the list sent to state and local officials, DOJ officials also said they have “high confidence” — not complete certainty — that the people on the federal government’s list are noncitizens.
“There may be some names on there who it turns out ultimately are citizens,” Trent McCotter, acting deputy attorney general, said Monday. “We're not perfect, and that's why we've asked California to cooperate with us.”
In a court declaration filed today, L.A. County Assistant Registrar Monica Flores said the DOJ’s list is “unreliable.” Analyzing a sample of 200 records, she said a majority are not active voters, and nearly 40% of the records indicate the individual was born in the U.S.
The L.A. County registrar of voters said officials here did not comply with the request to use the federal list and began coordinating with state officials — a point DOJ officials stressed on Monday, with McCotter saying this is “an emergency of their own [California’s] creation.”
Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor who runs the school’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, disagreed.
“The federal government didn't produce its list of voters or its methodology to California until just a few days ago, so this is not an emergency of California's own making,” Hasen said. “It is not the federal government's job to decide who is on voting rolls. That is a job that is given to states.”
A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment for this article beyond pointing to Essayli’s X social media feed.
In large part, Hasen and Levitt said officials will play the same role that they always have, even though more eyes will be on them. County election officials send out ballots, process and verify signatures, and reach out to voters if there are any outstanding issues. The registrar then has 13 days to report on ballots to the state, including provisional ballots and same-day registration ballots, and 30 days to finish counting them.
That said, Hasen said Essayli’s threat of possible criminal prosecution against election officials is “really dangerous” — even though he said these cases are also unlikely to succeed.
“We've got a threat of criminal prosecution against election administrators for not being aggressive enough in policing voting rolls to the Trump administration's liking,” Hasen said. “Even if they were negligent in how they policed their voting rolls, there's no criminal liability here.”
Levitt, who previously worked on voting rights at the Justice Department, said he doesn’t think Trump’s DOJ is serious about the legal merits of their lawsuit against California.
“I can completely understand that people may be freaked out,” he said. “Part of what DOJ is doing is an attempt to freak people out.”
For their part, local officials have reassured voters that they should proceed to cast their ballots. In a statement, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn called the DOJ’s actions “voter intimidation and a blatant attempt to undermine trust in our midterm elections.”
Levitt recommended voting as early as possible to give voters time to check their registration and resolve any issues. If you have concerns, he recommended visiting an early voting center in person.
Hasen encouraged voters to double-check the status of their ballots to ensure they’ve been processed and counted.
“We have very good ballot tracking,” Hasen said. “California is not going to simply start throwing out ballots from people who are on an unvetted federal list of supposed noncitizen voters.”
How do you track your ballot in California? Sign up on the California secretary of state's website.
Got more questions about voting? LAist's Voter Game Plan has you covered.
Hasen and Levitt said the legal problems with the federal government’s arguments can be traced back to federal law and the Constitution.
“The Constitution gives states the power to run elections subject to Congress passing laws that can override that,” Hasen said. “There's no congressional override that would give the federal government the authority to do this.”
That makes the DOJ’s case unlikely to succeed, the professors agreed.
“It's possible that a court might not even really deal with it at all,” Levitt said.
The charges announced this week against 28 people accused of registering or voting as noncitizens, however, may be more successful, depending on the evidence presented in each case.
“Isolated cases of alleged voter fraud occur in red and blue states alike, and they should be prosecuted wherever they occur,” a spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
But Bonta noted that the 28 people charged represent 0.0001% of California’s registered voters. The percentage is about the same in L.A. County: The 12 L.A. County residents charged this week make up roughly 0.0002% of people on the voter rolls.
Topline:
For the rest of the year, Los Angeles residents won't get their water and power shut off if they can’t pay their bills.
The details: Mayor Karen Bass announced Tuesday that she asked the L.A. Department of Water and Power’s board to pause any residential shutoffs for nonpayment through the end of 2026. The request comes after a series of record-breaking heatwaves this summer and fall. A spokesperson for LADWP said the changes will be implemented immediately. The board is expected to formally vote to approve the ask at its next meeting, set for Oct. 27 at 10 a.m., according to a spokesperson for Bass. According to the LADWP spokesperson, customers who need assistance will get extra time to pay their bill by entering into a payment arrangement without any interest or late fees.
Bill breakdown: DWP bills two months at a time, and right now, many customers are being hit with one of their highest bills of the year — from August and September. In those months, 2% of DWP's 1.6 million customers received a bill of over $3,000, the DWP said; 3% were between $2,000 and $3,000; 12% were between $1,000 and $2,000; and 18% were between $500 and $1,000. At least 60% were under $500, the DWP said. LADWP says customers can call 800-DIAL-DWP (342-5397) if they have questions about their bills.
The backstory: As atmospheric pollution drives hotter, longer heat waves, utility bills are soaring too. That's why, in 2023, LADWP's board voted to end power shutoffs for all customers during extreme weather. Under that policy, LADWP will not shut a customer’s water and power off if they are delinquent on their bill when the National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat or cold weather advisory or warning. Outside of such weather advisories, however, customers can still face shutoffs. Under Bass’ request, shutoffs won’t occur through the rest of the year regardless of weather advisories.
Other resources: Bass encouraged customers to sign up for LADWP’s Level Pay program, which allows customers to pay off past-due bills over time or even out the peaks of high-energy-use seasons across a longer term. You can sign up and find other bill assistance programs on the DWP website.
Go deeper: Why is my LADWP bill so high?
Topline:
The Los Angeles Unified School District is preparing for possible “Super El Niño” storms that could damage schools and lead to closures, the district announced in a media release Tuesday.
What's being done: District staff are clearing drains, trimming trees and checking roofs, windows and doors. LAUSD is also testing emergency equipment, including pumps and emergency lighting systems, and stocking supplies such as flashlights and drinking water.
Guidance for families during this year's El Niño season: LAUSD encouraged families to update their contact information to ensure they receive district calls, texts and emails. Families should also monitor weather alerts, follow emergency officials’ instructions, avoid flooded roads and review safe routes to and from school, according to the release.
The Los Angeles Unified School District is preparing for possible “Super El Niño” storms that could damage schools and lead to closures, the district announced in a media release Tuesday.
District staff are clearing drains, trimming trees and checking roofs, windows and doors. LAUSD is also testing emergency equipment, including pumps and emergency lighting systems, and stocking supplies such as flashlights and drinking water.
“Preparing for severe weather starts well before the first raindrop,” Superintendent Andrés Chait said in a statement. “We can’t control the weather, but we can take steps now to protect our students and employees and help our schools stay ready.”
The district will monitor weather patterns using information from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials, it said.
LAUSD encouraged families to update their contact information to ensure they receive district calls, texts and emails. Families should also monitor weather alerts, follow emergency officials’ instructions, avoid flooded roads and review safe routes to and from school, according to the release.
“Preparing for a storm is a shared effort — from the crews maintaining school buildings to the principals reviewing emergency plans and the families making sure they can receive critical updates,” LAUSD said in the release. “By taking these steps before the rain begins, Los Angeles Unified is working to help students and employees stay safe and keep school communities as prepared as possible for the winter ahead.”
EdSource is an independent nonprofit organization that provides analysis on key education issues facing California and the nation. LAist republishes articles from EdSource with permission.
Topline:
Significant rain is in the forecast this week, just days after heat and Santa Ana winds fueled wildfires across Southern California
The rain: The bulk of the rain is expected on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Most of L.A. and Orange counties could get around an inch, with more expected in the hills and mountains. There is also a chance of thunderstorms and hail.
Flood risk: A National Weather Service flood watch is in effect for the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding communities. The area includes burn scars from last week’s Bryson Fire and last year’s Palisades Fire. Wildfire burn scars are susceptible to landslides and flooding during heavy rain.
Cooldown: Forecasters say the storm will bring cool air into southern California. Highs on Wednesday and Thursday will peak in the 60s and low 70s in most places. High elevations will likely be even cooler.
Read on … for more on this week’s forecast.
Southern California is likely in for a solid dose of rain this week, just days after heat and Santa Ana winds helped fuel several wildfires across the region.
Forecasters expect the bulk of the rain to roll into the Los Angeles basin Wednesday night and continue into Thursday morning, with a small chance of thunderstorms and hail.
The San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and coastal areas across L.A. and Orange counties could get around an inch over the next few days. Hills and mountains could get up to 3 inches.
“We could see some pretty high rain rates,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford. “It's a good storm for this time of year — it's a little stronger than what we would see normally.”
The possibility of significant rain in the mountains raises concerns about flooding in areas recently burned in wildfires, particularly around the Bryson Fire burn scar near Malibu, which is only a few days old. Burn scars can’t absorb heavy rainfall and are susceptible to landslides.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding communities from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday. That means heavy rain there could flood streets, creeks and rivers. The flood watch area includes both the Bryson Fire and Palisades Fire burn scars.
This will also be the first nontropical storm of the season, meaning it’s moving into the region from the north. Most storms that hit Southern California follow a similar path, especially during the winter, unlike the tropical storms that formed off the coast of Mexico and brought muggy weather to the region this summer.
Nontropical storms also bring cold air to the region. On Wednesday and Thursday, forecasters expect highs in the 60s and 70s. High elevations will be even cooler.
