Stage Actress Fail
nightintern · 06/18/10 01:30PMThere is a fine, fine line between character and actor. Unfortunately for this actress, she gets a little too into her part and ends up slamming into the floor.
There is a fine, fine line between character and actor. Unfortunately for this actress, she gets a little too into her part and ends up slamming into the floor.
The cameo is one of television's oldest tricks to drum-up interest for a show. But not all cameos are created equal. Inside, a list of the kinds of cameos, why they exist, and just how effective they are.
Is the belief in Jesus Christ the root of bad acting? Well, perhaps not definitively, but this video evidence leans towards yes. Where is all that collection plate money going?
The neverending power-struggle between actors and directors dates back to ancient Rome, when Zeus killed the actor Cyclops in a traveling production of The Odyssey over improper stage blocking... or something. That struggle resonates today, as proven by this video.
Blending accent, appearance and mannerisms, actors transform into different characters like an oversized fleshy chameleon. When they fail at this task—their only task—we reserve the right to mock them. By compiling a video of their ineptitude.
Oh, swoon. Just when we thought we couldn't like him any more, Mad Men star Jon Hamm has to go and do a guest-spot on funniest show ever 30 Rock. As a potential love interest for Liz! So that's pretty great. He ably hosted Saturday Night Live last weekend, so we're confident he'll bring the funny. Is this guy on track to be the next George Clooney or what? He's charming and amiable but stern at times, has rugged good looks, and a relaxed but assured masculinity. He's got it all! Or does he... I mean, he's still living pretty modestly. The first season of Mad Men, given that it's an AMC show, probably didn't pay much and his second season contract most likely didn't give him a huge raise. Last we checked, he was living in Los Feliz and driving a leased Audi. So he's not quite tooling around his own Clooney Manor on Lake Como yet. Nor is Mad Men an enormous success or the Hamm name a household one. Yet. Actually he sort of reminds us of those young lads from Good Will Hunting who stood, some 11 years ago, poised to conquer the world. One went one way, the other another. And that has made all the difference. Mr. Hamm is, yes, about ten years older now than Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were when they broke out, but he's arguably at the same career crossroads. So now does he go the Affleck route and try to make his movie star name in cheesy blockbusters and just become a Big Famous Person? Or does he tread more stealthily, choosing diverse and difficult actor parts with fancy directors, like Damon did with The Talented Mr. Ripley and All The Pretty Horses. We know how all that turned out, so hopefully Hamm will take Damon route and do the art house pictures and become big ticket popcorn star. Just like Mr. Clooney, really, who zipped his way through good schlock (the Ocean's movies) and bad schlock (Batman & Robin) before he could really exercise some muscle and get his own creative pet projects made. Clooney has, really, the perfect acting career—a mixture of dark, substantive work and fun lighter fare—and Damon looks to be following ably in his footsteps. We hope that Hamm can do the same. Right now he's got both an indie and a big blockbustery thing in the can, so... two roads diverge.
New York's Daily Intel has a great little roundup of all the crazies (and not so crazies) who fell into the orbit of Miss Rielle Hunter, the lady who bedded John Edwards and then had a miracle baby with some other guy, mysteriously. They include: Robert Philip McGovern, the "spiritual healer" who arranged the meeting between Edwards and Hunter at the Hilton last month (you know, where the Enquirer photogs were). And Pigeon O'Brien, one of those "friends" of Hunter's who keep contradicting her story to the press. And the guy who keeps sending Hunter $15,000 checks every month. Not because Edwards told him to, mind you! Just because, you know, he feels like it, ok? Get off his back. But leave it to Us Weekly to discover the best and most bizarre Hunter connection yet: Rielle Hunter appeared in the movie Overboard. Fucking Overboard! The insane Kurt Russel/Goldie Hawn movie in which Hawn falls off a boat and then gets amnesia and Kurt Russel pretends she's his wife to teach her a lesson, or something. And Rielle Hunter is in this movie, credited, according to Us, as Lisa Hunter. Someone please find her scene on YouTube? Or something? She is "Grant's Girlfriend."
Several voice actors from the videogame Grand Theft Auto IV have come forward to politely point out that, while Rockstar Games has sold $600 million worth of copies in three months, they have only individually made tens of thousands of dollars. For example, Michael Hollick, the voice of leading GTA criminal Nico Bellic, made about $100,000 over the course of 15 months worth of work, at about $1,050 per day, with no residuals.
Tom Cruise, a grand high witch in some sort of science fiction club, has shepherded his son into a part in a movie. I mean, his son Connor totally auditioned for the role like any son of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman would, and it's just a total coincidence that the movie stars Will Smith, a close friend of Cruise's who may just be joining the after school sci-fi group. Good for the lad. May his career be as rumor and scandal free as his father's. [Showbiz Spy]
This upcoming film called "The Babysitters" is about babysitters, alright—hooker babysitters. One high school girl starts off as a mere child supervisor, but quickly comes to find that she can build more wealth selling her own body. Then all her high school friends are like "Hey, us too!" This movie may have been made before, but probably never outside the pornography industry. It stars Cynthia Nixon, and John Leguizamo as the lecherous husband, which is the role that John Leguizamo was born to play. The trailer [via Videogum], after the jump.
So, Natalie Portman has signed on to play Cathy in a new Wuthering Heights film. Whether or not you think the casting really works (I'm not sure I do, but I hate that book so don't really care), you've got to credit Natalie and her agents for her consistently smart choices. She's bounced between prestige and popcorn, period and modern, crafting a resume with depth and diversity that should be (if it's not already) the envy of her peers. Her direct competition (and S&M friend) Scarlett Johansson is still a bit unproven in the whole "talent" department, so Natalie needn't worry there. And sure Reese Witherspoon (maybe in a slightly older age group) has that Oscar, but her glossy period effort Vanity Fair totally bombed. Gwyneth Paltrow (again, a bit older) went too period and too British (moving to London and whatnot) and is now stuck playing the girl secretary role in Ironman.
Last night on the NBC show "30 Rock," Alec Baldwin reached the apotheosis of his dark and stormy acting career, a career that has had so very many funny moments. (Remember that voicemail he left for his daughter? Hilarious!) Baldwin lost the 2007 Emmy (his sixth nomination!) to Ricky Gervais (foreigners, always taking our jobs!)—but now we're feeling confident that his public rehabilitation is complete.