Chandra Wilson, Dana Delany and more
Post SAG Awards outtakes: Grey's Anatomy's Chandra Wilson - who has a new stylish and un-Bailey like bob - told me she's spending her forced down time with her family, doing more of the mom side of "working mom." ...Sally Field was escorted by her youngest son, an NYU student who is interested in sports journalism. ...Tony Shaloub and many others wore WGA buttons on their lapels in support of the writers' strike...Hairspray's Brittany Snow said when she found out she was to play Michelle Pfeiffer's daughter, "I almost died." ...Eric Dane (aka McSteamy) said he and wife Rebecca Gayheart were "just glad to be in a work-related environment." ... A Patrick Dempsey lookalike was among the last to arrive. He peeked his head in the entry to the red carpet and caused quite a stir among everyone hoping to see McDreamy, but the real Dempsey was in Daytona at a race. ... into the show....Desperate Housewive's Dana Delany is as beautiful in person as she looked on the cover of More magazine touting her age, 51....Everyone here has a spray-on tan so they look bronze. The New Yorkers like Tina Fey, were among the few who were pale. ...Vanessa Williams said she'd had the cast of Ugly Betty to her house for a reunion because they haven't been seeing each other at work. ... Forest Whitaker's wife Keisha says her husband is a man of style. ...Casey Affleck doesn't look anything like Big Brother Ben. ...Holly Hunter is so small I mistook her for someone's daughter until she turned around. ... Glenn Close is definitely weight-training. Her upper body is ripped.... People magazine and the Entertainment Industry Foundation put on a party in the tented back parking lot after the show but kept the press out. We were like Cinderellas not invited to the ball.
January 27, 2008
Check out our photo gallery
Kathy and I were in a prime viewing spot because Access Hollywood is the first platform the stars hit before they move on down the rest of the red carpet. Kathy played photographer and grabbed these candid shots as celebrity after celebrity came over to chat. Click on each photo to read who's who and what they said.
Julie Christie on not working
Julie Christie is back here now. I have followed her career since I saw Dr. Zhivago when I was in high school so it's great fun to see her in person. She's beautiful at 66 and a breath of fresh air in terms of being dressed in a dark suit. She says she's wearing her own pants and "I don't buy into the walking advertisement thing," when it comes to fashion. She has been praising her director, Sarah Polley, and says she's not looking for another job. "No, I'm quite happy without one," she said. Next up for her will be an Oscar ceremony, if, in fact, there is one.
Daniel Day-Lewis on Heath Ledger
Daniel Day-Lewis arrives in the press room and is asked why he paid tribute to Heath Ledger. He says he never met him but "I think we should leave him alone, and leave his family with their unimaginable grief." There has been some talk here tonight about whether there will be an Academy Awards ceremony so Day-Lewis was asked whether he'll attend if the writers' strike isn't settled and picketers are out "I'll abide by the decision of my union," he said. "They just gave me this lovely award and I'm a card carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild." We're waiting for Julie Christie, who won for Away From Her.
Getting there
Traffic in Los Angeles can be a nightmare - we all know that. Nancy O'Dell was on her way to work the red carpet today when she got held up by an accident. Her producer Bryant Huddleston ably filled in for the first interviews with Grey's Anatomy's Chandra Wilson and Ugly Betty's Becki Newton.
Nancy always gives credit to her glamour team but today I got to meet them all - her makeup artist Karen Knopp, her hairdresser Dwayne Ross and a member of her wardrobe team, Daniel Hernandez. I decided I need a glamour team too. Karen tells me the secret to looking so finished for a big event - and that's what these women all do - is NOT to over do it. OK, no over doing it anymore!
McSteaming up the red carpet
Forget Angelina and Brad. Eric Dane, aka Dr. "McSteamy" from Grey's Anatomy and his wife, Rebecca Gayheart, get my vote for most attractive couple on the red carpet tonight and believe me, out here the competition is stiff.
The Office cast on Angelina's pregnancy
The cast of The Office just walked in, and are trying to all squeeze on the stage. Angela Kinsey is adorably pregnant, Jenna Fischer is gorgeous in a navy sparkly dress, and John Krasinski
just told us it's a miracle the cast can keep a straight face during
scenes because they're "just like seventh graders." Fischer revealed
that the award they give on stage is actually much lighter than the
real one, and BJ Novak joked that he's "starting to wish they had an award check" (like a coat check). A reporter asked about Angelina Jolie's pregnancy, and BJ joking introduced Angela as "Angelina Kinsey, ladies and gentlemen." "Adopt me!" yelled Rainn Wilson.
Steve Carell was asked about being seated next to Ricky Gervais, creator of the British version of The Office. "We don't much like him, and he doesn't like us," he joked. "Earlier tonight I was in the bathroom, and he leaned over the urinal and said "I knew it!'"
Tina Fey feels like an actress
Tina Fey is here telling us that it means a lot to her to be recognized as an actress because she's been working as a writer for so long. She's prettier in person than on the show. She is telling us that 30 Rock is the kind of show that is in jeopardy because of the strike. "We can't be off the air for six months." Tina told us that she remembers watching Steve Carell when she was a student at Second City and being blown away by his talent. She says she's spending most of her time with her daughter these days because she's not working during the writers' strike. She plans to put her new SAG Award "up high because this is a baby crusher."
The Sopranos last hurrah
The cast of The Sopranos, on a sweep tonight, just arrived en masse into the press room - they can barely fit on the stage. Edie Falco and James Gandolfini - also winners tonight - are with the cast but not leading it. They're having a good time together, making fun of questions like "you played fearless on TV, what are your fears?" Tonight could be the last time the cast is together as the show ensemble so they were asked whether Los Angeles would still be standing after their partying. "The city," said Lorraine Bracco, who looked lovely in brilliant purple, "not the hotel."
On the red carpet
The red carpet scene has always been crazy, but each time I cover one of these award shows I am amazed at how much crazier it gets. Today, however, I was in a great spot (as you can see here) — on the platform right at the red carpet entrance with Access Hollywood’s Nancy O’Dell and her crew.
That meant I saw everyone who is anyone and more. The scene is a little surreal – a sea of publicists and press dressed mostly in black attached to their cell phones, blackberries and headsets. Then the beautiful people…the people we see in the movies and on TV — and yes, they really do look different from you and me.
Tonight’s red carpet trends were instantly obvious. Strapless dresses in brilliant colors. Nancy, no surprise, was in tune with the trend (this year in Carolina Herrera). But Glenn Close, Kyra Sedgwick, January Jones, Vanessa Williams, Rebecca Gayheart, Sara Ramirez and Marcia Cross wore the most vivid dresses – some of which you can see in our coming slide show.
The Big Night begins
It's Sunday morning and Kathy Rowings and I off to the SAG Awards site. We're dressed for evening when most people are dressed for church! Thanks to my friend Nancy O'Dell, co-host of the entertainment show Access Hollywood, and thanks to her producers there, Kathy and I will be on the Access Hollywood platform today, where we will get a close-up view of the stars when they stop to talk before they head into the show; it's a much better red carpet spot than we had secured in the print reporters' area.
Access plans to air fashion and fun moments from backstage with all the winners on Monday night's show. (You can go to AccessHollywood.com to check local listings). Who knows? You might get a glimpse of us. Access also will have live streaming, live blogging, fashion photo galleries and a game for users to design their own SAG look. Check it out here, but come back to us for live reports throughout the evening as winners meet with the press. And, of course, you can watch the show on TNT or TBS. It begins at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT.
Welcome to rehearsal
Snippets from SAG Awards rehearsal day. TNT show director David Bryant stands on freshly laid and dry red carpet worrying about the high winds and rain predicted for show day. It's not looking good. ... Life Achievement Award winner Charles Durning arrives right on time to get the lay of the land for his big night and brings a tear to my eye as he practices his acceptance speech. What a pro. ...Tom Cruise pushed his rehearsal time from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and some of we cynics were betting on whether he'd arrive at all - for rehearsal, that is, not the show. ... Workers painted the stairs to the stage that all the winners will climb....Click on the video below to see me at the presenters' podium.
And below I'll show you where the big stars are sitting.
I found the biggest stars, but Kathy found her favorite TV nice guy.
January 26, 2008
Dining with the Stars: Who sits with whom
How do you decide where to seat all those stars at the SAG Awards? Get a white erasable board as big as a table, lock your team in a room with enough sushi to last six hours, and go to it. That's how producer Kathy Connell and her two "brilliant" assistants, Jon Brockett and Dana Kenerson, got to the seating arrangements you see in the slideshow below (that's me with the 10-foot, 200 pound 'Actor' and Kathy welcoming you to the red carpet.) Some of their placements are playful - Ricky Gervais, who starred in the British version of The Office and is nominated for his role in the current Extras, will sit next to NBC's The Office crew; Hollywood newbie Ellen Page, a nominee for Juno, is at Tom Cruise's table. Click on any of the pictures below to get more info about what you're looking at.
Megan Mullally's ballet beginnings
As part of our cover story celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Screen Actors Guild, out this weekend, I got to talk to celebrities about their paths to becoming the stars they are today. All of them had funny or interesting stories about their humble beginnings, which you can read here. But one of my favorites was former Will & Grace star Megan Mullally: She was just so friendly, and even called me three times because I was having phone trouble. Most of my friends wouldn’t bother calling me three times, so imagine my surprise when a TV star was so patient.
Megan is a great storyteller. She shared with me that she was always singing and dancing around as a child, and announced to her parents when she was 8 that she wanted to be an actor “after a bout of making them sit on the couch while I stood on a stool and go-go danced.” She continued dancing all the way through her high school years, but when she was a high school senior realized she should branch out into acting. “ I was in a ballet company and did a lot of roles that required a lot of acting,” Mullally told me. “I couldn’t do as many pirouettes as some of the other dancers but I could act a little better.” She decided to focus on acting after she came off stage from a ballet about a circus, in which she played a tight rope walker who went crazy, and realized the only part she really liked was the scene when she got to act insane.
Mullally hit it big with Will & Grace, but before that she did a lot of voiceover work and was a waitress at a diner in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. “I was horrible. I’d forget to turn in orders, take the wrong food to the wrong tables.” She’d been out of acting work for two years – she said she’d get so downcast about not working that she was considering enrolling in UCLA to study interior design -- when she was cast in a episode of the old CBS drama Murder, She Wrote, which she said she was so excited about it was “like I’d gotten cast in a Scorsese film.”
January 25, 2008
Nikki Blonsky, Shelley Fabares, JoBeth Williams talk SAGs
Hairspray star Nikki Blonsky — adorable in a belted black jersey dress and patent leather ankle boots — charmed the press Friday morning doing interviews non-stop to promote the Screen Actors Guild Awards. (Check out Kathy's quick video clip of her being interviewed below.) She let slip that she'll be presenting an award with "my dear friend" (and on-screen mom) John Travolta. I love John, too. I got a chance to spend a long, easy lunch with him a few years ago - he had his chef prepare a three-course meal at his home - and we sat in the dining room for hours talking about any topic I wished. That man can wax philosophical about anything. Nikki, John and the whole Hairspray troupe is up for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture ...
You may remember Shelley Fabares from the sitcom Coach but I was watching her when she played teen daughter Mary Stone in The Donna Reed Show from 1958-1963. And there was a time when I could sing every line of her one-time hit song Johnny Angel. So imagine how much fun it was for me to meet her in person during the preparations for SAG Awards. I didn't recognize her at first with her current short, platinum and pink shaggy hair. Shelley is a member of the SAG Awards planning committee ...
JoBeth Williams is on that committee, too, and I got a chance to catch up with her in person here. We had talked on the phone about her work with SAG Awards auction and the SAG Foundation but I had to tell her how good it was to see her in the Showtime drama Dexter (now airing on CBS, too) as the interfering mother of Dexter's girlfriend. In person, JoBeth is petite and years younger-looking than what she played on Dexter. She certainly doesn't look 25 years older than her Big Chill character Karen Bowens — the one who was carrying a torch for old boyfriend Sam Weber, played by Tom Berenger. JoBeth is a great advocate for the SAG Foundation, which helps actors in need. You can join in the auction bidding online. Use the link above.
Nikki Blonsky gets ready for SAG Awards
It's a soggy morning here in L.A. and a big winter storm is predicted for Sunday, which means heavy rains for the SAG Awards. Crews will being tenting the red carpet area this morning to keep the stars, the fans, and, thank goodness, the members of the press, dry as toast. Still, buying a big umbrella is high on my list today.
Kathy and I head back to the exhibition hall to see Hairspray star Nikki Blonsky, get the low-down on seating all these stars from producer Kathy Connell and watch the set and the hall begin to take final shape.
January 24, 2008
SAG's Sunday dinner
Imagine this: You must come up with a dinner that you can serve all on one plate that can be put on the table two hours before 1,200 guests arrive and still taste great when they sit down. It needs to be elegant, appeal to the eye and contain no drippy sauces or other substances that could cause embarrassment if they don't make it from fork to mouth. L.A. Chef Alan Jackson - yes, like the country singer - did just that and I got a look at his creations, as well as the table the way it will be set for the stars who will sit down to dine at them Sunday. I'll be honest. I hadn't eaten breakfast and I could have inelegantly taken a few bites right there. Jackson was going over the pieces: tuna nicoise, grilled vegetable turnover, lamb... An Awards Committee of the Guild does several tastings of wine and food before the big day so I have no doubt it's all scrumptious even if I didn't get a morsel.
Check out the preparations in our slide show below. Click on the photos for details.
SAG President Alan Rosenberg on the strike
Everyone is talking about the writers strike; you can't be here in Hollywood without quickly becoming aware of it. Even a local deli displays a sign telling WGA members to show their cards for a 10 percent discount while the strike goes on. I asked Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg for his thoughts on settlement and he wasn't as positive as I thought he would be. SAG has been showing solidarity with the writers and the SAG contract is up for negotiation in June. Rosenberg said his union would be looking closely at the deal that producers and the Directors Guild of America settled on earlier this month but that doesn't mean the DGA deal is good for the writers or for actors.
The SAG Awards show on Sunday night may be all about actors but it also will be an occasion at which some people who have been in what Rosenbeg called "adversarial relationships" — producers and writers — will be breaking bread together. No one expects fireworks, but will there be tension? SAG members are definitely ready for a party, though. "They like to celebrate their work and each other's work," says Rosenberg, who is married to CSI's Marg Helgenberger. The fact that they supported the WGA to force cancellation of the Golden Globes ceremony is an indication of how much it means. He calls the WGA strike "an important one for America" because it deals with the
"corporatization of America."
Jon Tenney opens SAG Awards red carpet
Just finished chatting here at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles with The Closer's very handsome Jon Tenney. He's the actor who this year will get things started by popping the cork on a big bottle of champagne to open the SAG Awards red carpet on Sunday about 5 p.m. ET, some three hours before the show. Of course Tenney, who plays Kyra Sedgwick's boyfriend Fritz Howard on TNT's hit drama, is nominated for a SAG Award as part of The Closer ensemble. It's no accident. Tenney says they really are a close-knit group and it helps that all of them "have been around the block." Except for Corey Reynolds, who plays Sedgwick's right hand man Sgt. Gabriel. He's working on his first series and the cast teases him about
it.The cast would have been getting ready to go back to work next month if not for the writers' strike. The writers would have been working on new scripts now, but that's obviously not happening. When they do finally get back to it, there are good things in store for viewers. Each season The Closer has a theme and the next season, Tenney tells us, is going to be all about power. The possibilities there are endless. One other little-known tidbit Tenney told me: When he first read the script it was with an eye toward playing Sgt. Gabriel but he thought the actor in that part needed to be younger (Tenney is 46). He was right. I asked Jon what he's watching on TV now that choices are fewer and he confesses he's a big news and politics junkie. He TiVos Keith Olbermann, George Stephanopoulos and Tim Russert. He's a registered Democrat but says he hasn't decided on his candidate yet. He's working on it though. He even has watched all the debates.
(photo by Andrew Eccles/TNT)
Talk radio
Just got off the phone after two hours spent with morning drive time radio show hosts all around the country so if you think you heard me on the radio in Seattle, Nashville, Baltimore, San Diego and numerous other cities you are correct. I was talking SAG Awards, of course, and had a lot of fun because, as listeners know, morning show hosts have an abundance of energy. It must be all those venti lattes they drink.
Most of the radio hosts ask why they should watch the Screen Actors Guild Awards. That's an easy answer - because it's all actors and they come from both movies and television. Because the show on TNT and TBS is two hours, never more. And this year the buzz is building because it's clear that Hollywood A-Listers will be there. Tom Cruise was just added as a presenter. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are expected. John Travolta will present, as will Matthew McConaughey.
Now, the sun is breaking through the morning clouds here in Los Angeles and Kathy Rowings and I will soon be off to the Shrine Exposition Hall, the site of Sunday's awards ceremony. Check back wiith us later in the day.
January 23, 2008
L.A. on a rainy day
Kathy and I have landed in L.A. on a rainy Wednesday. Some rental car troubles forced us to shop in Barneys of Beverly Hills for an hour, where who should we spy but Heidi Montag from The Hills. Our Barneys makeup artist, Taline Harmandian, who was giving us tips for looking special on Sunday at the SAG Awards while making us look fabulous for a weekday dinner, told us that Alanis Morrissette had been in earlier in the day. Tonight it's a business dinner but tomorrow it's over to the site of the SAG Awards where we'll bring you the insider's view.
January 22, 2008
LA Bound
It's Oscar nomination day, but I've been so busy getting ready to go to the SAG Awards this weekend that I haven't had time to digest them — till now. Of course, there are the oversights - actors James McAvoy and Kiera Knightley for Atonement, for example. But overall, the nominations will make for an interesting and glittery Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 24. That is, if they have one. The writers' strike continues to make that iffy.
But first, the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Kathy Rowings and I fly to L.A. tomorrow to begin five days of covering the awards live in the Who's News Blog. It's unprecedented USA WEEKEND coverage of one of Hollywood's most glamorous nights and we intend to bring new meaning to the words "we'll keep you posted."
The coverage is part of the magazine's partnership with the SAG Awards and TNT, which will air the two-hour show at 8 p.m. ET Sunday on both TNT and TBS.
I will post from L.A. when we arrive on Wednesday, but starting Thursday Kathy and I, laptops and digital camera in hand, will post from the Shrine Auditorium — the site of the Sunday night event — as crews build the set for the SAG ceremony and transform the former cow palace into an elegant Hollywood-worthy hall.
Saturday is rehearsal day with presenters stopping by to practice their position and their words. You know that I'll be watching for George Clooney (at left), a nominee for best actor for both SAG and, now, the Academy Awards. Kathy will have eyes open for John Krasinski (at right below), a nominee with his mates from The Office. We know that Steve Carell, John Travolta, Kate Beckinsale, Debra Messing, Denis L
eary and Forest Whitaker are among the presenters, as is the very hot actor who is on our coming cover, Terrence Howard.
Of course, Sunday is the big day. Kathy and I, in evening wear, will be at our spot on the red carpet at 2 p.m PT – 5 p.m. ET – for arrivals of both nominees and presenters. After our red carpet observations, we will move backstage where we’ll blog all the details of each winner’s meeting with the press.
On Monday we'll follow up with photos, video and a party report.
Last, but certainly not least, we want you to join the fun. Use our comments section to ask questions, post opinions, or just say hi.
(Clooney photo by Craig Sjodin/ABC; Krasinski photo by Chris Haston/NBC)
January 18, 2008
Burt Reynolds and Denis Leary honor Charles Durning
I was so pleased to learn Thursday that Burt Reynolds and Denis Leary will be handling the tribute to Charles Durning, Life Achievement Award recipient, at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 27. When I talked to Mr. Durning last month about the award and his life's work, he told me how much both of those men mean to him. Durning considers Reynolds his dearest friend, so it is fitting that Reynolds, with whom Durning collaborated many times, will present the award. Leary, who has played Durning's son on the gritty FX show Rescue Me for four seasons, will introduce the film tribute. (In the last episode of last season Durning's character died, but Durning told me Leary assured him he'll be seen again. That's no surprise. There are lots of ghosts on Rescue Me.)
We'll also see Micky Rooney, Hal Holbrook and Jeanne Tripplehorn at the awards ceremony to be broadcast on TNT and TBS. Each will be a presenter.
January 15, 2008
Up next, SAG Awards
I'm pulling together my trip to L.A. and just got off the phone with my friends at TNT as we make plans to cover the Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 27. I'll be doing a "radio tour" — talking to morning radio personalities in markets around the country about the awards show and the nominees — on Thursday January 24. When I get a list of which cities you can hear me in, I'll post it. The good news is, it's fun to talk to radio people. They have more energy in the morning than I can muster most days. The bad news is I have to begin at 5:30 a.m. Pacific time. So you can bet I'll be "touring" in my bathrobe.
I'm already hearing that actors are very much looking forward to the SAG Awards this year because it will be the first big televised ceremony and they may attend without guilt; their union supports the striking Writers Guild of America and the writers guild won't picket the SAG ceremony. The show will simulcast live nationally on TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7 p.m CT, and 6 p.m. MT.
December 20, 2007
Angelina Jolie, Christina Applegate get SAG nods
Actors always tell me that winning a Screen Actors Guild award means as much as an Oscar because it is actors judging the performances of other actors. Often the SAG award voters will reward otherwise overlooked performances, like the year the Actor statue went to Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean. This morning's nominations, however, were all over the map and, to my mind, that makes this awards season much more fun for movie and television mavens, although I will say it's unfortunate that Atonement and Charlie Wilson's War, both worthy movies, did not get a nod.
Among the interesting nominees today: Angelina Jolie, for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role, as Marianne Pearl in A Mighty Heart (at right); Emile HIrsch for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role for Into the Wild; Hal Holbrook, for outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role, for Into the Wild; and the lovely Ruby Dee, for outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role, for American Gangster.
The SAG Awards show and party, from which I'll be blogging live come Jan. 27, will be great for star-watching. Among the others nominated for individual roles or ensembles in both movies and TV were George Clooney, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Christian Bale, Josh Brolin, John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christina Applegate, Steve Carell, Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Christina Applegate, Patrick Dempsey, well - you get the picture.
Here's a complete list of the SAG Award nominations. If you'd like to be among the guests, go to sagwards.org/auction, where you'll find a VIP package that gives you seats in the house and entrance to the gala. That package is only open for bidding until Sunday, however, so act fast.
(photo by Peter Mountain/ © 2007 by Paramount Vantage)
December 19, 2007
Win tickets to the SAG Awards
Want to get two tickets to the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 27? With access to the post-awards gala, too? Here's your chance. The Screen Actors Guild Foundation's annual online fundraising auction begins tomorrow with the hottest item — those tickets and the VIP package deal with them — available only through Dec. 23.
If I were not already going to the awards — to work, no cushy inside seats for me — I'd definitely be urging my secret Santa to bid on this package, and not just because of our USA WEEKEND-SAG Awards partnership. The winners get to attend the SAG Awards and see the stars from inside the Shrine Auditorium, as well as attend the post-Awards Gala. Though we won't know until Thursday morning which actors will be nominated, I can tell you they will be A-list names and at the SAG Awards it's only actors. No suits. The package also includes a backstage tour during rehearsals for the awards show, a walk down the red carpet and a framed photo of the VIP guests.
Bidding begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. Pacific time and closes Sunday at 10:00 am PT. Go to sagawards.org/auction to bid and to see other items like movie memoribilia, bleacher seats for the SAG Award arrivals, and more. The auction continues for six weeks with lots of new items coming up weekly so it will be worth keeping tabs on. Most important, the money goes to fund children's literacy programs and to fund relief programs for SAG members in distress.
