Recently in Actors/Actresses Category
Sara Ramirez was on "The View" this morning and looked absolutely gorgeous. She wrapped up the fourth season of "Grey's Anatomy" last weekened then flew to New York to announce the Tony Award nominations yesterday. She, of course, is a Tony winner herself for "Spamalot" and the threater-loving women of "The View" started heaping compliments her way the minute she sat down:
Whoopi Goldberg: "Your voice. You are brilliantly funny and fabulously talented."
Joy Behar :You basically stopped that show ("Spamalot").
Sara recalled what it was like the moment she won her Tony: It felt amazing. I had my mother and my best friend next to me and I was not prepared to walk up there in that dress! (pictured, right) James Earl Jones is saying my name and he's saying it right! (It's pronounced Sada)
OK, didn't mean to bury the lede: Sara also talked about the possibility that her character of Callie Flores on "Grey's Anatomy" might enter into a lesbian relationship with
Brooke Smith's surgeon character. Callie has taken up with Dr. McSteamy (Eric Dane) and a clip shown on "The View" shows Callie teasingly saying to him: "We're lovers didn't uou know?... Look me in the eye and tell me you're not thinking about a threesome.You're not thinking of her and me and you and a video camera."
Ha! I love it!
Sara said Wednesday of the lesbian possibility: "It's so interesting because nothing has really happened yet there is a lot of buzz and speculation and perhaps some assumptions ... It's a revolutionary show with universal truths about relationships. If (creator and head writer) Chandra Rhimes decdes she wants to expand that further and expand our homophobic horizons, I think it's great."
So do we!
For those of us who have been big fans of Jean Smart since she was on "Designing Women," it's been absolutely fantastic to have her back on TV each week in a situation comedy.
Her role as Regina, Christina Applegate's mom on ABC's "Samantha Who?" is a riot and light years away from her most famous role as the sweet Charlene on "Women."
"When I read the pilot, I thought it was so, so funny," Jean said a few days ago. "Here's a woman who videotapes her daughter coming out of coma so she can go on 'Extreme Makeover.'"
The series has its season finale Monday night and will return in the fall for its second season. It revolves around Samantha (Applegate) who suffers from amnesia after an accident and doesn't remember that she and her mother are estranged.
"She's been given this second chance with her daughter, any parent's dream," Jean said of Regina. "She's not handling it very well. She's a little clumsy when it comes to mothering. She thinks she's doing the right thing but often, she's not at all. She refuses to do any self analysis. If anything's wrong, it's someone else's fault. It's funny to play someone who's not introspective when she's up against a daughter who is constantly picking apart every moment."
Jean is such a hoot on "Samantha" but her television resume is filled with many indelible characters. I asked about some of my favorites:
Charlene Frasier ("Designing Women") "I love that character, she took everything and everyone at face value. She saw the good in everyone. It was a great time and it was a special time in my life. I met my husband on the show and had my son on the show. And I worked with these great women."
Lana Gardner ("Frasier"), a recurring role that won Jean two Emmy Awards: "It was such a funny character. At the time, I had my nose in the air about guest spots. My agent said, 'I think you should read this. I read it and it was hilarious. It appealed to my sense of humor and I thought the show was brilliant and everyone on it was amazing. The first table read, we are all laughing so hard we could barely get through it. She was this perfectly lovely woman with an anger management problem. The audience knew Kelsey (Grammer) so well, that every time she did something crass - like putting a cigarette out in a glass of wine - they knew how Frasier was going to react."
First Lady Martha Logan ("24"): "She had the best written introduction. ... It was this woman in an expensive beaded silk suit and jewelry who dunks her head in the sink. It said everything: no impulse control. You never knew what to expect. She was volatile and had an odd sense of humor."
Martha was married to U.S. Pres. Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) and Jean earned two Emmy nods for the role: "I never expected to go on past that fifth (season) but the characters turned out to be so popular that they felt they had to bring us back long enough for me to stab him in the neck with a fruit knife and kill him."
Elinore 'Ellie' Walker ("High Society") "I think CBS, at the time, found it a bit much. A few years later, they kind of thought, 'Oh gee, that might have worked really well. They said we are not doing (the British comedy 'Absolutely Fabulous') which I had never seen. But of course we were doing AbFab! It was great fun. I got to wear fabulous clothes, I got to lust after Mary (McDonnell's) teenaged son and be a pill popping, drunken romance novelist. I felt that if it wasn't over the top, it would be tasteless and not as funny."
Here are some funny scenes from that short-lived but fabulous show:
Sharon Stone stood on a short red carpet outside the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood Saturday night and I was going to get a few minutes to talk to her. What fun! So many questions. What was her motivation in "Casino"? Does she regret doing that sequel to "Basic Instinct"? What was it like working with Russell Crowe in "The Quick and the Dead" or kicking Arnold Schwarzenegger's butt in "Total Recall"?
No dice.
Miss Stone, who turned 50 in March, wanted to talk about real life and her job as global fundraising chairman for The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) -a big reason why was being honored by the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center during its annual Women's Night event.
I wanted to know what getting the center's Special Board of Directors Award meant to the actress, who owns an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award and been nominated for an Oscar.
"It's a proud and privledged moment for me," she said. "You know, it's a hard journey because sometimes you feel like you're really succeeding whebn you know that the grants that you've given to scientists have provided much of the life-extending drugs that are in the market. And then sometimes you feel like you're failing when you know there is not a cure and there is not a vaccine and there are almost 40 million people with AIDS worldwide and that number is growing, not diminishing. So you know that there is a child dying every minute of AIDS, you know that you have to keep it moving and stay with it. So we're doing everything that we can, we are working as hard as we can."
So how did this glamorous movie star and international sex symbol become such a committed AIDS activist?
"When I was asked to step in for Miss Elizabeth Taylor at the Cannes Film Festival one year when she couldn't go and take her position, I did that," she said. "And after that I was asked would I take a three-year position with amfAR and I took that three year position. At the end of those three years, we had not accomplished a cure or a vaccine and now I'm in my 13th year and we are now the global foundation for AIDS research so we have accomplished a great deal and I hope to continue to accomplish even more.
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On risky sexual behavior: "Sometimes I feel very bad because I think young people are incredibly reckless and they have a wrong idea that it's not dangerous when it is more dangerous than ever before. I feel badly that people think that oral sex is not sex and that it's safe when it isn't and when young people think they can have sex without condums and they shouldn't. I think that parents are afraid to have safe sex talks with their children or embarassed and I feel that they really, really should."
Teaching lessons: "I think we need much more sex education, we need much more talk about condum use and STDs and AIDS. I think that people really need to think about it and talk about it so much more and that there is no cure for AIDS, that it's a death sentence and people really, really need to get that."
What she's learned: "I think what's happened to me is that I've really come to understand that it comes down not just to science and medicine, but to peace in the world. We have to really notice that people near to us and the people far to us and realize that we're all the same, we're all families, we're all parents and kids and we have to treat each other with a sense of respect and kindness both and far and realize that whether it's our backyard or backyards in the Middle East, we're just families.
What do Matt Damon, Daniel Craig and Robert Gant have in common? Besides being completely hot that is. All portray dashing spies courting danger in a movie franchise.
Okay, I know you're familiar with Jason Bourne who Damon has played in three "Bourne" movies and with James Bond, the suave spy now being portrayed by Craig. Gant's Jacob Keane is new to the movie game and made his debut in "Kiss Me Deadly" which premiered on the here!TV premium channel this weekend.
Gant is playing a gay spy in the adventure flick which co-stars Shannen Doherty and is the first of a planned series of Jacob Keane movies.
"if you think about (Jason) Bourne or superheroes or (James) Bond, their sexuality is just a given and that's the way it is," said Robert, who is an openly gay actor. "When I first mentioned the notion of a gay spy, people laughed and said it must be a comedy. But no, this is a guy who just happens to be gay, and can kick ass."
So what was it like to work with Shannen Doherty, the former "Charmed" and "Beverly Hills 90210" star who very publicly left both of her popular prime-time shows prematurely.
"I actually had a great time with her," Robert said. "I didn't know going in what to expect. She was great to work with, a diva in the best sense of the word. She's a strong, powerful woman who doesn't let herself get pushed around. That's something that a lot of gay people can relate to."
Here is a preview of the movie:
For years, the 39-year-old Gant was cast as "the boyfriend" on such shows as "Caroline in the City" and "Friends" and had a recurring role on the cult favorite "Popular"as the young high school principal who all the female students were in love with. He had no trouble being convincing in these straight roles then decided to take on the part of a gay college professor in the groundbreaking Showtime series "Queer as Folk."
Early on in the show's five-year run, Gant decided to come out publicly. several years before such young stars as T.R. Knight, Neil Patrick Harris, Lance Bass and Luke MacFarlane followed suit.
"We're starting to cross the frontier in lots of different ways with Neil Patrick Harris' (womanizing) character on 'How I Met Your Mother,' so we're able to go there comedically," Robert said. "We are moving toward it. It's exciting to see Neil play thatkind of a role. I see that as part of the frontier happening.
"I've been crossing many of my own frontiers in my life, now I'm encountering what I believe to be the last real frontier in Hollywood which is what it means of an openly gay leading man type actor playing a romantic straight role."
To that end, Robert has been cast as a straight man involved with a woman in He recently filmed the upcoming Lifetime movie, "Special Delivery," in which he is involved with a woman played by Lisa Edelstein of "House." The role involved an on-screen kiss.
Since straight actors who play gay sometimes have issues with a same-sex kiss, I wondered how Robert dealt with kissing a female.
"It was great," he said. "Personally, I think I'm a pretty damned good kisser and I enjoy it. Lisa asked, 'Have you kissed many women?'I said, 'I certainly have.' She said, 'Do we kiss different than guys?' it was kind of interesting to her. It was two actors kind of going there."
But he's not going to shy from gay parts. Robert is awaiting a final greenlight for a show that's in deep development at MTV's Logo channel, a comedy called "The Gayonic Man" that he would star in also produce.
"I think it's gonna be hilarious and awesome," he said. I think we'll actually be able to get some interesting message stuff across. I'm really grateful for everything that's going on."
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In "Kiss Me Deadly," Robert has a few scenes, including one in his underwear, that reveal a very buff body: "I definitely made sure that I was in good form for the movie, I was prepared for that for sure. That is part and parcel with who this guy is. I was ready for it! I didn't know what kind of stuiff they were gonna do. I was prepared what might need to be done actionwise. I look forward to even more with the films going
forward when he has really become that spy."
The "Queer as Folk" cast appeared on "Larry King Live" and were asked in the pre-interview who was straight and who was not. Robert said it wasn't the forum where he wanted to talk about that and King presumed he was one of the straight actors.
"My plan was to come out but to come out on my terms," Robert said. "I really struggled with that particular interview. I had watched Larry King and knew going in that if i were to go there on this show, I would have no opportunity to talk about it and I had waited my whole life to. what I was going to do was write my own article and that's what we had pitched to The Advocate. I'm so grateful that I gave myself that opportunity rather than feeling thrust into a moment."
On the "Queer as Folk" relationship between Robert's character of Ben and Michael, played by Hal Sparks. The couple got married in Canada in one episode: "I think that it will always exist as one of the pivotal relationships in our long journey of having
ourselves portrayed through entertainment and media and television and film. I think Michael and Ben, like, the show in general, cut a new swath into the fabric that hadn't been cut before and definitely bridged new territory. It was the first time an HIV-positive
man was living such a full, strong, healthy life - sexually and otherwise, which is important and a reality."
It's pretty shameless for me to be posting this picture of me with Academy Award winner Javier Barden who I met at the Oscar nominees luncheon back in February. But I can be shameless at times, as we know.
But here's the real news and it really is disappointing: Javier has dropped out of the big-screen version of the musical "Nine" being directed by the gifted Rob Marshall ("Chicago"). He had the lead role of Guido Continim, a film director who experiences personal and creative crisis trying to balance all the women in his life.
Bardem, who won his Oscar for his scary performance in "No Country for Old Men," cited exhaustion not only from film work but also from a hectic awards-season schedule. Variety reports that the actor says he might need as much as a year off to recharge. He had previously dropped out of the Francis Ford Coppola-directed "Tetro." But he does have a film already wrapped: the Woody Allen-directed Vicky Christina Barcelona, which will debut at the Cannes Film Festival.
Get some rest Javier!
Billy Baldwin and I were just about to do an interview on the red carpet before the GLAAD Media Awards over the weekend but first he had to answer a very serious question from someone working for one of those In Touch/Us Magazine/Star rags. "What do you think of the Star Jones divorce?" Good sport Billy gave the silly question a go: "I don't know anything about it, i saw it in a headline. I know it was pretty quick, she wasn't married very long? That's too bad. I just had my 17th anniversary so I'm very excited about that."
Billy, of course, is married to singer Chynna Phillips who has been low-profile professionally in recent years as the couple are raising ther xx children. Billy, on the other hand, is more high-profile than ever with a juicy role on ABC's new hit drama "Dirty Sexy Money" as well as two new movies in release.
"I did "A Plumm Summer" and I was in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," just a little cameo but I'm great in it," he jokes.
I mention what a breakthrough his "Dirty Sexy Money" storyline is since Billy's state attorney general character is carrying on an extra-marital affair with a transgender woman who is portrayed by Candis Cane, a real transgender actress.
"It's been great, it's been a lot of fun," Billy said. "It comes very easily. i don't know what that means but it just comes very easily and very naturally. They write the scripts, we have the scenes, we play the scenes, we have this incredible affection for one another and sensitivity in our relationship and it just comes very easily for both of us. I think it's great. I love it."
Billy, who became a movie star at a young age in such films as "Backdraft," "Flatliners," and "Three of Hearts," had been looking for a regular TV gig for awhile: "I took a shot at a couple of pilots before and this was the first one that got an order and now we're off to the races. If we do what we did last season, it looks like we're going to be around for awhile so I'm very excited about that."
We also talked a little bit about Billy's very-public disagreement recently with his conservative Christian brother, actor Stephen Baldwin, about gay rights. I wondered if they usually duked it out this way. "The fights we have in real life are a lot worse than the quotes," Billy said. "We let each other have it all the time, Daniel and Alec and Stephen and I. That's the nature of a raucous, rowdy, Irish-Catholic upbringing. We sat around the dinner table and we talked about a lot fo things and fought about a lot of things."
Billy (pictured above with Stephen and Alec Baldwin in the late 80s) was doing an chatting with "Brothers & Sisters" writer Greg Berlanti while posing for the cover of Out Magazine when he was asked about some of his brother's conservative views which included being against same-sex marriage.
Billy said of his decision to publicly disagree: "I told him earlier, look I love what you're doing with your Christian agenda. So much good has come out of it for you and I'm really proud of you. But when you start mixing it with Christian right politics and the Bush agenda, you start getting into war and you start getting into issues that I find offensive and if you're going to that publicly, just be prepared because if I'm forced to, the gloves are gonna come off. And they did."
Imagine being a young actor just off your first big film and a director meets you with this job offer: you are to play a paralyzed soldier and not let on to anyone know - not even your co-stars or the film's crew - that you can walk in real life.
It happened to Lee Pace, the star of ABC's "Pushing Daisies" who filmed his part in director Tarsem Singh's epic fanstasy "The Fall," four years ago when he was not yet famous. He played a bedridden man in a hospital who befriends a young girl with a broken collar bone and starts telling her a vivid, fantastical story of exotic lands.
"I thought, 'Great! I'll really be acting now, great method stuff," said Lee, who was trained at Julliard. "I had only done one movie before this, he had seen 'Soldier's Girl' and thought I'd be perfect for this one. God knows why."
Lee talked about what a toll the role took on him - far more than playing Ned on "Daisies," a pie maker with the power to bring dead people back to life.
"It was really lonely," he said when we spoke a few days ago. "I could walk around but no one could see me. I couldn't have anyone over. I had to lie to everyone. Everyone thought I was paralyzed. I
wasn't the pie marker (on "Daisies") then so I could get away with it."
The other challenge was acting opposite then six-year-old Cantica Untaru, a Romanian girl who did know a word of English.
"She was cautious and as it went on, she got real close to my character," Lee said. "She would take care of me, draw me little pictures, she would play with my nose and talk in a way that was absolutely private. It's like she had no idea she was being filmed. My job was kind of getting her to talk and be un-self-conscious and improvise with her a lot."
"The Fall "goes into limited release on May 9, marking the first time it can be seen outside the film festival circuit.
"When I had my very first meeting with Tarsem, he said, 'This is the kind of movie that they will teach about in film school.' I thought, 'Yeah, every director says that.' But it really is. He has made a movie that is absolutely incredible and I played a little part in doing that. It's layered and complicated. It's a really, really special movie."
Lee has managed to land a series of parts in quality films and television shows including the recent "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" (above) opposite Amy Adams and Frances McDormand, and in the upcoming "Possession," he gets above-the-title billing for the first time with co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar.
His first film was a stunner based on a true story: In 2003's "Soldier's Girl," Lee played Calpernia Addams, a transgender woman dating Army soldier Barry Winchell (Troy Garity) who was murdered because of his sexuality and his relationship with Addams.
"I didn't come to the audition dressed in drag, I was just wearing a T-shirt and jeans," Lee recalled. "I knew how to connect and mean what I say. I don't know how to play a drag queen."
After he was cast, he told director Frank Pierson and he was having a difficult time finding his way into the drag queen element of the character: "Pierson just said, 'Play the woman and the story will be clear. All I had to do was play the integrity of it, falling in love with someone else, getting away from her past. All I had to do was focus on is falling in love. After that, the make-up people will do their job."
"I'm really proud of that film. When I broke it to my parents that I was playing Calpernia, my mom was like, 'Oh, well, at least you're not playing a killer.' When I got cast in 'Infamous,' I was like, 'Guess what mom.'"
In "Infamous," Lee and Daniel Craig portrayed the two killers Truman Capote wrote about in his book "In Cold Blood" and the movie dramatized his research of the film. The movie had the misfortune of being released a year after a nearly identical film, "Capote," won Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Oscar for his portrayal of the famed writer.
The film was shot before Craig was cast as the new James Bond but things were already in the works for him to become the next 007.
"We shot a sequence in Waco and I did this drive back with him and he was on the phone talking to someone about the Bond thing," Lee remembered. "It was all coming together at that time. He was great to work with, he absolutely transformed himself."
With a string of good movie parts behind him, Lee was not even thinking of doing any television when "Pushing Daisies" creator Bryan Fuller approached him. The two men had worked together in Fuller's previous series, the short-lived "Wonderfalls."
"'Wonderfalls' burned me on the whole TV thing, The network did not support us and the show was shot in Toronto and I was hesitant to get back into it. But too many things were right about this. The material and the script was good and knowing Bryan Fuller, I had real faith in how he would develop it. It's scary signing that kind of contract but I'm really glad I did it. It's been a strong experience all the way around."
"When I first read the script, I was like, 'This is gonna be a hit. I knew that if we made it, it was gonna be a hit, a show that people watched. So, the real debate was, 'Am I comfortable being the lead of a popular TV show. You have a very different life. People get you on TV for free in their homes, you are more approachable when you are in airplanes, people watch me in restaurants. I'm really tall and people think, 'That tall guy looks like the pie maker."
Lee will resume his pie baking when "Daisies" resumes production in June for its second season of episodes. The first season got off to a strong start but was cut short because of the the writers strike and unlike other ABC shows like "Desperate Houewives" and "Grey's Anatomy," was not rushed back into production to make fresh spring episodes.
"It's given us time," he said of the break. "The writers have a chance to look at our season and see what worked and what didn't work. There are some things that could use some tinkering. We're not (a procedural show) like 'CSI' or 'Law & Order,' we have to go by our taste and our instinct with it."
I watched a screener of Robert Gant's new flick "Kiss Me Deadly" in preparation of our interview next week. It was great to see him in a lead role like this as an ex-spy turned photographer who is dragged back into his old life. He is strong and sexy and in just about every scene! Robert dons his best James Bond tux for Instinct's May cover to promote the upcoming spy flick which debuts next week on here! Networks and co-stars Shannen Doherty. "Our movie shows that the gay guy can kick ass," he tells Instinct, "that the gay guy can be the hero."
Here is some video from his cover shoot:
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VIDEO BONUS: I came across this episode of "Nip/Tuck" on which Robert guest stars. It's so bizarre and the woman who plays his horny elderly wife is an absolute hoot!
I launched a Facebook page a few months ago and really enjoy the connection to people - old friends, new friends etc. But the wonderful actress Martha Plimpton, who I loved in "Running on Empty" and "Last Summer in the Hamptons," hates it. She gives the most hilarious quote about the social networking site in the new issue of "The Advocate" which interviewed her for its "Big Gay Following" feature.
Plimpton: "I went to Facebook for literally two days and it nearly ruined my life. MySpace doesn't announce to the entire (expletive) universe every goddamned move I make. MySpace doesn't send e-mails to people without asking my permission. Facebook is horrible. People can write how they know you -- or how they think they know you, which I hate. It's a constant barrage of fucking pointless noise. It made me so stressed out for two days that I honestly felt like, If I don't get off of this thing, I might end up in an institution.
That just cracks me up. It's the most passionate she is during the entire Q&A which she seems sort of bored with until Facebook is brought up. Then she just blows a fuse!
Here is a link to the whole thing. Trust me, this is the best answer she gives.
Some people think your gay card has to be revoked if you're not a fan of "Sex and the City" and of the character of Samantha Jones in particular. Well, I get to keep mine because I love the show and Samantha and Miranda, Charlotte and Carrie as well. In fact, last New Year's Eve when me and my pals couldn't get right into The Abbey and Here lounge I joked to the doorman, "I'm Samantha Jones" in the same way that Kim Cattrall, who plays the powerful PR woman on the show, did in so many episodes enabling her to bypass so many long lines.
Well, it didn't work for me but then I'm not Samantha or Kim. The Advocate features Kim on its cover and has sent me a few excerpts to share with you...Enjoy!
On her "Sex" character: "People book me on jobs and expect Samantha to show up," which can be exasperating. Why me? Cattrall must think. No one expects Kristin Davis to arrive at an event as a relentlessly sunny type-A husband hunter. For some reason, Samantha's personality stubbornly adheres to its vessel, possibly because it represents an ideal, the kind of person we like to imagine there'd be more of, if the world were a different place. It's such a powerful persona that Cattrall refers to Samantha in the third person without even seeming to notice she's doing so. "She has a tremendous fan base," she says of her character, as if talking up a colleague.
On marriage and children: For all her desire to put some distance between herself and Samantha, there are undeniable parallels. "I'm a woman of a certain age who doesn't have kids and never really settled down," she says. When she talks about children, she's refreshingly unapologetic about brooking no quarter for them. "I enjoy kids but not for long periods. I think they're adorable and funny and sweet, and then I have a headache." And she once told a journalist she thinks marriage is antithetical to sexual passion. "My perception is, the times I've been in long-term relationships and not taken care, there's been a price to pay, and we start looking somewhere else because the person next to you in bed is pissed off."
On the tabloids: When the show ended, rumors swirled about an ongoing catfight between Cattrall and the other three women, particularly Sarah Jessica Parker. People wanted to know why she didn't seem friendlier with them. "Do you get along with your colleagues all the time?" she asks me. "If you're spending 18 hours a day [at work], the last thing you want to do is go and have a drink with the people who you just -- you just need to get away."
On the delay of the film: Cattrall was reported to have held up production of the film after the three other actresses signed on, and she reiterates a number of reasons for doing so: Her father was diagnosed with dementia; she couldn't see the script before signing; when she did see the script, she didn't like it. "I didn't think it was that great," she says. "I'm glad we waited four years for a much better story line for all four characters." And of course, the money. Cattrall doesn't dispute that she held out for more, but she says it wasn't out of jealousy over Parker's higher salary, as was widely reported. "I never expected to be paid what Sarah was being paid," she says. "Sarah's a producer. But I felt that the offer was not worthy of what the three of us had contributed, and I spoke up about it. You know, my dad was a big union guy. He felt that the workers should get a part of it."
She insists that reports she was only doing the movie for the money took her words out of context. Still, she's candid about the fact that this is her nest egg, and she's not getting any younger. "I'm a woman in my 50s. I'm not living with some multimillionaire. I'm it. Negotiation is about getting more money, and I think, Would they have a problem with this if I were a man? You look at James Gandolfini. He stood up and said, 'Hey, I'm worth it.' " Her hard line appears to have worked. In March the Post reported that not only had Cattrall gotten a raise, but so had Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, thanks to her bargaining efforts. "Enough said" is all she'll say in response to that. "It's like, 'Oh, don't make any waves. Just be a good girl and take it.' And you know, I'm happy with my deal, ultimately. I feel like I stuck my neck out. I fought. I don't ever want to be on a set where I feel undervalued."
To read more from the article, go to Advocate.com
Brandon Routh's voice sounded a little rough on the phone the other day and he quickly explained why: the actor who plays the Man of Steel in "Superman Returns" had a cold.
I lamely blurted out that he should "drink lots of fluids and stay away from Kryptonite!"
It wasn't the first time he'd heard that in recent days, but gave me a courtesy laugh anyway.
Brandon is excited to be one of the leads in the independent movie "Lie to Me," a romantic drama about a couple navigating the hazards of an open relationship. It opens the Newport Beach Film Festival on Saturday.
"Don't take the kids," he advised. "It's an interesting date movie, maybe even an interesting first date. It puts it all out on the table and raises a lot of interesting subjects for people - things that are really important and what people my age are going through. Mainly, am I ready to commit to one person?"
Brandon, 28, already knew one of his co-stars pretty well since he was engaged to Courtney Ford when they made the film and the couple were married last November.
"She's really amazing," Brandon said of his wife's work in the movie. "We have some really great, fun scenes and it was exciting to be able to work with her and see how amazing she is in this film and to know we can both set aside who we are in our relationship."
"We had a lot of conversations about that topic (of fidelity) with ourselves and the rest of the cast. It's a topic that is very interesting: What is commitment? What is love? Are we afraid of love?"
The couple will be among the cast and crew at the Newport festival on opening night and Brandon is eager to get the crowd's reaction: "I'm proud of the movie. Any time your name is attatched to a movie, it's scary. You don't know how it will turn out. But it's exciting too."
The world of independent movies and getting attention for them on the film festival circuit is obviously worlds apart from headlining a big studio film like "Superman Returns."
"Yeah, it's a little bit different, you don't get all the glitz and glamour - but that's all right. It's a lot of fun to be able to work with people who are passionate about their film. It gives you a lot more chance to really experience the character sometimes without the pressure of all the money."
Before "Superman," Brandon was simply a working actor looking for his big break. Landing the lead in a summer blockbuster that grossed more than $200 million domestically can change your career - and your life - pretty darn quick.
"To some extent, I rolled with it," he said. "I'm pretty calm most of the time by nature. It is certainly a lot of exposure and takes getting used to. What takes the most getting used to is when that goes away a little bit and going back to real life. My life contains both of these scenarios. There's a time to be in the spotlight and out of it. It's balancing those parts of life and now I have the opportunity as well to do some great work and prove to people that I can do many other things."
And what about the next movie in the "Superman" series? Brandon said director Bryan Singer is in the process of meeting with writers. He's eager to return to the character and to work with the director again.
"Bryan was very open to communicating about the character and was very collaborative with me. We talked endlessly about the character and what he's going through. On set, we were on the same playing field. He's a genius and it's exciting to see him work. I think ('Superman Returns') is a beautiful film. I'm really, really proud of it and very excited to continue."
In the new romantic comedy "Kiss the Bride," James O'Shea plays a bisexual guy about to marry the girl of his dreams. But just before the wedding, his best friend and lover from high school - shows up at the wedding after 10 years away. He forces the groom to examine his past and his future..
I talked to the young and talented actor about the movie last week and got the most serious questions out of the way first: Did he knw going in how often he was going to be shirtless in the film?
"There was never a part of the casting process where I had to strip down. I don't know if they just made assumptions," he explaine..
They assumed correctly since he looks pretty terrific in every scene. Still, he wishes he could "go back and work out more before the start of the process."
The love scenes between he and co-star Philipp Karner were very intimate and he said director C. Jay Cox made it comfortable for the actors on those days of filming - especially a flashback scene that has them as high schoolers playing a game of strip Battleship they called "Battle Strip." You know, your ship sinks, you take something off.
"It was challenging because we had to play 16 year old versions of ourselves and wanted to be true to the sincerity of the moment. I think it went pretty well, It's a tribute to the chemistry we had."
Tori Spelling plays his fiancee in the movie and he describes the former "90210" star as "very professional and nice and down to earth. People might have preconceived ideas but she's really friendly and self-deprecating. She was very easy to work with."
The film has already helped boost O'Shea's career since it enabled him to get an agent who booked him roles on such series as "NCIS" and "Ghost Whisperer."
"I had a better year because of it. Now it's coming out and i'm hoping that it will get some attention."
James and Philipp are very good in their roles and make you believe in the love story. But neither actor will discuss teir sexuality at this point so I couldn't tell you if they are straight or gay: They want to keep us guessing! We already know that tori, pregnant with her first child during filming and currently pregnant with her second, is straight obviously.
"Kiss the Bride" will begin an exclusive LA run on Friday and the Regency Landmark on LaBrea at Melrose.
What a kick it was talking to Rosie Perez Friday morning.
Our telephone interview was for a column I'm running next month connected to the DVD release of the film "The Take" but I had to jump the gun with some of the other things we talked about.
I told Rosie that as much as I have enjoyed her performances in such films as "Fearless" (for which she was Oscar nominated) and "Do the Right Thing," I especially love seeing her as a guest on talk shows.
"I love it too!" she said. "I remember the first time I was on with Arsenio Hall and I was so nervous. I was shaking and he just held my hand. The pre-interview went out the window because my mind went blank and I just started talking to him."
And so began her popularity as a guest on the talk show circuit.
"David Letterman is one of my favorites. Every time I go, I still get nervous. But it's electric."
So what does Rosie think makes her such a hit on Letterman and other shows?
"I feel that maybe it's because I'm Latin I feel like l'm holding court in my living room with my family, telling jokes and having a ball," she said. "I forget about plugging stuff. You just gotta have fun. I love to entertain."
I also wanted to know how her Broadway experience was last fall when she starred in "The Ritz" in the role Rita Moreno played in the 1970s film version.
"It was exhilarating," she said, "and the hardest thing I ever did. I thought I was gonna die. I dropped 10 pounds - it made me look fabulous by the way! Doing farce is very challenging."
She remembers going home after rehearsal one day and the Marx Bros. movie "Duck Soup" was on.
"I love the Marx Bros. and I just burst into tears wondering, 'How did they do it? The timing was impeccable."
But she was able to pull herself together and triumph during her Broadway run.
I reminded Rosie about a very funny story she had told about an expletive-filled phone message she had gotten from Rita Moreno when she took the role in "The Ritz" that ended with the remark, 'And change your f***** phone message!"
She said that, ironically, she is planning to see Moreno perform in New York this week: "I was talking to her husband, Lenny, and this is the first time since the phone call, to tell him I would be there Saturday night. And (Rita's) in the background saying, 'Who's that?' 'Oh, hi Rosie!'"
I can't post my interview with Brad Rowe about his flick "Shelter" until Sunday because it is tied to publication of my newspaper column. But I figured I'd share with you some of what he told me about being in his breakthrough film "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss" with Sean Hays a decade ago.
Plus, by highlighting this material early, it gives me a great excuse to run a buncha pictures from the movie!
Comparing the gay roles in "Shelter" and "Billy's," Brad says: "In "Billy," I was the pursued and now I as in the role of the comfortable out-of-the-closet guy pursuing the young cute guy,. it was a reversal of roes creatively."
Comparing the drama "Shelter" to the comedy in "Billy's" "The difference is, in sort of the colorful, comical farce that 'Billy's' was. You have a detatchment to the emotional side of it. Sean is trying to find love but there's a funny side to it. On this, even though there were some light moments, it's a much more dramatic piece."
On working on and promoting a gay indie film again: "It was totally easy and totally fun and I think that does translate onto the screen. With 'Billy's," I had the chance to be around some of the alternative press and promote a film like this and be in a situation that ("Shelter" co-star) Trevor Wright (w/Rowe, right) had never been in. I had a sort of mentoring role for him, almost a built-in relaitonship . My character helping him come out of the closet and in a real way, helping him in the process of doing his first gay-themed film."
I have found Alec Baldwin to be a little scary in recent years what with the screaming at his kid on the phone and all. But I feel better about him after reading a terrific Q&A with Brandon Voss that is due to come out in the March 25 issue of The Advocate. Here are some excerpts:
Q: When I interviewed your brother William for The Advocate on his Dirty Sexy Money role, I asked him who’d get the hottest guys if the Baldwin brothers were gay. He replied, “Me, because I’ve always gotten the hottest chicks.” How do you respond?
A. Well, you know, Billy’s been in L.A. and out in the sun too long, so we have to allow that he’s lost touch with reality. Billy certainly has his following now from his show, but I’ve had my gay following for a long time. Billy didn’t have a book written about him.
Q. How might your Catholic family in Massapequa, Long Island, have reacted if a Baldwin brother actually had come out?
\A. I really don’t know, because I remember when I grew up -- and this is on a serious, sad note here -- there was only one guy in my town that I knew of who was gay, and no one even really knew what that was. I don’t even remember that even being discussed when I was a kid. Then we found out this kid who had killed himself was gay, and he was my friend in high school. He was a lovely guy.
That, for me, was the beginning of understanding what life was like for people who lived a gay life, but it really became clear when I got into show business. I did a soap [The Doctors, 1980–82], and David O’Brien, who played my father, was gay. David was my dear, dear, dear friend, and I was going with him and his friends to Ambrosia and Rounds and the Mayfair over on First Avenue—I lived at 58th and First, so this was like upscale-gay central. I mean, this was no Boots and Saddle, the Anvil, Crisco Disco, or any of that militant, leather gay. These guys were bankers, insurance executives—this was rich gay. Men who were gay like ’50s gay -- they kept it quiet, they went to private clubs, and when they went out in the street they didn’t want anybody to know their private lives at all. I was hanging out with these guys, having dinner with them a couple of nights a week, and it was just the most amazing experience I’d ever had in my life.
Q. Were they respectful of your being straight?
A. Oh, yeah, they loved it. These guys either had long-term partners, or it was about hustlers for them.
Q. Who’s your closest gay friend now?
A. Probably Scott Ellis, [the associate artistic director] of the Roundabout that I did [Entertaining Mr.] Sloane with, and his boyfriend, Jeff Mahshie, who’s a clothing designer. But I have so many friends that are gay. If you’re in this business, it seems like half of them are -- maybe more.
Q. You did finally play gay in Roundabout Theatre’s 2006 off-Broadway revival of Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr. Sloane.
A. In 1981 they did a production of it at the Cherry Lane with Maxwell Caulfield and Joe Maher, who was gay, and it was like the gayest audience I’d ever seen in my life -- to see Max Caulfield take his clothes off. So when I did that play I kind of hoped more people from the gay community would’ve come, because Orton wrote gay characters in a really clever, interesting way. But when we did it, I don’t remember that there was like a big onslaught of gay ticket holders. It was more like blue-haired subscribers to the Roundabout.
Q. In 2003 you were quoted by New York magazine’s Intelligencer as saying, “Basically, I’m gay, except for the sex-with-men part.” What did you mean by that?
A. To me, guys who are excessively masculine are like Hulk Hogan or guys who play in the NFL—where it has to do with some sort of application of physical force in the work they do. Other than that, all of that seems like a blur to me now. If I had the discipline and the will, I could see myself having played professional football or being an interior designer. I’m someone who likes to decorate a room and go to a boxing match. I really don’t give a shit. People don’t see lines drawn on the floor anymore as to how they should live. To me, the only sexual line now is the type of person you sleep with. The only thing about sexuality today that’s overwhelming to me is people who want to have sexual-reassignment surgery. It’s one thing to say “I’m a guy, but I don’t like women,” and another thing to say, “I’m a guy, but I want to be a woman.” I’m like, Wow. The transgendered thing totally blows my mind.
Q. Did you get hit on by men while you were a busboy at Studio 54?
A. To some extent. But by ’79, when I worked there, the people who were most well-known for inhabiting that place were gone. It was not at all what it used to be. But everybody who worked there, it seemed, was gay, and all we did was get high and drink and dance. I’m trying to think… [long pause] I’m trying to think if I’ve ever almost considered having an affair with another guy, but I always come to the same answer: I’m just not attracted to men in that way. I like women, but sometimes I wish I didn’t. [Laughs] Sometimes I think my life would be a lot easier if I didn’t. I’m not made that way in terms of sexuality, but I can definitely see how men fall in love with other men, and there are men that I have loved as much as, if not more than, any woman I’ve ever known.
Q. Are you aware of your brother Stephen’s recent rant against gay marriage on Howard Stern—after starring in Threesome, no less?
A. Well, in the modern political world, people like that -- whether or not I’m related to them -- only help us raise money. They want to ban gay marriage because those people are incapable of having a biological family—that’s their only argument—but what about a man and a woman who are infertile, or a man and a woman who choose not to procreate? You can ban gay marriage, but if you’re going to make it fair, then you have to ban marriage for everybody else who won’t produce children. But they never make it fair, and they just single out groups of people that they hate.
Conchata Farrell probably gets more laughs, per syllable, than any other actress working in television comedy.
As sarcastic housekeeper Berta on CBS’ “Two and a Half Men,” the veteran actress has a way with a zinger that serves as a reality check for the title characters she cleans up after played by Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones.
“Berta is the voice of the audience, she’s the one who goes, ‘Can you believe these silly rich people?’” Conchata told me last week. “I take that seriously as a responsibility.”
It’s a character that wasn’t even supposed to be a part of the show originally.
“When I landed this gig, it was only supposed to be a two-part episode,” Conchata said. “I went in to do two and I made eight and they made me a regular the next year. It just felt like home.”
The actress, a two-time Emmy nominee for “Men,” does wish she had a bit more screen time: “I absolutely love this role but if I had anything to wish for, it would be maybe that I had a little more to do,” she said. “But I always get really good stuff and the show is ‘Two and a Half Men,’ it’s not ‘Berta.’”
“Men” is now in its fifth season and shows no signs of fading. Conchata thinks she knows exactly why: “I think we’re raunchy as hell and I also think we’re very funny. It’s not brain surgery but we are like witty funny, it’s not only the buffoonish stuff. It’s smart funny. I think people go home and if they’ve had a bad day, there’s nothing better that you can do than make them laugh.”
Conchata has played many comedic and dramatic roles over the years - most notably the pizza restaurant owner in “Mystic Pizza” and her Emmy-nominated recurring role in “L.A. Law.”
But “Men” has brought Conchata the television stardom predicted for her more than 30 years ago when she starred in
Her character of April had a distinctively robust laugh that has been long remembered despite the show running less than one season: “Norman loved that laugh and he wrote it in every show.”
For years, people would ask Conchata to do the laugh.
“But I don’t do that anymore,” she said. “I put April away.”
Thank goodness the same can't be said of Berta!
Who didn't fall a little in love with James Mardsen when he was on "Ally McBeal'? It was just one season but I just remember feeling: "I want to see more of this guy!"
And we have. Thankfully. James has gone back and forth from major blockbusters like the "X-Men" franchise and "Superman Returns" to indie flicks - including a few ["Heights" "The 24th Day"] where he played gay parts. I talked to him the other day at The Advocate's anniversary party about his musical role in "Hairspray" and some upcoming projects:
Greg: Was 'Hairspray' a way for us to see you different from any way we've seen you before?
James: "I think so. Do you think so?"
Greg: [nods yes]
James: I'd been looking to do something like that for awhile and was excited when "Chicago" and "Moulin Rouge" re-opened the doors for movie musicals. It's something I've enjoyed doing so I pursued it and, luckily, they wanted me to be a part of the movie. The "X-Men" films and the "Superman" films have been very good for my career and I'm very proud of them. But it's also nice to have people see you in a different light, you know? And that happened times 10 in this movie. [laughs]."
Greg: And you have "Enchanted" coming out too.
James: Yeah, and I'm a puffy-sleeved prince in that movie. Not a very subtle year for me.
Greg: Sounds like a great year.
James: Yeah it is. The only problem with it is, 'How do you keep it going? How do you top it next year?' But you just keep working and hope that people keep coming out to see the movies. I'm proud of what I've been doing so I just gotta keep my eye on that and hopefully people will react the way they did to 'Hairspray.'
Greg: What have you done since "Enchanted"?
James: I did a movie called "27 Dresses" with Katherine Heigl, it's a romantic comedy.
Greg: Wow. You made a movie with the new golden girl.
James: I hope I don't take away that gold! [laughs]
Busy actress Jane Lynch, whose many recent film roles include playing Steve Carell's boss in '40 Year Old Virgin,' was at the party for The Advocate this week and it was the first time I've ever met her. She has been a standout in movies like "Virgin," as Will Ferrell's mom in "Talladega Nights," as a Mary Hart-clone in "For Your Consideration" and in various television roles including a sex surrogate on "Boston Legal" and a recurring role on "The L Word."
She's about as terrific as I thought she'd be and to,d me it was a personal and professional high point for her to be on the cover of The Advocate for the first time earlier this year.
Here is some of conversation:
Greg: Do you feel like you're being discovered now in a bigger way?
Jane: "Best In Show" definitely opened the doors for me and tings kind of blew opened and changed the trajectory of my career. So I'm very grateful to Christopher Guest for that."
Greg: Were you always out?
Jane: No,l was never in or out. I just never made the decision to be in or out. I just stayed doing what I do. But I'm glad to be out and I hope it's an inspiration to other actors that you can be out and still play other characters and still still study humankind and be an observer and play all different kinds of roles."
Greg: Like in 'Boston Legal."
Jane: [laughs] "Yes, likke in 'Boston Legal' where I played a sexual surrogate!"
Could this be more perfect?
The hilarious Alec Mapa, the self-proclaimed "America's Gaysian Sweetheart," has been quietly filming episodes of "Ugly Betty" playing the recurring role of fashion writer Suzuki St. Pierre. He told me this last night at the Advocate party and I was so surprised because I hadn't heard anything about it. Well soon, everyone will know because once they see Alec on the screen, they won't forget him. This gig seems to have stemmed from Alec's screamingly funny routine at this year's GLAAD Awards where he had the audience in tears.
I asked him if that night resulted in everyone wanting a piece of him:"Not only did they want a piece of me, they got a piece of me. I was cast in 'Ugly Betty' because of the GLAAD Awards appearance. I'm just there to give Vanessa Williams a hard time."
But that doesn't mean he won't still be showing up on "Desperate Housewives," a pal of Eva Longoria's character, Gabby: "I'm gonna be veering between 'Desperate' and 'Ugly' all year long - desperate and ugly, I always knew it would end this way."