True Blood’s Carrie Preston on Broadway, her career and how she got the role of “Arlene”

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Even if you haven’t watched True Blood, you’ve seen Carrie Preston before.

Carrie has the remarkable ability to transform herself – her looks and mannerisms – in each role she does. She’s been in Duplicity and My Best Friends Wedding with Julia Roberts. Doubt, Vicky Christina Barcelona and even an episode of Sex and the City that I totally remem

ber her in. She even played Ben Linus’ (her husband, the great Michael Emerson) mother on an episode of Lost! I could go on but my fingers will get tired from all the typing.

She’s currently filming season 3 of True Blood and she took some time out to talk to me about Broadway, how she prepares for a role and yes, True Blood.

So, you’re from Georgia and you got started doing plays as a kid?
Yeah, I’m one of those, like I like to say I’m a “lifer.”  I’m in it for life.  My brothers also an actor, and we started doing plays in Macon, Georgia community theater when we were pretty young.  My brother, John, his name’s John Preston, he got the first play.  He’s older than me by two years, so I watched him, and I was like, “I want to do what John’s doing.”  And then before we knew it, we were completely ensconced in doing plays growing up.

And then I even started my own street theater company when I was in the 7^th grade with all the neighborhood kids, and I would charge 25 cents.  We would make up skits and sing songs and do it in the front yard.  I mean, that was pretty much… it was very clear that that was what I wanted to do with my life.  I just didn’t know that you could make a living at it.

Was there any one show or one specific moment that you were like, this is it?
I definitely got bitten by the bug, immediately, you know, when I was in the 4^th grade. Just doing the school, the community theater production of some play, it was called, The Lion Who Wouldn’t.  You know how they write those plays for kids and stuff?

The director who was running the community theater, he pulled my mom aside and he said, “Your child’s an actor”, and my mom said, “Oh thank you, she’s having a good time.”  And he said, “No, no, no, no. You’re not hearing me.  Your children are actors.  That’s what they are.”  So he encouraged us at a young age and sort of brought it up to my parents in a way that they had to kind of sit up and listen.  And thankfully my parents were very supportive and never tried to talk us into becoming accountants or anything like that.

Yeah, my mom said that to me more than once.  And I said, mom I can’t even count.
Exactly!  There’s no back up here.  This is it.  This is what we’re doing.

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Screenplay: “Valentine’s Day”

Want the screenplay to Valentine’s Day?

Sure you do!

Click here for the script

Synopsis: Valentine’s Day follows the intertwining storylines of a group of Los Angelinos as they find their way through romance over the course of one Valentine’s Day.

Thanks to mypdfscripts

Julia Roberts roasts Tom Hanks

Julia Robert’s introduced – more like roasted – Tom Hanks at Film Society of Lincoln Center’s tribute to Tom Hanks last night.

Watch it, it’s pretty funny!

Julia Robert and Clive Owen on Charlie Rose Part Deux

Here’s part two of the Charlie Rose interview of the stars of Duplicity.

Julia Roberts and Clive Owen on Charlie Rose

And here is yet another clip from their film, Duplicity.

Clive Owen is handsome. Alright, we get it!

I hate reading articles that constantly refer to the actor or actress the writer is interviewing as “handsome”, “beautiful” or “gorgeous”. We already know they are all that, that’s why they are wildly popular and headlining their own movie!

Anyway, in this article there was 4 references to how attractive Clive Owen is. In a 400 word article. So annoying!

End of the rant.

Clive Owen talks about working on his new film, working with Julia Roberts and the great script he worked with.

The dark and handsome Owen says he was impressed with the script, written in a rat-a-tat style reminiscent of 1940s screwball comedies. The writing, he says, has “great rhythm and wit.”

“It’s the best dialogue I’ve read in years,” says Owen. “I trained in the theater, and the opportunity to say great dialogue on film doesn’t come around as often as you’d like.”

To prepare for “Duplicity,” he watched classic films like “His Girl Friday,” starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. He likens his role to driving a posh car. “You’ve got to just sit in it and not mess it up,” he says in his clear low baritone. “You can’t be too clever with it or try and mess with the rhythm.”

The actor was thrilled when he heard Roberts would co-star as Claire. “Every scene I play with Julia was a great scene,” he says. “There was great joy and excitement about doing it.”

Click here for the article and for how handsome Clive Owen is in case you needed it rammed down your throat.

Clips from "Duplicity"

Here are some clips for Duplicity, the Clive Owens and Julia Roberts film that opens tomorrow (Friday).

They star as a pair of corporate spies (and former lovers) who hook up to pull off the ultimate con job on their boss.

I’m not really feeling this movie. The clips look good but I’m thinking this may be a Netflix rental.

“Whose panties are these?”

“Get the lady some pizza!” featuring Paul Giamatti.

“Can you imagine living like this?”

Clip from "Duplicity" starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen

This film hasn’t been on my radar at all. Although I did see a billboard for it yesterday in Studio City.

An Agent admits he made a mistake

Author Cooper Lawrence writes in his new book, “The Cult of Celebrity,” that Julia Roberts search for an agent wasn’t all flowers and roses.

Agent Robert Attermann of Abrams Artists Agency says she came in for a meeting but his staff proclaimed the future star “too trailer park”and decided not to sign her.

She “came in years ago,” he says,  “and the commercial agent who met with her at the time said, ‘Nah, she’s too trailer park.’”

He goes on to say that “as a matter of fact, when we moved offices, we were going through old rejection files, and in there was Annette Bening, Robin Givens, Julia Roberts and a couple of others.”