Melora Harden is best known for her role as Steve Carrell's hard-nosed boss and sometimes love interest on the NBC comedy "The Office."
But the busy actress, who has worked in showbiz since the age of six, has a lot more going on than her TV job including a role in the big-screen comedy "The Comebacks" which opens in theaters on Friday.
“I play the ultra-supportive wife who gets fed up with her loser coach husband and ultimately has to push him really hard to get him to pay attention,” she told me this week. “I think ‘The Comebacks’ is just one of those hilarious, spoofy comedies.”
Harden just finished directing her first feature film called “You” just last week, a film in which she also has a role. It's really a family affair since the indie picture was written by and stars her husband Gildart Jackson. The plan is to submit the film, which also stars Joely Fisher and Brenda Strong ("Desperate Housewives") to various film festivals next year.
While doing that, Harden will no doubt be doing publicity for the comedy "27 Dresses" which opens in January and stars Katherine Heigl and James Marsden: "I play James Marsden’s boss, the editor of a fashion magazine," she says.
When we chatted, Harden was at the Elle Magazine Women in Hollywood Tribute in Beverly Hills where she was happy to support such honorees as Lauren Bacall, Jennifer Connelly, Diane Lane and Scarlet Johansson.
“Women just need to get behind other women," she says. "That’s when big change happens."

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Good grief. A break-up has got to be tough enough but Ryan Gosling says people he doesn't even know are actually darnright mad at him for the break-up with his "The Notebook" co-star Rachel McAdams: "Women are mad at me," says Gosling, who stars in the new film "Lars and the Real Girl." "A girl came up to me on the street and she almost smacked me. Like, 'How could you? How could you let a girl like that go?' I feel like I want to give people hugs, they seem so sad. Rachel and I should be the ones getting hugs! Instead, we're consoling everybody else."
OK people, get a grip.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

OK all you "High School Musical" fans, apparently Disney is not dumping Vanessa Hudgens from the next movie in the ridiculously successful franchise over those nude pics that found their way onto the Internet. There had been published reports that the studio felt that as long as they had Zach Efron attatched, they could move forward without Hudgens. But, it all seems to be not true...for now.
OK, now I can sleep at night.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Happy Wednesday afternoon...
I'm loving Angelina Jolie's look on the set of her film being directed by Clint Eastwood. And I also love that she is being honored by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for her outstanding performance in the criminally overlooked "A Mighty Heart." I urge you to check out this very fine film on DVD with an Oscar-worthy turn from Jolie...
...Ouch! Barbra Streisand had to get stitches on her leg after a gardening mishap. That is a tough row to hoe, even for a superstar...
...The owner of the dog adoption agency that snatched the puppy from Ellen DeGeneres' hairdresser says she is receiving death threats. Good grief, what she did was lame but death threats. Please, everybody, calm down...
...Lance Bass says he has tried to be Britney Spears' friend, figuring she could use one. But the girl in the purple wig just isn't that into him. Says Bass: "I tried. I tried. She's my neighbor in Beverly Hills. She lives next door. I tried to get in touch with her – I wanted to be that friend to help her. I don't think she's having any of her old friends anymore." ...
...So Kristen Bell is newly single and she says "dating is scary." Well, not as scary as, say, going to the dentist or being shipped out to Iraq, I'm sure...
...How cool is this? Betty White is gonna play herself in a guest spot on an upcoming episide of "Ugly Betty." It's always a treat to see Betty White on any show in my opinion...
...And finally, Lauren Bacall is a woman who speaks her mind, even to autograph seekers. See the TMZ.com video and see the 83-year-old dynamo give someone a verbal smackdown!

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 02:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Good morning!
It's a dog eat dog world I tell you. The pet rescue agency that drove Ellen DeGeneres to tears on national television is digging its paws in and will not be giving back the dog to the family Ellen had placed it with after it couldn't co-exist with her and partner Portia de Rossi's cats. Mutts and Moms owner Marina Batkis said through a spokesman that "she is adamant that she is not going to be bullied around by the Ellen DeGenereses of the world ... They are using their power, position and wealth to try to get what it is they want." The pet adoption owners say they have received death threats over all of this...I don't know about you, but I thought Mark Cuban was a goner on "Dancing With the Stars" this week. Going into last night's results show, he had the lowest score and of the remaining celebs, I gotta figure he's not got much of a fan base. But his grit kept him out of the bottom two and voted off was boxer Floyd Mayweather and his partner Karina Smirnoff. It's a really strong field this year on the hit ABC show...So Jon Voight has gone public over his heartbreak at being estranged from children Angelina Jolie and James Haven, I dunno, talking about it in the media probably doesn't help - especially since the last rift occured after Voight gave a strange interview to Pat O'Brien saying his daughter was unstable and that he was worried for her...

...Meanwhile, Lindsay Lohan went to a dance studio yesterday to prepare for her upcoming movie and, of course, the paparazzi swarmed all over her. How can they keep track of Britney on her coffee runs if they are following Lindsay around and taking pictures of her getting in and getting out of a car?...And finally, there was shreiking from rabid fans when Ricky Martin received his star on the Hoillywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday. The sexy singer told the crowd: “This is an incredible moment. Everything I do, I do with love and passion.”

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