Jonathan Frid remembered by Johnny Depp; ‘Catching Fire’ has a director

Jonathan Frid remembered by Johnny Depp; ‘Catching Fire’ has a director

Jonathan Frid, from "Dark Shadows.” (AP/ABC) Johnny Depp has released a statement full of kind words for Jonathan Frid , the actor who played Barnabas Collins on the soap opera “Dark Shadows” and died last Friday. Depp plays the character in Tim Burton’s film adaptation, which hits theaters this May.

“Jonathan Frid was the reason I used to run home from school to watch ‘Dark Shadows,’” Depp said in a statement. “When I had the honor to finally meet him, as he so generously passed the torch of Barnabas to me, he was as elegant and magical as I had always imagined.  My deepest condolences to his family and friends. The world has lost a true original.” (LA Times; EW)

Read a 1968 Washington Post interview with Frid here.

Francis Lawrence has been picked to direct “Catching Fire,” the second film in “The Hunger Games” franchise. His past film credits include “I Am Legend,” “Constantine” and “Water for Elephants.” Lawrence also directed Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” music video, as well as ones for Destiny’s Child and Jennifer Lopez. (Deadline)

Seth Meyers’s animated series, “The Awesomes,” will debut next year on Hulu. (AP)

After extremely influential person Rihanna posted a picture to her Instagram account that some people believe showed her with marijuana, MTV wrote a story about it and tweeted, “Yikes. @Rihanna's marijuana photos from Coachella spark controversy.” Rihanna answered with the tweet, “Yikes... @Rihanna ran out of [expletives] to give.” My reaction to the whole thing? Yikes. (Billboard)

The Post’s Hank Stuever has given “Veep,” starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a glowing review. Read it here.

Omar comin’ ... over to watch “Game of Thrones,” after the jump.

Michael K. Williams â€" who, yes, currently has a spectacular role on “Boardwalk Empire” but he’s always going to be Omar from “The Wire” so deal with it â€" is a big “ Game of Thrones ” fan. (MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!) “I really can’t wait to see what happens when the North and South fight and who’s going to win. ... It just has a lot of things I really, really appreciate. A lot of good writing, a lot of good acting.” (Vulture)

And my favorite headline of the day goes to... “Koala Pees on One Direction’s Liam Payne Harry Styles, Sparking Chlamydia Fears.” (GossipCop)

This slideshow of “The Idris Elba Face” is almost perfect. It just needs some “Luther.” (WarmingGlow)

Anne Hathaway and her short hair look extremely miserable on the set on “Les Miserables.” (Collider)

Speaking of “Game of Thrones,” here’s a joke cut from last night’s “Parks and Rec” where Ben calls Leslie Khaleesi.