TLC's new cake-baking reality show debuts tonight
Move over, Jon and Kate. Following tonight’s episode of their reality show, TLC debuts another entry in the genre, Ultimate Cake Off. If you tune in,
you’ll see our own Carol Clurman (that's Carol in the photo, right) announcing a bonus prize to the winner of the episode’s cake-decorating
challenge. Carol says, "I won’t spoil the surprise here — you can tune in to find out what
it is (10 p.m. ET on TLC). But I will tell you I was sorely disappointed to
fly all the way out to L.A., then drive 45 minutes to the TV studio at 6 a.m.,
spend an hour in hair and makeup (complete with false eyelashes!), only to
discover that I wasn’t going to be able to actually eat any cake. Anyway, I
realized I couldn’t complain, after the show’s incredibly patient, handsome and
talented host, Michael Schulson (with Carol in the photo), told me that each episode was shot in one
grueling, nine-plus hour day and that he hadn’t seen much of his wife and son all
summer. Even more amazing: You should see the cakes the chef-contestants make. Too good to eat, I suppose."
Celebrity Birthdays: Richard Gere, Chris Tucker
Richard Gere, best known for his roles in Pretty Woman and Chicago, turns 60 today. He’s opposite Hilary Swank next in the much-anticipated Amelia Earhart biopic, Amelia, in theaters Oct. 23. Comedian Chris Tucker, the yin to Jackie Chan’s yang in the Rush Hour movies, celebrates his 37th birthday. Debbie Gibson, the 1980s pop princess who predated successors such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, is now 39. And singer Van Morrison, the man behind the massive hit Brown Eyed Girl, turns 64.
Photo by Richard Foreman
August 28, 2009
Henry Thomas on new film 'Red Velvet'
I often am asked "whatever happened to" questions from readers who have fond memories of actors in favorite movies or TV shows. Henry Thomas, who was just 11 when he broke into the big-time with the movie E.T.:The Extra-Terrestrial is one of them and today you'll find him in a new horror movie Red Velvet, available exclusively at Amazon.com (check out a trailer below).
I just got off the phone with Thomas, 37, who has worked steadily since his notable debut, most famously perhaps in Legends of the Fall with Brad Pitt and Gangs of New York with Leonardo DiCaprio. His resume includes a number of horror films but it's more by happenstance than design. "I wouldn't call myself a horror fan," Thomas tells me. "Those fans are very good fans and they deserve the mantel, I don't. I'm more a fan of story and character. I've been attracted to not very good scripts but I've enjoyed the character and that takes precedence."
Because he was a child actor, people presume he has always wanted to act and "I did have a strong desire to be an actor when I was a kid," Thomas says. "It took me some catching up time in my teens and early twenties to find out what that meant. Now I look at it differently. I realize I spent my entire life doing this and I don't really have a special set of skills outside of acting. It's not a question of liking it. It's what I do."
He does it, in part, to support his family, which includes daughters who are 5 and 9 months. As we talk his oldest and her friend can be heard playing and he tells me "they're asking me questions while you are asking me questions." So I left him in their hands.
Photo by Lucky Smith
Who's News previews fall TV stars
My Who's News column this week features seven stars from new and returning fall TV shows. The new network season — you know, the one that runs from September to May — begins in a few weeks so I picked reader favorites and popular shows I thought you would like to read about. You'll find Ted Danson, (left, from HBO's Bored to Death), John Lithgow and Jenna Elfman on the page and you will hear from LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell (they interviewed together),Drea de Matteo and Mekhi Phifer.
Photo courtesy of HBO
Tim Gunn makes it work on our cover
Check out a 'Gamer' clip featuring Gerard Butler
Gerard Butler’s been spending his summer with Jennifer Aniston — rumor is they're even dating — filming the new movie The Bounty in New Jersey and New York, and that’s where our Brian Truitt found him when he talked with Butler for a feature in this weekend’s magazine. Next Friday, Butler, who starred in 300, returns to the action world for Gamer, a movie co-starring John Leguizamo and Michael C. Hall. Butler plays a man trying to stay alive in a futuristic video game. Check out two clips from the movie below (one after the jump), and read more from Brian’s conversation with Butler about Gamer, his favorite action hero, and how he quit smoking.
Photos courtesy of Lionsgate and Overture Films
Birthday Buzz: Jack Black, Shania Twain
Actor and rocker Jack Black celebrates turning the big 4-0 today. The Year One star will next be seen — or at least heard — in the October video game Brutal Legend. . Two country singers share a birthday today: Shania Twain, the best-selling artist behind hits such as You’re Still the One, is 44 and LeAnn Rimes, whose romance with actor Eddie Cibrian is making headlines, turns 27. One of the original Beverly Hills, 90210’s most recognizable faces, Jason Priestley, celebrates his 40th birthday, while figure skating legend and cancer survivor Scott Hamilton turns 51.
Photo by Dan MacMedan/USA Today
