Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow: “I felt if we were going to do a 4, that more than anything we owed the audience a fresh start”

This week’s Entertainment Weekly cover features the Pirates of the Caribbean blockbuster franchise, On Stranger Tides and attempts to return the focus of the film back on to Captain Jack Sparrow.

The film’s star, Johnny Depp explains, “I felt if we were going to do a 4, that more than anything we owed the audience a fresh start, without all the complicated mathematics of 1 colliding with 2 and 2 colliding with 3. I felt like it was important to eliminate as many complications as possible.”

The first three Pirates films have earned $2.6 billion in worldwide box office alone (that figure does not include home video, theme park or merchandising), with Depp earning between $32 million and $35 million.

Depp says he did not see all of the previous Pirates installments. “They had to invent a trilogy out of nowhere,” he says. “It was plot driven and complicated. I remember talking to Verbinski at certain points during production of 2 or 3, and saying: ‘I don’t really know what this means.’ He said, ‘Neither do I, but let’s just shoot it.’ This guy is this guy’s dad, and this guy was in love with this broad. It was like, ‘What?’”

Depp, who famously does not like to watch his own films adds, “I did see the first one. I have not seen the second one or the third one.”

Maybe this time around Depp will make an exception and see On Stranger Tides, which opens in theaters May 20.

To read more, go to: ew.com

Robert Downey Jr. to be Honored for Contributions to the Art of Motion Pictures

At the Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 14^th, Robert Downey Jr. will be presented with the 25^th American Cinematheque award for his considerable contributions to the art of the motion picture. Rick Nicita, American Cinematheque Board Chairman, spoke of Downey’s charisma and prolific success with movies like Chaplin, Tropic Thunder, and the Iron Man franchise. He also mentioned the feeling of potential when it comes to his continuing career. Nicita said, “it seems that he’s just getting started all over again”. I think the excitement for what’s yet to come with Robert Downey Jr. is truly the meaning of this honor.

For me, his performance in Chaplin gave us just a glimpse of his talent, and Tropic Thunder gave us a touch of what could happen if Robert Downey Jr. let it all hang out – and the latter was for a comedy. Lately he’s done some popcorn flicks with little room for true character development, but he’s killed the roles with his natural charisma nonetheless. Slated for another Sherlock Holmes and another chance to show off the Iron Man suit in The Avengers, Downey is sure to be on the box office radar for a few strong years. However, it’s the potential that is scary, like a loaded gun waiting to fire. When will see another Chaplin or Tropic Thunder performance? Please, someone get Robert Downey Jr. a true character again, before he is gobbled up in another franchise.

Terri White, “Follies” at the Kennedy Center

In days of yore, when Broadway shows had real out-of-town tryouts, news would trickle in from Philadelphia, New Haven, or Baltimore about next season’s hit. Today, the news from Washington is most encouraging, and appropriately about a show brimming with nostalgia. Though the Kennedy Center’s new production of Follies can hardly be deemed a tryout (as no Broadway run has yet been announced), it has all the makings of a smash in any town. The cast of Stephen Sondheim‘s cult backstage musical includes Bernadette Peters (Sally Durant Plummer), Elaine Paige (Carlotta Campion), and Linda Lavin (Hattie Walker), who will portray the stars of a long-forgotten revue reunited in their old stomping ground. Among those performers, many of them fresh from Broadway runs, is the indomitable, irresistible Terri White in the role of Stella Deems, a down and out hoofer who now runs a store in Miami.

The character has particular resonance for White, familiar to theater goers from Cy Coleman’s Barnum and the long-running Nunsense, who herself was absent from Broadway for two decades and even homeless for part of that time. Last season saw her reemerge on the big ring radar in the latest revival of Finian’s Rainbow. Like Stella Deems, Terri White is back to strut her stuff.

But White’s interpretation of the character is not just drawn from personal experience; it also has a lot to do with history. White recalls the TOBA (Theater Owners Booking Association) circuit, which specialized in African-American vaudeville acts. Performers offered an alternate meaning for the  acronym: Tough On Black Asses.

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Peter O’Toole Honored: What Took So Long?

Recently during the TCM Film Festival in Hollywood, the great Peter O’Toole was immortalized with his hand and foot prints in his own cement block in front of the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. I had the chance to see the freshly stamped prints and signature sculpted by the eight-time Oscar nominated actor, and the imprinted block of cement, still drying, represented Peter O’Toole’s lasting style very well. Simple and precise, with just a subtle bit of artistic integrity. But I had to ask, why so late in his career?

Peter O’Toole is most famous for his role in Lawrence of Arabia, which Premiere Magazine rated the #1 ranked performance of all time in 2006. He battled through stomach cancer by putting down the bottle, and returned triumphantly in Stunt Man, which personally I think is one of his best roles. In My Favorite Year, he plays a caricature of himself in a way, but the strength and specificity of the performance is incredible. So it’s a wonder that it took so long for Peter O’Toole to be honored at Grauman’s. Eight nominations and no wins spells bad luck more than it means unwarranted praise. I’m just glad he finally got the chance to officially stamp himself into this historical collection of Hollywood’s greatest stars at the Chinese Theater. Congratulations to Peter O’Toole, one of the most captivating stars of all time.

Chris Rock tweets a picture from his Broadway dressing room

I saw Chris Rock last week in his Broadway debut, The MotherF**ker with the Hat and I was really impressed with his acting. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have the freakin’ amazing Bobby Cannavale by your side for most of the show. If you’re in New York City, I definitely recommend seeing the show!

Rock posted this picture of him getting ready backstage before the show. Check out what he’s written on the mirror: Relax and Energy.

Tribeca Awards Carice Van Houten for “Black Butterflies”

In a daring role portraying the darkly infamous poet Ingrid Jonker from South Africa, Dutch actress Carice Van Houten nailed it in the eyes of the Tribeca Film Festival jury. The jury commented, “There are a million colors in this complicated performance. We award this honor for bravery and fragility, and for showing tremendous range and strength throughout”. There are a lot of words in that comment that many actors hope to hear after diving into a character as rich and dark as Ingrid Jonker, the troubled poet known for her great work, but for many people more well-known for killing herself by drowning in the ocean. In Paula van der Oest’s Black Butterflies, Van Houten found her character with strength worthy of the award for Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film.

Born in the Netherlands, Van Houten had an affinity for American silent comedies that included greats like Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, so it’s a wonder how she ended up in such a dark and dramatic role. She even played a part in a parody of City Lights. She has an extensive background in straight theater and even musicals, no doubt spawned from her early days as a musician playing the clarinet. She is most well-known for her role as Suzy in Suzy Q, a popular a critically acclaimed film directed by Martin Koolhaven, and they’ve continued to collaborate over the past decade. Let’s hope Black Butterflies finds fair distribution so many people have a chance to see Carice Van Houten’s wonderful performance.

Nina Arianda Earns Praise for “Born Yesterday” Role

To hear the New York Post’s Barbara Hoffman tell it, Born Yesterday star Nina Arianda doesn’t just steal the show, she makes off with the theater and the audience, too. The 26-year-old star of the Broadway revival of the classic play, which opened last week, earned rave reviews from the theater critic.

“They come to Broadway’s Born Yesterday for its TV royalty,” writes Hoffman in her review of the production, which also stars According to Jim’s Jim Belushi and House’s Robert Sean Leonard. “They leave buzzing about a ditzy blonde named Billie Dawn.”

Born Yesterday, about a crooked businessman and his trophy mistress and their exploits in Washington, D.C., gets a lot of mileage out of Billie’s vacuousness. Still, the up-and-coming actress who plays her defends the character’s intelligence. “I hate when people call Billie stupid. She’s honest and pure and has no malice. Emotionally, she a genius,” Arianda, who appeared alongside Paul Giamatti in this year’s Win Win and has a role in this fall’s Tower Heist, is quoted as saying.

“(Billie’s) a role that can win a girl a Tony…” Hoffman added. “It’ll be Arianda’s to lose.”

The Post’s piece on Arianda is available here.

“SVU” Star Mariska Hargitay Suing Former Agents

It’s probably not a case that her detective character would investigate, but Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay is suing her former agents, claiming they’re attempting to collect SVU commissions even though both sides have parted ways.

According to an April 27 Hollywood Reporter story, Hargitay’s former representatives at William Morris Endeavor (formerly William Morris Agency) are trying to get their hands on part of her contract for the eleventh and twelfth seasons, which she signed after leaving the agency.

“WME bases its claims on the long-expired WMA Agreement — to which it was not a party, and which was never assigned to it — and a purported implied or oral contract which it contends arose between WMA and Ms. Hargitay,” the actress’ lawsuit reads.

Hargitay, who reportedly pads her checking account with $400,000 per episode, was a WME client from 2002 until 2009, when she left due to current agent Edwin Moore’s decision to move to rival Paradigm Talent Agency.

The Reporter’s, er, report is available here.

FBI Raids SAG Member’s Home for Alleged Uploads

Last week, the FBI raided the home of Screen Actor’s Guild member Wes Desoto.  He is believed to be the culprit responsible for uploading several Hollywood titles to the file sharing site, The Pirate Bay.  “The King’s Speech,” “Black Swan,” “127 Hours” and “The Fighter” were just several of the films believed to be uploaded to the site in January.

FBI agents were tipped that it was a member of SAG due to the film’s high quality, and the ‘watermarks’ that appear on the films.  In February, investigators took aim at Pirate Bay member mf34inc; whom they believe is affiliated with an online group called TiMPE.  They discovered the user had posted the following, to other members on the site: ‘SAG now sends out iTunes download codes for screens,’ before adding, ‘I’m a SAG member and thought I’d share these.’

According to the affidavit, Deluxe Webwatch (a Paramount Pictures contractor) was monitoring user mf34inc as they began uploading another film “Rabbit Hole.” Here they were able to track the user’s unique I.P. address.  After obtaining a subpoena, they approached Time Warner Cable and got the user’s Los Angeles address.

DeSoto, who recently played a small role in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, said in a telephone interview with WIRED: “I’m nobody in the online file sharing world. This investigation is excessive and a waste of tax dollars.”

So, is he guilty or just preparing for another role?  We’ll just have to wait and see.

via WIRED

Taylor Kitsch: “I really feel like I am where I’m at because no one will outwork me”

“The Bang, Bang Club” is Taylor Kitsch’s most recent film, and it will premier at the Tribeca Film Festival. In it, Kitsch portrays Pulitzer-prize winning photojournalist Kevin Carter, a member of a four man group who documented South Africa’s first  post-Apartheid free election and the violence that followed. Kitsch says he liked the challenge of playing a manic, tortured soul, and all of the highs and lows that came with the part.

“It was very different for me to come into New York even this morning. It’s a lot of retrospect in the sense of just what you went through to get to this spot. It keeps you quite honest. And as an actor if I’m playing Kev, I’m going to do it the way Kev would have. That’s the way I’ve always done my work. I’m not going to get sad thinking of my dead dog. I think just doing your homework and prepping, that’s what kept me honest. It’s like I got this opportunity, that’s where I’m going to put it all in, into just the time and effort. I really feel like I am where I’m at because no one will outwork me. I will do absolutely anything to get where I need to be. It’s a rare quality now.”

Kevin Carter was not an easy role for Kitsch to simply shed at the end of filming. “By taking time, not just the next day being like what movie is that? Letting go the right way rather than just trying to force something. This one was very hard for me. I still get worked up, it’s quite crazy. It just means so much to me. I think it will always be close to me. You talk to these guys like Greg, you don’t understand, it’s still with me. If you are conscious with it, you are ok,” he says.

via wsj.com

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