Daily Actor: Where Actors Go To Promote Themselves!

Brando’s first biography since his death is published

Daily Actor — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:54:06 +0000

Stefan Kanfer, a former Time magazine writer whose Brando biography, “Somebody,” is the first to be published since Brando’s death.

“Brando has gotten larger instead of smaller as people realize what effect he’s had on acting. He’s one of those people who changed their art,” the author says. “There were wonderful actors like Spencer Tracy, who dominated film, but they were protecting themselves in their performances. Brando went out there naked.”

Kanfer says his central thesis is that Brando was mentally ill his whole life. Brando had a “wretched childhood,” pulling his “fall down drunk” mother out of bars as a teenager. He managed to get to New York from rural Illinois after being deemed unfit for the Army and, through his actress sister, Jocelyn, befriend acting teacher Stella Adler, who gave him a “political and aesthetic” education.

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Does winning ‘The Sexiest Man Alive’ Kill Hugh Jackmans chances at a Best Oscar?

Daily Actor — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:27:36 +0000

There’s a theory out there that since Hugh Jackman has won the coveted (it’s coveted…right?) People magazine title of ‘Sexiest Man Alive‘ that this has somehow hurt his chances for getting a nomination for his role in ‘Australia‘.

Apparently its the older male portion of the academy who doesnt like to vote for pretty boys. Sounds like they’re a little jealous?

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Five questions with actor Chazz Palminteri

Daily Actor — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:13:17 +0000

Chazz Palminteri is performing in a revival of his one man show, “The Bronx Tale” and was asked 5 questions. They’re not the questions I’d ask… but they’re still interesting.

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The BIG meeting tomorrow

Daily Actor — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:42:31 +0000

SAG and the AMPTP are going to meet tomorrow…but don’t expect anything to come of it industry experts say.

“I’m not terribly optimistic,” said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer who has represented the Writer’s Guild of America and is not part of the current talks. “The union is probably somewhat wary of moving in the direction of a strike, but I think that’s what they’re going to do.”

When asked about a possible awards show boycott, AMPTP lap-dog Scott Witlin, an entertainment lawyer who has represented television networks in the past, said “an awards show boycott or a strike could divide the union. I think that they would be in very dangerous territory if they tried to take on the Golden Globes. Aside from that they would run a big risk of ripping their union further apart.”

Thanks Scott. Your check from the AMPTP is in the mail.

Producer turns Actor: It’s all who you know

Daily Actor — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:31:59 +0000

Zvi Howard Rosenman, producer of such films as Buffy The Vampire Slayer & Family Man, had never acted before but now he’s acting opposite Sean Penn in the upcoming film, “Milk.”

How did he get the part? He looked like the guy. Oh, and he knew Francine Maisler - the casting director. “When they were trying to cast David Goodstein (founder of The Advocate), Francine said to Gus (Van Sant), ‘We need someone who looks like Howard Rosenman, who talks like him and who has his size.’ I think all Gus said was, ‘Well, can he act?’ Francine called me and asked if I had any experience and I told her that I’d done ‘My Fair Lady’ when I was 14 at a Hebrew student camp.”

“My next words to Francine were, ‘So, who am I up against?’ ” The competition was stiff–Van Sant had already seen the likes of Richard Schiff and Tom Hulce. Rosenman was nervous about having to audition, but he says that his best friend, the Endeavor agent Brian Swardstrom, persuaded him this was too important an opportunity to pass up. “So I did two takes with Francine, she looked at the tape and said, ‘I’m recommending you to Gus.’ And I got the part.”

Someday this will happen to all of us. We just have to be best friends with Francine Maisler.

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Where the hell has Cambell Scott been?

Daily Actor — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:02:42 +0000

Have you seen ‘Rodger Dodger‘? It was fantastic but that was the last movie that he’s been in that was on our radar. Well, he’s doing a one-man show in NYC. Here’s some of the good stuff:

When asked if he though acting was an “exalted profession” he says, “I’m from an acting family and I respect actors and acting; they’re some of my favorite people, there’s no doubt. I think what he means is that I don’t get all serious about it.

“I like to do the hard work but I don’t like to take myself too seriously, and I certainly don’t like to talk about it. To me it’s like great house builders, great athletes, great architects. None of them want to really talk a lot about what they do or how they do it because they don’t know. They just have a good instinct for it, or they found it, or it meant something to them and they just started to do it. It gets confusing when you start making a lot of money or get famous for it—that’s what always fucks it up in our business. To me it’s just like, if you have talent and you’re lucky enough to find where you fit and you work with the right people, it’s not exalted at all. In fact, it’s like building a bridge or something, and that is exalted in a way, but you don’t talk about it that way.

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Nicole Kidman is done?

Daily Actor — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:11:13 +0000

“In terms of my future as an actor and stuff, I don’t know,” she said recently. “I am in a place in my life where … I’ve had some great opportunities and I may just choose to have some more children. I’ve no idea what is in my future but I am very at peace with where I want to be. There are many things I want to do besides act.”

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Sacha Baron Cohen crashes ‘Medium’

Daily Actor — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:58:25 +0000

An unruly extra disrupted a scene for “Medium” involving Patricia Arquette the other day. After he was ejected by security, the truth finally became clear: It was Sacha Baron Cohen in disguise as his Bruno character.

No one is sure how he gained entry to the set, and whether he was secretly filming for the upcoming “Bruno” movie.

Will Smith talks about growing as an actor

Daily Actor — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:45:31 +0000

“I’m just trying to grow as an actor,” he says. “I think that the next ten years of my career are going to be the real sweet spot. I think I found real focus, I think I have more command of my tool. I have something to say. I think that’s very important for art, to actually have a point, to actually have something to say.”

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NBC to shoot shows in London cause it’s cheaper??

Daily Actor — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:02:24 +0000

So, it’s come to this. NBC is going to shoot the new show, “The Philanthropist” in London rather than in Los Angeles because it’s cheaper. They will save $1 million an episode by shooting across the pond as opposed to shooting it in their backyard of LA.

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