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Meet Jack Reynor. He's an American-born, Irish-raised lad of 20 (he'll be 21 later this month, so watch out, pubs) who very soon will be attempting to become the next big thing. You see, he's just been cast as the lead opposite Mark Wahlberg in Michael Bay's Transformers 4, filling the spot once occupied by world's biggest and most beloved movie star, Shia LaBeouf. Haha, OK, so landing a role in Transformers isn't exactly a guaranteed path to super-stardom, but it is a pretty big deal. And this kid is young and handsome, sure, but he's also supposedly pretty talented. Bay said of hiring the relative unknown, "This kid is the real deal." And if anyone knows the real deal, it's... uh... Michael... Bay. Oh, whatever! Just let us have our star-is-born narrative, won't you? Quit poking holes in it. Reynor, according to Bay, "came to America with 30 bucks in his pocket," and Bay first noticed the kid after seeing him in the Irish film What Richard Did. The list of other actors who were close to landing the part is a long one that could partly be called What Richard Wishes He'd Done, and includes names like Hunter Parrish, Luke Grimes, Brenton Thwaites, and Degrassi alum Landon Liboiron. So, congrats, Reynor. You're now top-twink of the action-movie brigade. Use your powers wisely. And beware the early career of Ben Affleck, who starred in a Michael Bay film and only a few years later was flopping around in a silly red jumpsuit. Tread carefully. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Speaking of successful young people who are likely to be doomed later, TLC's Here Comes Honey Boo Boo had a big return to the airwaves on Saturday night, with a Halloween special of the reality show bringing in some 3.1 million viewers. That's the highest-rated episode to date. So, I hope you're happy, ya jerks. Well done. Encouraging all of this rot. Oh, and here's another bit of news coming across our desk: Bravo shows Real Housewives of Atlanta and Shahs of Sunset also had record-breaking nights on Sunday. Some of you had a real magical night in front of the television, didn't you? Flipping around from some poor child get paraded around like a circus ape to a bunch of adults acting like children and throwing made-up money around. Hope you people really enjoyed yourselves while the rest of us watched something respectable. Yeah, we were swooning and drooling all over a horrifically oppressive, racist, and classist socioeconomic system. So there. Some of us just watch better TV, and that's that. [Deadline; Deadline]