Several More Stars Cast In Broadcast Aircraft aircraft pilots

Jericho alum Lennie James remains cast inside the ABC drama pilot Gotham. The 20th TV-produced project concentrates on Detective Annie Travers (Megan Ketch), considering the impossible murder from the nightclub owner who's stunned to know that NY features a whole secret magical good status that she (and everyone else) was formerly unaware. James, repped by UTA and manager Estelle Lasher, will playGabriel Riga, the magnetic and wealthy Boss running for Mayor of NY City. He was most recently an ordinary on HBOs Hung. Kevin Bishop is positioned since the male lead in CBS’ multi-camera comedy pilot Super Fun Evening, put together by and starring Bridesmaids‘ Digital digital rebel Wilson. The project, from Warner Bros TV and Conan OBriens studio-based Conaco banner, follows three nerdy female pals on theirfuncomfortable pursuit to possess super fun every Friday evening. Bishop, repped by ICM and Uk’s Troika, may have a guy who's attracted to one of the women. Mo Gaffney remains put in the cast of ABC’s untitled Kari Lizer project (also called The Under professional). The multi-camera comedy, from Warner Bros. TV, concentrates on Hilary Pfeiffer-Dunne (McCormack), a greater-powered executive who now faces the finest challenge of her existence when she finds herself unemployed and becoming an entire-time mother to her two teens. Gaffney, repped by Stone Manners Salners, may have Robin, a supermom who clashes with Hilary. Khary Payton, who was simply just released within the Foreign exchange pilot Forces, remains cast in NBCs comedy pilot Continue. The only real-camera project, put together by Scott Silveri and directed by Todd Holland,concentrates on Ryan (Matthew Perry), an irreverent yet charming sportscaster who, trying to maneuver ahead in the loss, finds surprising solace within the people of his mandatory support group. Payton, repped by Bauman Redanty & Shaul and Gekis/Ribers, may have one of the group’s people, Don, a practical-class guy who went bankrupt and whose wife left him while using kids. Zoe Jarmon, and Dana Delorenzo are actually put in Mindy Kalings Fox single-camera comedy pilot, through which she stars just like a youthful Bridget Manley-type Physician/Gyn balancing personal and professional existence, ornamented by awesome co-employees inside a small office. Jarmon, repped by TalentWorks and Variety, may have a receptionist at work. Delorenzo is to apply 3 Arts and attorney Lev Ginsberg.

New NBC Drama and CBS Comedy Pilots Tap Casting Directors

Two network pilots have secured casting directors, Back Stage has confirmed."Notorious," a drama for NBC will be cast by Julie Tucker and Ross Meyerson. The pilot focuses on a female detective who goes undercover as the daughter of a wealthy family's maid in order to solve a murder. Tucker has also worked as a casting director on "Damages," Rescue Me," "Nurse Jackie," and "White Collar." Victor Garber, who received three Emmy nominations for his role as Jack Bristow on "Alias," is attached to star. Shooting is scheduled to begin this month. The renewal of this season's "Prime Suspect," another NBC show centered on the exploits of a female detective, is currently uncertain due to low ratings. Brett Greenstein and Collin Daniel will cast an Untitled Project by producers Mike Lisbe and Nathan Reger for CBS. The pilot is about a widower and father of two teenage girls who loses his job in construction and decides to become a police officer. Lisbe and Reger produced the 2010 CBS comedy "$#*! My Dad Says," starring William Shatner. They also worked on this season's "How to Be a Gentleman." Both shows were cancelled in their first seasons. Comedian Martin Lawrence is set to star as the single dad. This marks Lawrence's first return to television after his breakout show "Martin" ended in 1997. Since then, he had enjoyed a steady career in Hollywood, starring in "Bad Boys," "Wild Hogs," and a series of "Big Mommas House" films. However, he has not taken on any movie projects recently. The pilot is scheduled to shoot in April.

Fuentes-Leon preps 'Vanished Elephant'

GUADALAJARA -- Helmer-scribe Javier Fuentes-Leon is prepping "The Vanished Elephant," the follow-up to his debut feature, "Undertow," which won Sundance's World Dramatic Competition Audience Award in 2010. The film noir thriller turns on crime novel scribe Edo Celeste, whose girlfriend disappeared years before. On the 5th anniversary of her disappearance, he receives an envelope with photos that seem part of a collage, clues to what happened to her. The pic was originally set in L.A., but will now lense in Peru, placing elements of classic film noir against the backdrop of Lima, "a humid, sprawling, chaotic urban area," Fuentes-Leon said, "bursting with movement, vibrancy and sharp contrasts between the haves and have-nots." Moving from the streets of Lima to Peru's Paracas beaches, " 'Elephant' asks constantly: What is fiction and what is reality?," and explores "the creative process, and the loss and emptiness which remains when something close or personal escapes us," Fuentes-Leon explained at Mexico's Guadalajara festival. The pic's title refers to an elephant-shaped rock-formation off Paracas, which collapsed and disappeared into the ocean during Peru's 2007 earthquake. Skedded to shoot fall 2012, "Elephant" is set up at Lima's Elcalvo Films. Fuentes-Leon and Colombia's Dynamo, a producer on "Undertow," are working together to raise the financing and to make the film. Peru's Oscar submission, "Undertow" was picked up for U.S. distribution by The Film Collaborative for theatrical and Wolfe Releasing for DVD. The pic was a sales success for Shoreline, and grossed a sturdy 155,836 ($208,976) in Spain. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Medvedev to launch 'independent' channel

MOSCOW -- A new fully independent public television channel could be created in Russia under plans unveiled by the country's lame duck president Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev -- who is due to stand down following Sunday's presidential election in which current prime minister Vladimir Putin is almost certain to win in the first round -- plans to issue a presidential decree next month. If he does, it will likely be one of his last acts as president before formally standing down ahead of the inauguration of the new president in early May. The plans for the new channel, to be funded by a combination of tax-exempt donations and a levy on advertising from other networks, have been drawn up by film and television industry representatives on the Presidential Council on Human Rights. Nailing his colors to a liberal agenda just days before an election that critics charge will be characterized by massive vote rigging to ensure Putin's victory, Medvedev said the new channel would not carry advertising and would be wholly independent of both government and private interests. If the scheme -- the cost of which has not been revealed by the Kremlin -- goes ahead, it is likely to use an existing public channel, such as Rossiya 2, Moscow's TV Tsentr or Zvezda (Star TV), a patriotic military-themed channel launched several years ago. Russia's major public channels all carry advertising and combine public and private ownership. Critics of Putin's earlier two terms as president claim that investigative reporting on political and business issues have been effectively banned from the airwaves over the past decade. In signs of some loosening of the reins, Russian channels have recently begun reporting the mass opposition rallies that have been taking place since parliamentary elections in December were marred by widespread fraud. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Oscars Available Along With Other Publish-Oscar Talk: Hammond

Since all individuals Academy Award nominees who didn’t win on Sunday evening have experienced a complete day to lick their wounds, there's great news: Should you hurry you will get in on today’s record purchase (by Nate D. Sanders Monthly Auctions) and purchase an Oscar statuette. See, situations are already searching for.Obviously, the Academy totally frowns about this Oscar fire purchase however they can’t do anything whatsoever about this because the honours on the market are pre-1950 — the yearthe Academy transformed the guidelines and forged contracts with those who win they (or their estates) must first offer tosell the Oscar to Academy for $1 before using it the marketplace. Intoday’s selection of gold males — which instantly doubles the amount of Academy awards ever sold around the free market — you will find some pretty historicallysignificant honours. They incorporate a screenwriting Oscar won by Herman Mankiewicz for co-writing Citizen Kane (its only win in 1941 the matching Orson Welles ScreenplayOscar fetched $861,000 in December) and finest Picture Academy awards for that twentieth century Fox films How Eco-friendly Was My Valley (1941) and Cavalcade (1933), the second the very first Best Pic Oscar for that studio. There's also director Norman Taurog’s Oscar for 1931′s Skippy,that they won at 32, making them still the youngest to win within the category. You might like to buy the first-ever Effects Academy Award for 1938′sSpawn From The North or perhaps a Black and WhiteCinematography award for that 1939 classic Wuthering Levels along with a color one for1948′s The Yearling. The Very Best Many Years Of Our Livesor the Film Editing prize for the similar movie. Art Company directors might such as this year’s losing composers may want to consider buying Hugo Friedhofer’s 1946 Scoring of the Dramatic Picture Oscar for Paul Groesse’s Color Art Direction award for 1949′s Little Women.Stars can pick between 1947′sA Double Existence Best Actor Oscar for Ronald Colman or (most likely less costly)Charles Coburn’s 1943 Supporting Actor statuette for that More The Better, a title that describes the spirit of the good deal of Academy awards on the market. The auction finishes at 5 PM (PT) today, but there's extended putting in a bid beginning at 5:15. Meanwhile, in news about individuals who really got their Academy awards the traditional way and won Sunday evening, Meryl Streep might not have the ability to sell her collection but she could practically begin a museum with individuals three Academy awards and record 17 nomination certificates. I still don’t get why a lot of media reviews call her TheIron Lady win an unexpected. Although Viola Davishadbeen victorious over Meryl in the Experts Choice and SAG honours, Meryl beat her in the Globes and BAFTA. It had been a level match and extremely a toss-up — not really a large Oscar surprise. Meryl’s self-deprecatingandcharming acceptance speech would be a show highlight: “When they known as my title I'd these feelings I possibly could hear 1 / 2 of America going, ‘Oh no, her? Again?’ But, whatever!” The truth is if you have 17 nominations, probably the most associated with a actor, you need to have at leastthreewins for the reason that time.As she continued to spot her buddies within the audience, old and new,it brought to mind an execllent Oscarspeech distributed by the incredibly gracious Ingrid Bergman upon winning herthird Oscar in 1975 for Murder Around The Orient Express.“It’s always nice to obtain an Oscar”, she stated, before mentioning it must have attended fellow nominee Valentina Cortese for Day For Evening. “Here I'm. I'm her rival and don’t enjoy it whatsoever. Please forgive me, Valentina. I didn’t mean to.” Streep presently has just one other record to chase: Katharine Hepburn’s total of 4 acting wins,even while she stated in her own speech, “I know I should never be up here again”. Time will inform about this. Even though it would be a well-promoted 29 years between Academy awards for Streep, she didn’t beat Hepburn’s record on that because the great Kate needed to wait 34 years between her first Oscar for Morning Gloryin 1934 andher secondfor Guess Who’s Visiting Dinnerin 1968. Not everybody was thrilled with Streep’s speech. A formerMargaret Thatcher aide, The almighty Norman Tebbit, was furious she never oncementioned the individual she performed within the film, contributing to debate in certain quarters within England over getting a united states play their country’s famous former Pm. In the well-attended GREAT British Film Reception on Friday in the Consul General’s L.A.residenceto recognition British Oscar nominees, United kingdom Culture Secretary Jeremy Search amusingly told everyone else, “Isn’t it great that individuals legendary Americansuperheroes, Batman, Superman and Spider-Guy are nowall beingplayed by British stars — payback for getting a united states play our Margaret Thatcher”. Incidentally, Streep’s win included in this season’s results was great for the legally embattled Golden Globes, which finally returned like a strong precursor for that Academy awards, with all of four acting those who win Sunday winning Globes first. So toodid The Artist for the best Picture (Musical or Comedy) and Music Score and Woodsy Allen for the best Script. Although everybody were built with a severe Oscar-weekend hangover, I'm toldbig champion Harvey Weinstein was still being honoring Monday evening having a special dinner for his staff, honours consultants yet others who led towards the triumphantcause of Oscar’s most devoted campaigner. Those who win from Best Documentary Undefeatedand The Artist(including Best Director Michel Hazanavicius, who had just originate from a Jay Leno tape) were there telling tales from the lengthy, hard season that started for most of them nine several weeks earlier in Cannes and it has now finally created Oscar. Finally, with the recenttalk from the advanced chronilogical age of many Academy people, it's interesting to notice senior citizens can cheertwo records damaged this season that put just a little dent in the concept that Hollywood is totally ageist. As continues to be broadly noted, 82-year-oldChristopher Plummer grew to become the earliest actor or actress to win an Oscar (and that he needed to beat another 82-year-old, Max von Sydow, to get it done). Woodsy Allen, at 76, has become the earliest person to ever win a Script Oscar, eclipsing this past year’s recordachieved by TheKing’s Speechwriter David Seidler, who had been only 73 as he place it. And So I guess it had been appropiatealso inside a yearthat also includedthe first quiet film to win Best Picture in 84 years that entertainment in the Academy’s Governors Ball was supplied by 85-year-old Tony Bennett, who seemed fantastic. Which was an ironic choice also because Bennett’s only acting role inside a movie is at the 1966 kitsch classicThe Oscar.

SACHA BARON COHEN BANNED FROM Academy awards: EXCLUSIVE

Will Sacha Baron Cohens The DictatorWalk The Oscar Red-colored Carpet? Up-to-date 5:30 PM With Increased Particulars EXCLUSIVE… BREAKING 3PM… The Academy Of Movement Picture Arts & Sciences has drawn actor Sacha Baron Cohen‘s tickets in the 84th Oscars. What this means is he's banned from attending the Academy awards despite the fact that he's an Academy member andone from the stars from Hugo, Vital’s 11-nominated movie andBest Picture contender. “Unless they’re assured that nothing entertaining will happen around the Red-colored Carpet, the Academy isn't acknowledging Sacha Baron Cohen towards the show,” Vital just explained. This is because thata proposalreached the Academy for Baron Cohen to strut the Red-colored Carpet entirely costume as his title character within the approaching Paramountcomedy The Dictator.UPDATE AT 5:30 PM: Later today, faced with the bad publicity caused by its action, the Academy attempted to parse what it really did when asked by some media shops. But the truth is, today, the Academy’s Controlling Director Of Membership Kimberly Rouchphoned Paramont’s honours staff to express Baron Cohen’s tickets have been drawn unless of course he provides the Academy assurances in advance promisingnot toshow on the Red-colored Carpet in costume and notto promote the film around the Red-colored Carpet.The Academy managed to get obvious that, without individuals assurances, it wouldn't problem him the tickets. So he’s banned.* Obviously, the following best factor to that particular publicity stunt is the media coverage which this prohibit will generate for Baron Cohen’s film. Therefore the Academy has made the decision to do something like dictators concerning the actor playing The Dictator. Ugh. Release up, people. Frankly, the Academy appears like uptight wankers with this particular management of among the globe’s funniest comics.The Academy basically needed to refuse whenthat proposal was given to it.Everybody active in the ceremony was adamantly against it for the reason it constitutes a mockery of the items Hollywood views its most exclusive event. Rather, the Academy clearly wants another excessively lengthy, absurdly reverential show about movies nobody bothered to determine in which the best factor concerning the telecast would be the comeback of popular host Billy Very at 63. The Dictator is really a spoof concerning the “heroic story of the Middle Eastern dictator who risks his existence to make sure that democracy never involves the nation he so lovingly oppressed”. Whether the truth that the 84th Oscars is going to be beamed into 200 nations had anything related to this prohibit is unclear. Butit is extremely unusual for that Academy to drag an associate’s tickets. An Academy awards representative acknowledged to Deadline yesterday:”We would hope that each studio recognizes that this can be a bad idea. The Red-colored Carpet isn't about stunting.” Oh really? Then why did Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park crossdress downthe Red-colored Carpet as J-Lo and Gwyneth Paltrow in evening gowns in 2000? Or Ben Stiller appearas an Oscar presenter entirely blue Avatar makeup and hair this year? Deadline reported yesterday that Baron Cohen’splan ended up being to come outfitted because the Dictator after which become a tuxedo and attend the Academy awards as planned. He wasn’t scheduled to provide an award, but he was coming at Kodak Theatreas area of the Vital contingent. Now he is able to’t do even that. Vital includes a Best Picture nominee within the Martin Scorsese-directed Hugo by which Baron Cohenplays the stop inspector from the movie a good orphan in nineteen thirties Paris. In the 2007 Academy awards, Baron Cohen was requested to become a presenter and stated he'd get it done only when he or she is in character as Borat. And Academy awards’Powers That Be stated, “No way.” He didn’t attend. But this is actually the very first time he's been formally banned in the show. Purists believe that the Academy awards isn't any spot for such inside your face promotion. The Academy hasn’t even permitted movies to become marketed throughout the Oscarcast, until this season. On the other hand, these Academy awards have little suspense since it’s a forgone conclusion that most of the those who win from the marquee groups happen to be known and also the Artist will win Best Picture.The possibilities of Baron Cohen’s Red-colored Carpet walk was the nearest factor to drama. This will not have been Baron Cohen’s very first time upstaging an honours show. To advertise Bruno, he travelled with the air in the MTV Movie Honours and arrived together with his crotch when confronted with Eminem, who later accepted the stunt was practiced. Along with a trailer for that Dictator it was among the raciest ever permitted through the MPAA throughout the Super Bowl, where Baron Cohen’s character was hilariously portrayed managing a competitive race while and leg-shooting rivals having a starter pistol because they got near to him.

Graham King set to keynote

Producer Graham King will keynote the BritWeek Film and TV Summit, produced in association with Variety and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, on April 27. King is a partner in GK Films and producer of "Hugo" and "Rango," contenders in Sunday's Oscar best-picture and animated-feature races, respectively. He leads a roster of high-profile speakers at the summit, which will explore winning approaches to global success in film and TV. Other speakers include Paul Abbott, creator and exec producer of Showtime's "Shameless"; Basil Iwanyk, producer at Thunder Road Pictures; Stuart Ford, CEO of IM Global; Tim O'Hair, head of production at Parallel Media; and Gareth Neame, managing director of U.K. production at NBCUniversal Intl. King won an Oscar as producer of "The Departed" and produced the Tim Burton-directed "Dark Shadows," starring Johnny Depp. Latter pic will be released by Warners in May. The Film and TV Summit takes place at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City and is one of several BritWeek 2012 events. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Rankings Corporate Jungle: Strong Friday Start For Boss, ABC Has First Nightly Conquer CBS

Last evening’s rankings provided more ammunition for that theory that scripted programming might be condemned on Friday. The 2 greatest-ranked programs around the evening in grown ups 18-49 with a mile were a a real possibility series, CBS’ Undercover Boss (2.4/8), along with a newsmagazine, ABC’s 20/20 (2./6). The previous designed a quite strong entry on Friday, drawing not just the greatest 18-49 rating from the evening but the biggest audience (10.7 million), edging the typical Friday champion as a whole audiences, CBS drama Blue Bloods (10.3 million, 1.6/5 in 18-49). Seeing an unscripted show almost double the amount delivery of the high-finish drama (A Gifted Guy) within the 8 PM hour has to give CBS, the staunchest supporter of maintaining an exciting-scripted Friday selection, a pause. Especially since Undercover Boss not just outperformed A Gifted Guy but published CBS’ biggest audience and 18-49 rating within the hour in 3 years — because the March 6 and could 1 instances of Ghost Whisperer, the final CBS scripted series to labored within the Friday 8 PM slot. A Gifted Guy (9.5 million, 1.5/4) didn’t do much using the better 9 PM period of time and large lead-in from Boss, only matching its best 18-49 delivery up to now. Regardless of the strong amounts for Undercover Boss, CBS (1.8/6, 10.3 million) lost no. 1 place for that evening in 18-49 to ABC (1.9/6, 7.a million) the very first time this year following the systems finished tied two times before. ABC was paced with a large two-hour 20/20 (2./6, 7.a million) dedicated to Whitney Houston. ABC published its biggest audience from the evening in 2 many best 18-49 delivery in more than a year. That despite a depressed Shark Tank at 8 PM. The brand new reality entry within the hour, Undercover Boss, pressed both Shark Tank (1.5/5, lower 17%) and Fox’s Kitchen Bad dreams (1.3/4, lower 13%) lower. Fringe continues to be only consistent, remaining frozen in a series-low 1.1/3. NBC’s broadcast from the NAACP Image Honours (.8/2) was up 33% from this past year, possibly increased with a Whitney Houston tribute. Dateline (1.1/3) was overpowered by 20/20, lower 27%. The CW’s Nikita (.6/2) was up a tenth, Supernatural (.7/2) was lower a tenth.

Spartacus, Episode 4: Things That Made Us Go "Ew!"

Spartacus: Vengeance Spartacus: Vengeance lulled us into a false sense of security about the violence it has been presenting thus far this season. No more. All the bloodshed that has come before has been positively civilized -- dare we say, boring -- compared to the heinousness that went down at the Roman house party. But first, we catch up with Spartacus and his crew, who are on the run after a semi-successful Naevia rescue mission. Although the former gladiators kill more than their fair share of pursuing Romans, the rebels are eventually picked off one by one until all that's left are a fierce Mira, frightened Naevia, formidable Spartacus and seriously injured Nasir. They really should just jettison the Syrian, but Spartacus is all "no slave left behind" and follows Naevia's advice to cauterize his wound with fire. Just when it seems that new Romans have caught up to them, it turns out to be the other rebel faction led by Agron. Huzzah! From Game of Thrones to Spartacus: TV's unsexiest sex scenes Meanwhile, prisoner Oenomaus greets his new cell mates that were captured from Spartacus' raid: Crixus, Rhaskos and... uh-oh, we don't know this third guy. If this were the world of Star Trek, he'd have a red shirt on. Since this is the world of Spartacus, he has little else on except for a loin cloth. At a party Gaius and Ilithyia hold for Varrenius, he is offered the chance to kill the slaves as party entertainment. At first he demurs, saying that their deaths would be better served in the arena where all of Capua can enjoy the spectacle, but then he allows one to be killed as an appetizer to appease Seppius, whose cousin Sextus had been murdered by Spartacus' men. The poor, unrecognizable fourth slave is chosen, and is tortured and bloodied throughout the evening. By the end of the night, we also learn that Ilithyia is scheming to get Varrenius as her new husband (if daddy will annul her marriage to Gaius), Lucretia is helping her scheme, and that Seppius and dear sister Seppia might be a little closer than siblings should be. On to those "Ew!" moments: The Blood - It's not a Sparty party unless someone gets humiliated, naked, killed... or all three. The nameless slave that we mentioned above is systematically sliced and diced as if he were a particularly prime piece of protein on Top Chef... a piece of protein that was still alive and human, that is. First, Seppius cut out the slave's tongue (Ouch!), then Cossutius sliced off a choice cutlet (breast). We're spared most of the other torture until Ilithiya steps in for a quailing Seppia and slowly, nonchalantly runs the guy through with the sword. We'd hate to see her next party trick. All the other spectacular violence in the episode -- Mira stabbing a Roman repeatedly, multiple geysers of blood, a severed arm flying through the air -- are nothing in comparison to Roman house party fun. The Bodies - Gauis and Ilithyia's party also presented a feast of flesh, slave flesh of course, for the guests and viewers at home. There's the writhing, sex-filled tableau in the center of the house, the male servers in their full-frontal nude glory. And although they remained clothed, Varrenius feeling up Ilithiya's crotch while discussing her possibly divorcing her husband was a rather stomach-turning moment. Less arousing was Lucinda's mechanical mounting of the aging Albinius at the end of the episode. Oh, and we suppose we must mention Seppius kissing his sister Seppia here and hinting at losing themselves in each other's comforting embrace. The Bites - How can Albinius munch away on a cookie (or whatever that snack was) while watching the slave's de-tongueing? Bad taste, that. Which scenes unsettled you?

The Adventures of Tintin

Getting bought one ship, the Unicorn, for just about any pound off a business stall Tintin is initially puzzled the sinister Mr. Sakharine needs to be so attempting to purchase it from him, embracing murder and kidnapping Tintin - based on his wonderful dog Snowy - to participate him and also the gang simply because they sail to another agents by having an old cargo ship. Sakharine has bribed the crew to revolt in the ship's master, drunken Captain Haddock, but Tintin, Snowy and Haddock escape, arriving Morocco mole in the courtroom from the sheikh, who also provides one in the Unicorn. Haddock notifies Tintin which more than more than 200 years earlier his ancestor Mister Francis Haddock was expected to scuttle the first Unicorn when attacked having a piratical forebear of Sakharine but he handled to be able to save his treasure and offer clues towards the location in three separate scrolls, that have been secreted in kinds of the Unicorn. Tintin and Sakharine have one each as well as the villain needs to take advantage from the glass-breaking top Cs of operatic soprano the Milanese Nightingale to secure the next. With the aid of bumbling Interpol agents the Thompson Twins our boy hero,his dog as well as the captain must prevent Sakharine from obtaining the three scrolls to fulfil the prophesy that only all the the Haddocks can identify the treasure's location.

One Tree Hill Sweethearts Sophia Rose bush, Austin Nichols Split

Willa Holland The O.C. alum Willa Holland continues to be cast within the CW pilot Arrow, Deadline reviews. Pilot Season: Melrose Place's Katie Cassidy lands female lead in CW's Arrow Arrow, in line with the Electricity comics character Eco-friendly Arrow, stars Stephen Amell like a super hero who fights crimes using archery and fighting techinques. Arrow's alias may be the wealthy playboy-switched-politician Oliver Full. Holland will have Queen's bratty more youthful sister Thea. Gossip Girl's Katie Cassidy was cast the 2009 week because the female lead. Take a look at all of the latest pilot news Arrow is going to be executive-created by Siblings & Sisters' Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and also the Vampire Diaries' Andrew Kreisberg.

Kurland, Cecchetto and Puck team for Governor's Ball

Jeffrey Kurland will serve as chair, Cheryl Cecchetto will produce and Wolfgang Puck will design the menu for the Governors Ball, the celebration that will follow the 84th Academy Awards on Oscar Sunday, Feb. 26. Cecchetto is taking the reins for the 23rd consecutive year, Puck joins for the 18th year in a row and this will be the third for Kurland, who is an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences governor representing the Art Directors Branch. "This year's Governors Ball re-envisions the celebration. We will offer a radical departure from the traditional sit-down affair, reinforcing the Academy's commitment to originality and excellence," Kurland said. Cecchetto created an open format that will allow the event's 1,500 guests to circulate among a variety of seating configurations while enjoying cuisine from Puck. Guests will include Academy Award winners and nominees, show presenters and other telecast participants. "This year's design is a chic and simple canvas for intimate conversations and freedom of movement," Cecchetto said. "Guests will experience Wolfgang Puck's tasting menu and the evening's musical entertainment with a backdrop of relaxed glamour." In addition to overseeing the dcor, menu and entertainment planning for the ball, Kurland will design the attire to be worn by the evening's staff. He received an Oscar nomination for Costume Design for "Bullets Over Broadway." The Governors Ball will take place in the Grand Ballroom on the top level of the Hollywood & Highland Center immediately following the telecast. Contact Christy Grosz at christy.grosz@variety.com

More liberal take on visual media kudos

'The King's SpeechAlexandre Desplat's score for 'The King's Speech' was the only one of this year's nominees to also receive an Oscar nod. Miss out on that much-coveted Oscar nomination for score or song? Not to worry, it's Grammy to the rescue. Unlike the Academy Awards, the Grammys offer three categories in their "music for visual media" field -- score soundtrack, compilation soundtrack and song -- and because the rules are a little less strict than those of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, composers and songwriters have a better shot at the honor."It probably is fairly open, compared to the Oscars," says Recording Academy awards VP Bill Freimuth, although he points out that the basic criteria for the score Grammy are similar: the music must be specifically written for the movie, TV show or videogame; and two-thirds of the tracks on the album must actually be in the film, show or game.Grammy voters are all music-biz pros -- many of them not in the film, TV or game world -- and the concept, at least, is that the Grammy voters are good judges of strong musical material.Song-driven albums are eligible for the compilation-soundtrack honor. AMPAS has a "song score" category but it has never been activated because too few original musicals have been entered (and compilations of songs in a movie have never been honored by the Acad).Direct comparisons are difficult because the Grammy eligibility year ends Sept. 30, while Oscar's ends Dec. 31. Only one of this year's Grammy score nominees was also an Oscar nominee: "The King's Speech" by Alexandre Desplat.Desplat -- who has both 2010's "The King's Speech" and 2011's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" in contention at this year's Grammys -- says he doesn't personally enter the competition; his management, or the record labels, do. Grammy execs say this is common.The other Grammy nominees were either disqualified for Oscar consideration (2010's "Black Swan" by Clint Mansell, because of its Tchaikovsky roots), may have been too edgy (2010's "Tron Legacy" by Daft Punk) or were not eligible (2011's barely released "The Shrine" by Ryan Shore).This year's song nominees tell a similar tale: Expected to be Oscar-nominated but were not (Diane Warren's "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," performed by Cher in 2010's "Burlesque"; Zac Brown's "Where the River Goes" from 2011's "Footloose"; Zooey Deschanel's "So Long" from 2011's "Winnie the Pooh"), plus a TV song from "Family Guy," a Justin Bieber number from his concert film, and only one tune that actually got an Oscar nod ("I See the Light" from 2010's "Tangled").As for AMPAS, its music branch determined that only two songs were fit for competition, which raised more than a few eyebrows.GRAMMY AWARDS 2012Year's biggest star lights up Grammys | Revamped Grammys calls for more trims | Macca guarantees fab MusiCares gala | Creative sparks fly from clash of styles | More liberal take on visual media kudos | Grammy spotlights Shore's 'Shine' Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Ernest Gordon-Levitt Turns Director

He's developing a comedyGiven simply how much Ernest Gordon-Levitt has loved stretching themselves in a number of creative ways both cinematically and musically, it absolutely was only determined by time before his career wheel spun towards pointing. Now he's making that move, creating an untitled comedy that he's written in addition to star in alongside Scarlett Johansson. Talking with Deadline, the start star didn't desire to divulge many plot particulars, but he did demonstrate that he's playing a "selfish dick" modern-day Don Juan-type who decides to better themselves. "I written myself a helluva role, the one that people wouldn't always considered me for," the actor states, acknowledging that he's been planning to check out themselves on-screen through his online video work. "It takes practice to become accustomed to seeing yourself rather than being freaked out and nervous with the appear of the voice."He's stored in funding from Hurt Locker producer Nicolas Chartier's Current Pictures, and expects to co-produce via his hitRecord Films company. "I used to be a youthful child actor for any very long time and quit at 19, visited school a while, together with a sizable part of why I came back was that we ultimately preferred to create movies," Gordon-Levitt describes. "I spent yearly coping with Ann Hathaway, Rian Manley, Steven Spielberg, which used to do my easier to take notice. I've been making short films for just about any very very long time now, I've directed many of them, which has turned into a part of why I'm confident in this particular.InchWe will start to see the fruits of people directors' labours this year, as Gordon-Levitt will probably be noticed in Premium Hurry, The Dark Dark evening Increases, Looper and Lincoln subsequently subsequently. But his filmmaking ambitions might keep him from sticking to his small part in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. "It'll be tricky schedule-wise, however was honest with Quentin upfront," Gordon-Levitt states. "He am awesome and encouraging. He mentioned, 'You strike me because the kind of guy who may decide to direct,' which i needed that as high praise."

Time Warner, News Corp. bid for Sabah

Time Warner, News Corp. and equity group Texas Off-shoreline have placed formal bids to obtain Turkish media group ATV-Sabah, Reuters reported Monday from Istanbul, as U.S. media congloms searching to build up look for assets in overseas and emerging areas.Sabah is an element of Calik Holding, which has interests in energy and finance. Bids were mentioned being near to the $1 billion value.The chance M&A business on tv appears being starting to warm up as equity finance with cash to get rid of has came back in pressure, rivaling proper customers on some deals. Furthermore, billionaire investor and three-time who is the owner of MGM, Kirk Kerkorian, is mentioned being back round the prowl too for U.S. or worldwide entertainment assets. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Rosemary Harris Returns to Broadway in 'The Road to Mecca'

Rosemary Harris Returns to Broadway in 'The Road to Mecca' By Simi Horwitz January 27, 2012 Photo by Joan Marcus Rosemary Harris in "The Road to Mecca" Rosemary Harris finds it ironic to be performing two doors down from the Broadway megahit "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark." After all, she appeared in three "Spider-Man" films as Peter Parker's lovable Aunt May, yet no one on the long lines even notices her. Not that being a celebrityor even a film actorwas ever a goal. "I had a lot of fun doing the 'Spider-Man' movies," she emphasizes. "I really enjoyed it. But I'd much rather be doing this.""This" refers to acting onstage, playing the intensely eccentric and free-spirited Miss Helen in Athol Fugard's three-hander "The Road to Mecca." It's a Roundabout Theatre Company production at the American Airlines Theatre.Based on a true story and set in 1974 South Africa, "Mecca" tells the tale of an elderly, reclusive widow, who has blanketed her garden with Byzantine sculptures she has created. Depending on viewpoint, they are either dazzlingly beautiful or perversely ugly. Her friend, urban schoolteacher Elsa (Carla Gugino), is an enthusiast, while the town clergyman, Marius (Jim Dale), is disapproving and determined to see her placed in an assisted living facility. "Miss Helen is one of the great roles written for an elderly person," says the Tony Awardwinning veteran actor in her dressing room before a performance. "Even Shakespeare didn't write great parts for women in their 70s and 80s. It's not that I'm getting fewer offers, but certainly nothing as challenging as this piece."Harris says her greatest stumbling block was memorizing all the lines, and in recent years she has made it her business to know all her dialogue before rehearsals begin. She believes it's a good approach for an actor at any stage, despite the commonly held belief that good actors learn the words as they rehearse and discover the character. Harris says if the writing is top-notch, "everything about the character can be found in the text. You don't have to go searching for it."The British-born Harris has had an illustrious six-decade career appearing in the West End and on Broadway. She is also a committed wife and mother. Her husband is writer John Ehle, and her daughter, actor Jennifer Ehle. Much of her life has been spent juggling professional and private concerns. "It's a balancing act, especially if you have young children," she says. "It may be different for women today, but that was a major issue for me. There were projects I turned down for my little family."Turning Down Jack Warner Born in Leicestershire, England, Harris acted professionally in stock companies before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. An actor acquaintance suggested she apply to RADA. "If nothing else, it was a shop window for people to see me," she recalls. A high point of her training was studying with Mary Duff, a well-known drama teacher, who was blunt in her opinions. "Her method was the wing chair method," Harris says, chortling. "She sat in a large wing chair with her back to the window, and her students sat at her feet. She was autocratic and brilliant, and she did not tolerate fools. But we clicked." Not every student shared Harris' good opinion of Duff. "If you mention her name to [director] Michael Blakemore, smoke comes out of his ears," she says, laughing. Harris believes the most important step for a young actor is to find a teacher she likes and trusts.A major difference between today's theater world and the one in which Harris emerged was the presence of stock companies in virtually every British community. They gave actors a modest income and a place to hone their craft. You performed in a different play every week and two performances nightly, Harris remembers. In the pre-television days, people throughout the provinces attended theater regularly. A booming market existed, and young actors did not find themselves unemployed for long stretches of time, Harris explains. "They did not leave one company before joining another."When Harris started appearing on live TV, she made her first decent paycheck but nothing equivalent to what performers make on the small screen today, she says. But then, Harris didn't gauge the value of a project in financial terms. Career strategies were equally alien. "I never thought of acting as a career," she says. "I thought of it as a job that paid me a living, and it was something I loved doing. When Jennifer said, 'I want to be an actress,' I said, 'Why?' She said, 'Why not? You have so much fun.' I couldn't deny I was having fun. I told her to go for it." After Harris made her 1952 Broadway debut in Moss Hart's "The Climate of Eden," Jack Warner personally offered her a contract with his Hollywood studio, and she turned him down. "In those days you'd sign a seven-year contract, and I couldn't envision myself by a swimming pool for seven years with nothing to do," she recalls. "I wanted to go back to London to be a classical actor, but when I went back I was cast in 'The Seven Year Itch.' It lasted a year, and it was the longest year in my life." Still, after she finished the run, she joined the Bristol Vic and had the chance to play Portia, Hermione, and Beatrice, among other classical roles. Looking back, Harris says there is nothing she would do differently, though she regrets never having played Cleopatra. She was offered the part, but at the time she was the old grandmother in Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers" on Broadway. "I couldn't leave, and that was my last chance to play Cleopatra."In a splendid career, that's a small disappointment."The Road to Mecca" runs through March 4 at theAmerican Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St., N.Y. (212) 719-1300 or www.roundabouttheatre.org. Outtakes Won a Tony for her performance in "The Lion in Winter," an Emmy for "Notorious Woman," and a Golden Globe for "Holocaust" and was nominated for an Oscar for "Tom & Viv"Appeared on Broadway in "A Delicate Balance," "Waiting in the Wings," "An Inspector Calls," and "A Streetcar Named Desire," among others.At the Royal National Theatre, played Ophelia opposite Peter O'Toole in Laurence Olivier's inaugural production of "Hamlet" and Yelena in his production of "Uncle Vanya"Was a founding member of the APA-Phoenix Repertory Company in New York Rosemary Harris Returns to Broadway in 'The Road to Mecca' By Simi Horwitz January 27, 2012 Rosemary Harris in "The Road to Mecca" PHOTO CREDIT Joan Marcus Rosemary Harris finds it ironic to be performing two doors down from the Broadway megahit "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark." After all, she appeared in three "Spider-Man" films as Peter Parker's lovable Aunt May, yet no one on the long lines even notices her. Not that being a celebrityor even a film actorwas ever a goal. "I had a lot of fun doing the 'Spider-Man' movies," she emphasizes. "I really enjoyed it. But I'd much rather be doing this.""This" refers to acting onstage, playing the intensely eccentric and free-spirited Miss Helen in Athol Fugard's three-hander "The Road to Mecca." It's a Roundabout Theatre Company production at the American Airlines Theatre.Based on a true story and set in 1974 South Africa, "Mecca" tells the tale of an elderly, reclusive widow, who has blanketed her garden with Byzantine sculptures she has created. Depending on viewpoint, they are either dazzlingly beautiful or perversely ugly. Her friend, urban schoolteacher Elsa (Carla Gugino), is an enthusiast, while the town clergyman, Marius (Jim Dale), is disapproving and determined to see her placed in an assisted living facility. "Miss Helen is one of the great roles written for an elderly person," says the Tony Awardwinning veteran actor in her dressing room before a performance. "Even Shakespeare didn't write great parts for women in their 70s and 80s. It's not that I'm getting fewer offers, but certainly nothing as challenging as this piece."Harris says her greatest stumbling block was memorizing all the lines, and in recent years she has made it her business to know all her dialogue before rehearsals begin. She believes it's a good approach for an actor at any stage, despite the commonly held belief that good actors learn the words as they rehearse and discover the character. Harris says if the writing is top-notch, "everything about the character can be found in the text. You don't have to go searching for it."The British-born Harris has had an illustrious six-decade career appearing in the West End and on Broadway. She is also a committed wife and mother. Her husband is writer John Ehle, and her daughter, actor Jennifer Ehle. Much of her life has been spent juggling professional and private concerns. "It's a balancing act, especially if you have young children," she says. "It may be different for women today, but that was a major issue for me. There were projects I turned down for my little family."Turning Down Jack Warner Born in Leicestershire, England, Harris acted professionally in stock companies before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. An actor acquaintance suggested she apply to RADA. "If nothing else, it was a shop window for people to see me," she recalls. A high point of her training was studying with Mary Duff, a well-known drama teacher, who was blunt in her opinions. "Her method was the wing chair method," Harris says, chortling. "She sat in a large wing chair with her back to the window, and her students sat at her feet. She was autocratic and brilliant, and she did not tolerate fools. But we clicked." Not every student shared Harris' good opinion of Duff. "If you mention her name to [director] Michael Blakemore, smoke comes out of his ears," she says, laughing. Harris believes the most important step for a young actor is to find a teacher she likes and trusts.A major difference between today's theater world and the one in which Harris emerged was the presence of stock companies in virtually every British community. They gave actors a modest income and a place to hone their craft. You performed in a different play every week and two performances nightly, Harris remembers. In the pre-television days, people throughout the provinces attended theater regularly. A booming market existed, and young actors did not find themselves unemployed for long stretches of time, Harris explains. "They did not leave one company before joining another."When Harris started appearing on live TV, she made her first decent paycheck but nothing equivalent to what performers make on the small screen today, she says. But then, Harris didn't gauge the value of a project in financial terms. Career strategies were equally alien. "I never thought of acting as a career," she says. "I thought of it as a job that paid me a living, and it was something I loved doing. When Jennifer said, 'I want to be an actress,' I said, 'Why?' She said, 'Why not? You have so much fun.' I couldn't deny I was having fun. I told her to go for it." After Harris made her 1952 Broadway debut in Moss Hart's "The Climate of Eden," Jack Warner personally offered her a contract with his Hollywood studio, and she turned him down. "In those days you'd sign a seven-year contract, and I couldn't envision myself by a swimming pool for seven years with nothing to do," she recalls. "I wanted to go back to London to be a classical actor, but when I went back I was cast in 'The Seven Year Itch.' It lasted a year, and it was the longest year in my life." Still, after she finished the run, she joined the Bristol Vic and had the chance to play Portia, Hermione, and Beatrice, among other classical roles. Looking back, Harris says there is nothing she would do differently, though she regrets never having played Cleopatra. She was offered the part, but at the time she was the old grandmother in Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers" on Broadway. "I couldn't leave, and that was my last chance to play Cleopatra."In a splendid career, that's a small disappointment."The Road to Mecca" runs through March 4 at theAmerican Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St., N.Y. (212) 719-1300 or www.roundabouttheatre.org. Outtakes Won a Tony for her performance in "The Lion in Winter," an Emmy for "Notorious Woman," and a Golden Globe for "Holocaust" and was nominated for an Oscar for "Tom & Viv"Appeared on Broadway in "A Delicate Balance," "Waiting in the Wings," "An Inspector Calls," and "A Streetcar Named Desire," among others.At the Royal National Theatre, played Ophelia opposite Peter O'Toole in Laurence Olivier's inaugural production of "Hamlet" and Yelena in his production of "Uncle Vanya"Was a founding member of the APA-Phoenix Repertory Company in NY

New Battleship poster and image arrive

A brand new worldwide poster has showed up for Peter Berg's approaching Battleship adaptation (are you able to adapt a game?), also it gives a concept of the size from the challenge faced by our maritime heroes.Supported through the tagline "The fight for Earth starts at ocean," the brand new poster shows a huge alien craft emerging in the sea, dwarfing the titular battleship in comparison.A brand new image has additionally been launched in the film, where a trio of military toughs look somewhat overcome through the sudden emergence of the massive extra-terrestrial ship. Like a smart guy once stated, "we are have to a larger boat."Liam Neeson is going to be heading in the human forces because the fight-hardened Admiral Shane, with Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Skarsgard playing a set of siblings designated to various ships. Brooklyn Decker and Beyonce will also be one of the cast like a physical counselor and weapons specialist correspondingly.Clearly, this seems like among the dumber movies we'll check this out year, but that is not saying it will not be great fun. Liam Neeson versus. aliens? Yeah, we'll give it a glance. Battleship comes to the United kingdom on 20 April 2012.

Elizabeth Olsen ready to 'Kill Your Darlings'

OlsenElizabeth Olsen, Dane Dehaan and Jack Huston are joining Daniel Radcliffe in "Kill Your Darlings," the Killer Films and Benaroya Pictures thriller that notifies the story of techniques a murder at Columbia College within the mid nineteen forties introduced together the youthful authors who'd spark the Beat Revolution.Olsen, whose profile rose considerably this year following her submit "Martha Marcy May Marlene," may have Edie Parker, the wealthy art-student girlfriend of Jack Kerouac (Huston). Radcliffe may have Allen Ginsberg Dehaan plays Lucien Carr, a classmate of Ginsberg's to whom he evolves feelings.Killer Films' Christine Vachon, Michael Benaroya of Benaroya Pictures and Rose Ganguzza of Rose Pictures are coming up with in the script by John Krokidas, who'll also make his feature directorial debut. Lensing is positioned to begin March 12 in NY at Columbia College.Olsen, whose resume was spare before bursting towards the scene finally year's Sundance Film Fest with "Martha Marcy May Marlene," will return to Park City this year while using paranormal drama "Red-colored-colored Lights." She also provides "Quiet House," "Liberal Arts" and "Peace, Love & Misunderstanding" with Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener along the way.DeHaan, who stars inside the Cinemax series "In Treatment," will rapidly be viewed in Fox's supernatural thriller "Chronicle" later. Huston's credits include "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," which he was most recently seen on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire."Olsen is represented by Gersh DeHaan is represented by CAA as well as the Schiff Company and Huston is represented by UTA. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

5 Fun Facts About Chelsea Handler and NBC's Are You There, Chelsea?

Chelsea Handler, Laura Prepon Via E!'s late-night talk show Chelsea Lately, or After Lately, or her books about one-night stands and booze, Chelsea Handler has become a household name. Beginning Wednesday night, there will be even more Handler to go around when Are You There, Chelsea? debuts on NBC at 8:30/7:30c. In the series based on her saucier-titled book Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, Laura Prepon (That '70s Show) plays a 20-something version of Handler. (Handler herself plays Chelsea's put-upon sister Sloane.) Check out five fun facts about Handler and her new sitcom: Are You There, Chelsea?'s Chelsea Handler: I like myself much better as Laura Prepon 1. With two other shows, four books and now playing a version of her sister, she's a little sick of herself. Says Handler: "I was like, 'Oh, God, more me?' If you don't like me, you're really going to be pissed. Here she is again!" 2. Although the title is derived from Handler's second book, the series will feature moments from her other books as well. In particular, Handler teases, it will tackle the gay gynecologist story from My Horizontal Life. 3. NBC hasn't been too hard on a show that's inspired by a book full of stories about midget sex, excessive drinking and sleeping around. "I'm getting away with a lot on NBC, which I'm kind of surprised about. I really thought that they were going to reel me in." Are You There, Chelsea? Exclusive: Seinfeld star, Chelsea Lately alum join cast 4. Handler often takes pleasure in making fun of her E! cohort and American Idol host Ryan Seacrest for working numerous jobs. Having three shows on the air now doesn't mean she'll let up on him. "Ryan and I have a very jocular relationship," she says. "I love Ryan. He's the hardest-working person I know. ... I have a lot of respect for him. But I'm not the new Ryan Seacrest. I'm funny; Ryan's not that funny. He's funny-looking." 5. Handler finally feels like she's finally made it ... so, take that, old high school enemies! "When you're little and growing up and you're bullied, all you want to do is be like, 'You don't know I'm going to be something, and you're just going to be a housewife who doesn't work with twins that you hate. So shut up!' I used to get tortured all the time by the older girls and they'd tell me I was ugly and fat. This is the greatest comeuppance of all." Will you be watching the premiere of Are You There, Chelsea?

The Hollywood Reporter's Actor Roundtable

Reinvention is a hallmark of great actors, so it's fitting that several of the talents invited to participate in "The Hollywood Reporter's" annual Actor Roundtable have distinguished themselves in 2011 by playing against type. Famed comic Albert Brooks embodies a ruthless criminal in "Drive" regal screen presence Christopher Plummer lets loose as a flamboyant gay man exploring his sexuality at age 75 in "Beginners" and Christoph Waltz, so effective as a Nazi commander in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 hit "Inglourious Basterds," plays a suburban American father in "Carnage." They joined George Clooney ("The Descendants," "The Ides of March"), Nick Nolte ("Warrior"), and Gary Oldman ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy") at Smashbox Studios in West Hollywood on Oct. 24 for an hourlong discussion that touched on Nolte's personal struggles, what Oldman said when asked to play Charles Manson, and why Clooney prefers acting to selling women's shoes.The Hollywood Reporter: Do you have a pet peeve about scripts that will make you stop reading immediately? Nick Nolte: By page two, you know.George Clooney: Pretty much by page four or five, it's got to get you.Albert Brooks: The first speech that's over two sentences, where you actually have to see writing, if those start to sound false, then it's over.Christopher Plummer: Do you have a habit of going right through to the end to make sure you're in the last scene?Clooney: You're just looking for the sequel. [Laughter.]Brooks: The computer tells you everything now. What part are you playing? Larry. The computer says you're on six pages. Well, Jesus, I'll just read Larry.THR: Is there any role you would not play? Clooney: Larry. [Laughter.]Gary Oldman: Ten or 15 years ago, someone approached me to play Charles Manson. I just felt, out of respect to the family, I'm not interested.Nolte: There's too much karma around that. It's way too heavy. You know, I used to cut off the top of my trucks, and that's the same thing [Manson] did. So the police used to stop me a lot. They called him Chuck.Clooney: Chuck, to his friends.Nolte: Then they'd stop me and say, "Are you related to Chuck?" I always pled the Fifth.Brooks: Nick, you got stopped for a lot of things. I never knew about that.Nolte: Yeah. I didn't tell you everything, Albert.THR: Is there a role you've played where the character has really stayed with you? Christopher, you've played King Lear. Plummer: Yes, that haunts you.Clooney: Literally.Plummer: The first part's all right. But the second act, once he's on the heath, forget it. Then it becomes an entirely other play. It's a play about Gloucester and Edmund, and you're sitting in your dressing room getting stoned, waiting to come on again. Then you come on, finally. The audience says, "Hey, that looks like King Lear. Forgotten all about him." It's not the magisterial play they all say it isnot the second act,anyway.THR: What's the toughest role you've played? Plummer: The part in "The Sound of Music." It was so awful and sentimental and gooey. I had to work terribly hard to try to infuse some minuscule bit of humor into it. Brooks: You mean you didn't believe everything you said?Plummer: Oh, shut up.Nolte: Albert's actually got some experience in that territory.Brooks: What? Escaping from Nazis? THR: Was shifting from the stage to film difficult? Plummer: Not really. As a young actor on the screen, I was very bad. One is always thinking of how you look when you're young. You're always conscious of the profile; you're so conceited. I thought that was all that movies were about. It wasn't until I hit the drunk stage of my life, in my 40s, that I suddenly had fun on film playing character roles.Brooks: Drinking is the key?Plummer: Yeah. John Huston's [1975 film] "The Man Who Would Be King." I thought that was terrific. Clooney: Drunk through the whole thing, were you?Plummer: Poor John Huston. He had emphysema very badly by that time. But he was such a marvelous character. He had an oxygen tent on the set, but he always had his cigar with him.Clooney: That always works well.THR: George, is acting fun, or is it hard work? Clooney: I cut tobacco for a living in Kentuckythat was hard work. I sold insurance door to doorthat's hard work. Acting is not hard work. If you're lucky enough to be sitting at a table like this, you've been very lucky in your life. You caught the brass ring somewhere along the way. I've known a tremendous number of talented actors who didn't get opportunities. Is it hard work? It's long hours, but nobody wants to hear you complain. I remember I was selling women's shoes at a department store, which is a lousy job. It sounds like it'd be great, but it wasn't elegant shoes. It was 80-year-old women [saying], "That's a hammertoe!" You're like, "I don't want to see that!" I remember I would hear of famous stars complaining in Hollywood about how hard their life wasI didn't want to hear that. So I don't find it difficult. I find it challenging, and sometimes I'm very bad at it, but I don't find it hard.THR: Do you think you were bad and have become better? Clooney: I think scripts make people better. Direction makes people better. You can find a lot of projects where actors were tremendously good in one project, but you'll see them not work necessarily well in others. I think scripts make a huge difference in that department.THR: Did you always know you wanted to act? Clooney: I figured it out right after I finished cutting tobacco. My uncle was an actor named Jose Ferrer. He came to Kentucky to do a movie when I was 20 with his son Miguel Ferrer, also a wonderful actor. I was an extra for about two months on the setthey got me a gig. Then Jose said, "You ought to go to Hollywood and be an actor."THR: Nick, you did big Hollywood films, then walked away. Why? Nolte: Well, it was obvious I wasn't going to get any more roles. I could see it coming. The scripts weren't getting any better. In fact, the bigger the budget, the worse the scriptit seemed to follow hand in hand. The better work was in the independents, while the independent studios were still operating. When I was working with Paul Schrader, we were in the bar across the street from where we were shooting. We were having a glass of wine, and Schrader said, "Boy, I want to do one of those $100 million films." I said: "Paul, you're just full of it! You'll never have more control than you have right here. Yet you want to get on one of those nightmarish $100 million collaborative efforts?"THR: Was there a film you did where you thought: "This is it. I want to change"? Nolte: I actually didn't want to do "48 Hrs." [Someone] kept saying the black kid [Eddie Murphy] wasn't funny. To this day, [Jeffrey] Katzenberg is afraid I'll blurt out who it was. I won't. I wouldn't get my Christmas bonus.THR: What has been the low moment in your career or life? Nolte: That's kind of daily.THR: Really? Why? Nolte: I don't know. I live with death lately because I'm 70. After 70, you don't think about sex much anymore. You think about death.Plummer: Wait until you're 80. [Laughter.]Nolte: Don't go into it.Plummer: I won't.THR: Does getting older change your perspective on the roles you choose or the work you do? Plummer: No. I'm working more than I've ever worked in my life. It's unbelievable. Either there's only me left in their 80sbut I think there are other people who must be 80 who act. I'm having an absolute ball. I've never been happier.THR: Christoph, you've found global success relatively late in your career. Were things hard for you before that? Christoph Waltz: Relatively? [Laughter.] In all cultures, the actor has ups and downs. That's the nature of the beast. So I've had ups and downs on a smaller level. In the German-speaking arena, you can be a member of a theater company and do that forever. My grandparents did it in one theater for their whole careers. But a certain degree of consistency brings a certain degree of mediocrity.THR: When you participated in this roundtable two years ago for "Inglourious Basterds," you said you were looking forward to the opportunities arising from the success of that film. Have you been satisfied by those opportunities? Waltz: It made life certainly more exciting, and certain parts more enjoyable and more interesting. But that's where success late in a career comes in veryhandy.Clooney: For me, it was relatively late. I'd been on so many failed television series for such a long time. By comparison, my aunt was a really talented singer, Rosemary Clooney. In 1950, she was on the cover of every magazine. She was a big hit. Then rock 'n' roll came in, and women singers were all gone. It became a male-dominated thing. She was on the road, and people started saying, "What happened to you? Where'd you go?" She's like, "I'm here. I'm singing. I'm doing my thing. What the f--k are you talking about?" She was gone for 20 years. Because she was so youngshe was 19 when [success] first happenedshe sort of believed all that shit that you believe when you are 19. People tell you how brilliant you are, all those things. So that meant now she clearly wasn't. Of course, she didn't become less of a singer along the way. The elements changed.Nolte: I never thought she went away.Clooney: She did. But later on, she came back. She had an unbelievably great renaissance.Nolte: She was one of my favorites. Clooney: She was one of the greats. But she was gone for 20 years. She couldn't get a job. Bing Crosby gave her a job 20 years later. She had some drug issues, prescription-drug things.THR: Are you afraid of failure? Clooney: All of us are afraid of failure.Nolte: I don't think the downside is about failure. The downside is about not working. I do one European film a year. I just did one in Spain, but I was the only person who spoke English. The rest could only speak Spanish. I can't remember who was in it, but you would recognize the people. It was a great experience. Now if I had stayed home with no work, then I would have been in the shitter.Brooks: But the truth is, and without turning this into a men's group Plummer: Tell us [your secret]. You can feel comfortable.Brooks: It was only once, and I was drunk! I was doing King Lear. [Laughter.]Clooney: You had too much time off!Brooks: You are who you are, no matter what happens to you. My father was a famous radio comedian [Harry "Parkyakarkus" Einstein]. He was very ill, and he died when I was young, I think before I really comprehended anything, I saw that this [fame] stuff had no meaning. He was paralyzed. He didn't care about people going, "Oh, I love your radio show." He could barely get out of a chair. People think that success changes you, but your demons are your demons. They're only magnified.THR: Has any great role model influenced you? Brooks: Jack Benny did something when I was very young that showed me more about how to live a life in this business. I was on "The Tonight Show" early in my career. When they went away for the last break, Jack Benny leaned over to Johnny Carson and said, "When we come back, ask me where I'm going to be performing, will you?" Johnny said, "Sure." So they came back, and they were saying good night, and Johnny said to Jack, "Jack, where are you going to be performing?" Jack said: "Never mind about me. That's the funniest kid I've ever seen." He set that up to make a compliment. I was like: "Oh, so you can be brilliant and gracious. They gotogether."Oldman: My mother is a hero. She's 92 and still gets around. She lives here; I moved her out. Still takes the bus.Brooks: Get her a car, man. [Laughter.]Oldman: I've never heard my mother say, "Poor me." She used to do big tapestries and then met my father when he was in the Royal Navy and became a housewife. Then when I was about 6 or 7, he ran off with his best friend's wife. It happens. I have older sisters who had flown the coop. I was essentially an only child. She's a great inspiration.Nolte: You're very lucky to have a mom of 92. I lost mine at 86. That was the last parent. When the last parent dies you call your sister or brother and say, "How old are you?" Whichever one's the oldest, that's the next to go. My sister's two years older than me, but it's not going to work out that way, I don't think.Brooks: You're getting the most calls?Nolte: Yeah.THR: What's the best or worst career advice somebody has given you? Nolte: The best advice is to do theater.Clooney: Sometimes when you work with younger actors who haven't done theaterbecause most of them haven't now; they've gotten famous quicklywhen you're directing them, they will try to "win" every scene. But you have to lose some scenes because you're going to win in the end. If you had done theater, you would go, "No, I'm not going to cry in these next two scenes because I'm going to really lay it on at the end and have earned it."THR: Has directing changed your acting? Brooks: I started as an actor before I became a director. I went to Carnegie Tech, which was a theater school. You were taking mime with this man Jewel Walker and dance with Paul Draper. You did everything.Clooney: You took mime?Brooks: Shh! Anything you do helps you as an actor. A trip you take to Spain will help you as an actor. As a director, I work with actors from an actor's point of view. I think there are some directors who like the picture more than the person.Clooney: You are more direct. You simplify a lot of things. There's this weird dance that directors and actors have to play. The director is basically trying to manipulate the actor into doing what hewants Oldman: Yes, but the actor likes to think that it was his idea!Clooney: Right. So the actor is trying to manipulate the director into doing what he always thought. There's this weird dance .Waltz: I read this really interesting article written by a cognitive behavioral psychologist, Daniel Kahneman. The "illusion of validity," he calls it. Everybody is so convinced about the validity of their actions, their opinion, and so confident about their decisions. It's complete illusion. It's really a confidence of communicating your point rather than being right or wrong.THR: Do you like your work when you see it? Waltz: I don't see it. Not regularly.Clooney: Do you go back and see old things you've done?Waltz: No. Never.Oldman: I think it's healthy sometimes. It's just, it's old work. Some of it's good, some of it stinks, and what does tomorrow bring?THR: What makes a great actor? Plummer: The great rage. Someone who can lose their temper suddenly, very quickly, and frighten the shit not just out of the person he's playing with but the audience as well. That's the rage. Mr.Oldman has that. Then, the ability to make classic roles seem so modern and fresh.Oldman: He does that. [Points at Clooney.]THR: Gary, do you agree you have the great rage? Oldman: I think a few ex-wives would agree.Brooks: Fifteen minutes before we started, he was yelling at the hairdresser. [Laughter.]Clooney: There's an element of that even in comedy. You'll see that kind of rage. It doesn't have to be angry. Watch Joel McCrea in [Preston Sturges' 1941 film] "Sullivan's Travels," and there is this sort of throbbing undercurrent that's always going around.Oldman: Albert has that, too. I've certainly seen it in Mr. Nolte.Brooks: I think it's an additional thing also, especially in movies. The actors who have always been the most affecting to me are the ones that allow me to interpret on my own. There are some actors that give you 100 percent, but they don't let you get in. They're working; you see them working. There are other actors that are instinctively laid-back. It's really like a painting. I mean, why should any work from a modern artist sell for millions of dollars? It's only because people are standing there and they're thinking what this means to them. The same thing happens with a good actor.Clooney: Good singers will do that. I used to say to Rosemary: "You're 70 years old and can't hit any of the notes you used to hit. Why are you a better singer?" She goes: "I don't have to prove I can sing anymore. I just serve the material."THR: Do you have any regrets? Plummer: There are a couple of parts I think I'd like to have played that I didn't get. I made a little success in London in "Becket," the play about [Thomas] Becket and King Henry II. I was furious when Peter O'Toole, my friend, got [the lead role in the movie, 1964's "Becket"]. Son of a bitch.THR: Have you ever thought of doing something other than acting or directing? Brooks: I wanted to be an eye doctor for a few years.Plummer: I started studying the classics as a pianist.Brooks: Do you still play?Plummer: When drunk, yes.Clooney: I'm going to his house.Brooks: Can I go home with you? You have more fun than me.Plummer: I'll think about it and let you know.Nolte: A lot of what we discussed is the decision of whether to live in real life or not. I certainly prefer not to be in real life. It's horrifying. The Cold War and the bunkers and all that shit that was laid on us as kids, it's just not any place I wanted to be. So I felt at home when I hit the stage. I prefer it to the horror of real life.Brooks: Nick, that's a good title for your autobiography.Nolte: What, "Whore of Real Life"? I think it was my fifth wife.Clooney: No, no"Horror."Nolte: Oh, the horror! The Performances Albert Brooks, "Drive"Brooks takes a 180 from his comedic persona to play a brutal crime boss opposite Ryan Gosling in the violent thriller.George Clooney, "The Descendants" and "The Ides of March"Clooney directs himself as an ambitious presidential candidate in "Ides" and stars as a lawyer forced to deal with his comatose wife in "The Descendants."Nick Nolte, "Warrior"After a career spanning five decades, the gravel-voiced Nolte co-stars in the mixed martial arts drama as an alcoholic father seeking redemption from his two sons.Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"Oldman, who came to prominence in 1986's "Sid and Nancy," leads an ensemble cast as a veteran spy in the adaptation of the John le Carr novel.Christopher Plummer, "Beginners" and "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"Plummer steals scenes as a terminally ill man exploring his homosexuality in director Mike Mills' drama "Beginners" and appears in David Fincher's adaptation of the Stieg Larsson novel.Christoph Waltz, "Carnage"The Austrian uses a convincing American accent in Roman Polanski's adaptation of the play "God of Carnage." It's a far cry from his role as a Nazi commander in "Inglourious Basterds." PHOTO CREDIT Frank W. Ockenfels 3 Reinvention is a hallmark of great actors, so it's fitting that several of the talents invited to participate in "The Hollywood Reporter's" annual Actor Roundtable have distinguished themselves in 2011 by playing against type. Famed comic Albert Brooks embodies a ruthless criminal in "Drive" regal screen presence Christopher Plummer lets loose as a flamboyant gay man exploring his sexuality at age 75 in "Beginners" and Christoph Waltz, so effective as a Nazi commander in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 hit "Inglourious Basterds," plays a suburban American father in "Carnage." They joined George Clooney ("The Descendants," "The Ides of March"), Nick Nolte ("Warrior"), and Gary Oldman ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy") at Smashbox Studios in West Hollywood on Oct. 24 for an hourlong discussion that touched on Nolte's personal struggles, what Oldman said when asked to play Charles Manson, and why Clooney prefers acting to selling women's shoes.The Hollywood Reporter: Do you have a pet peeve about scripts that will make you stop reading immediately? Nick Nolte: By page two, you know.George Clooney: Pretty much by page four or five, it's got to get you.Albert Brooks: The first speech that's over two sentences, where you actually have to see writing, if those start to sound false, then it's over.Christopher Plummer: Do you have a habit of going right through to the end to make sure you're in the last scene?Clooney: You're just looking for the sequel. [Laughter.]Brooks: The computer tells you everything now. What part are you playing? Larry. The computer says you're on six pages. Well, Jesus, I'll just read Larry.THR: Is there any role you would not play? Clooney: Larry. [Laughter.]Gary Oldman: Ten or 15 years ago, someone approached me to play Charles Manson. I just felt, out of respect to the family, I'm not interested.Nolte: There's too much karma around that. It's way too heavy. You know, I used to cut off the top of my trucks, and that's the same thing [Manson] did. So the police used to stop me a lot. They called him Chuck.Clooney: Chuck, to his friends.Nolte: Then they'd stop me and say, "Are you related to Chuck?" I always pled the Fifth.Brooks: Nick, you got stopped for a lot of things. I never knew about that.Nolte: Yeah. I didn't tell you everything, Albert.THR: Is there a role you've played where the character has really stayed with you? Christopher, you've played King Lear. Plummer: Yes, that haunts you.Clooney: Literally.Plummer: The first part's all right. But the second act, once he's on the heath, forget it. Then it becomes an entirely other play. It's a play about Gloucester and Edmund, and you're sitting in your dressing room getting stoned, waiting to come on again. Then you come on, finally. The audience says, "Hey, that looks like King Lear. Forgotten all about him." It's not the magisterial play they all say it isnot the second act,anyway.THR: What's the toughest role you've played? Plummer: The part in "The Sound of Music." It was so awful and sentimental and gooey. I had to work terribly hard to try to infuse some minuscule bit of humor into it. Brooks: You mean you didn't believe everything you said?Plummer: Oh, shut up.Nolte: Albert's actually got some experience in that territory.Brooks: What? Escaping from Nazis? THR: Was shifting from the stage to film difficult? Plummer: Not really. As a young actor on the screen, I was very bad. One is always thinking of how you look when you're young. You're always conscious of the profile; you're so conceited. I thought that was all that movies were about. It wasn't until I hit the drunk stage of my life, in my 40s, that I suddenly had fun on film playing character roles.Brooks: Drinking is the key?Plummer: Yeah. John Huston's [1975 film] "The Man Who Would Be King." I thought that was terrific. Clooney: Drunk through the whole thing, were you?Plummer: Poor John Huston. He had emphysema very badly by that time. But he was such a marvelous character. He had an oxygen tent on the set, but he always had his cigar with him.Clooney: That always works well.THR: George, is acting fun, or is it hard work? Clooney: I cut tobacco for a living in Kentuckythat was hard work. I sold insurance door to doorthat's hard work. Acting is not hard work. If you're lucky enough to be sitting at a table like this, you've been very lucky in your life. You caught the brass ring somewhere along the way. I've known a tremendous number of talented actors who didn't get opportunities. Is it hard work? It's long hours, but nobody wants to hear you complain. I remember I was selling women's shoes at a department store, which is a lousy job. It sounds like it'd be great, but it wasn't elegant shoes. It was 80-year-old women [saying], "That's a hammertoe!" You're like, "I don't want to see that!" I remember I would hear of famous stars complaining in Hollywood about how hard their life wasI didn't want to hear that. So I don't find it difficult. I find it challenging, and sometimes I'm very bad at it, but I don't find it hard.THR: Do you think you were bad and have become better? Clooney: I think scripts make people better. Direction makes people better. You can find a lot of projects where actors were tremendously good in one project, but you'll see them not work necessarily well in others. I think scripts make a huge difference in that department.THR: Did you always know you wanted to act? Clooney: I figured it out right after I finished cutting tobacco. My uncle was an actor named Jose Ferrer. He came to Kentucky to do a movie when I was 20 with his son Miguel Ferrer, also a wonderful actor. I was an extra for about two months on the setthey got me a gig. Then Jose said, "You ought to go to Hollywood and be an actor."THR: Nick, you did big Hollywood films, then walked away. Why? Nolte: Well, it was obvious I wasn't going to get any more roles. I could see it coming. The scripts weren't getting any better. In fact, the bigger the budget, the worse the scriptit seemed to follow hand in hand. The better work was in the independents, while the independent studios were still operating. When I was working with Paul Schrader, we were in the bar across the street from where we were shooting. We were having a glass of wine, and Schrader said, "Boy, I want to do one of those $100 million films." I said: "Paul, you're just full of it! You'll never have more control than you have right here. Yet you want to get on one of those nightmarish $100 million collaborative efforts?"THR: Was there a film you did where you thought: "This is it. I want to change"? Nolte: I actually didn't want to do "48 Hrs." [Someone] kept saying the black kid [Eddie Murphy] wasn't funny. To this day, [Jeffrey] Katzenberg is afraid I'll blurt out who it was. I won't. I wouldn't get my Christmas bonus.THR: What has been the low moment in your career or life? Nolte: That's kind of daily.THR: Really? Why? Nolte: I don't know. I live with death lately because I'm 70. After 70, you don't think about sex much anymore. You think about death.Plummer: Wait until you're 80. [Laughter.]Nolte: Don't go into it.Plummer: I won't.THR: Does getting older change your perspective on the roles you choose or the work you do? Plummer: No. I'm working more than I've ever worked in my life. It's unbelievable. Either there's only me left in their 80sbut I think there are other people who must be 80 who act. I'm having an absolute ball. I've never been happier.THR: Christoph, you've found global success relatively late in your career. Were things hard for you before that? Christoph Waltz: Relatively? [Laughter.] In all cultures, the actor has ups and downs. That's the nature of the beast. So I've had ups and downs on a smaller level. In the German-speaking arena, you can be a member of a theater company and do that forever. My grandparents did it in one theater for their whole careers. But a certain degree of consistency brings a certain degree of mediocrity.THR: When you participated in this roundtable two years ago for "Inglourious Basterds," you said you were looking forward to the opportunities arising from the success of that film. Have you been satisfied by those opportunities? Waltz: It made life certainly more exciting, and certain parts more enjoyable and more interesting. But that's where success late in a career comes in veryhandy.Clooney: For me, it was relatively late. I'd been on so many failed television series for such a long time. By comparison, my aunt was a really talented singer, Rosemary Clooney. In 1950, she was on the cover of every magazine. She was a big hit. Then rock 'n' roll came in, and women singers were all gone. It became a male-dominated thing. She was on the road, and people started saying, "What happened to you? Where'd you go?" She's like, "I'm here. I'm singing. I'm doing my thing. What the f--k are you talking about?" She was gone for 20 years. Because she was so youngshe was 19 when [success] first happenedshe sort of believed all that shit that you believe when you are 19. People tell you how brilliant you are, all those things. So that meant now she clearly wasn't. Of course, she didn't become less of a singer along the way. The elements changed.Nolte: I never thought she went away.Clooney: She did. But later on, she came back. She had an unbelievably great renaissance.Nolte: She was one of my favorites. Clooney: She was one of the greats. But she was gone for 20 years. She couldn't get a job. Bing Crosby gave her a job 20 years later. She had some drug issues, prescription-drug things.THR: Are you afraid of failure? Clooney: All of us are afraid of failure.Nolte: I don't think the downside is about failure. The downside is about not working. I do one European film a year. I just did one in Spain, but I was the only person who spoke English. The rest could only speak Spanish. I can't remember who was in it, but you would recognize the people. It was a great experience. Now if I had stayed home with no work, then I would have been in the shitter.Brooks: But the truth is, and without turning this into a men's group Plummer: Tell us [your secret]. You can feel comfortable.Brooks: It was only once, and I was drunk! I was doing King Lear. [Laughter.]Clooney: You had too much time off!Brooks: You are who you are, no matter what happens to you. My father was a famous radio comedian [Harry "Parkyakarkus" Einstein]. He was very ill, and he died when I was young, I think before I really comprehended anything, I saw that this [fame] stuff had no meaning. He was paralyzed. He didn't care about people going, "Oh, I love your radio show." He could barely get out of a chair. People think that success changes you, but your demons are your demons. They're only magnified.THR: Has any great role model influenced you? Brooks: Jack Benny did something when I was very young that showed me more about how to live a life in this business. I was on "The Tonight Show" early in my career. When they went away for the last break, Jack Benny leaned over to Johnny Carson and said, "When we come back, ask me where I'm going to be performing, will you?" Johnny said, "Sure." So they came back, and they were saying good night, and Johnny said to Jack, "Jack, where are you going to be performing?" Jack said: "Never mind about me. That's the funniest kid I've ever seen." He set that up to make a compliment. I was like: "Oh, so you can be brilliant and gracious. They gotogether."Oldman: My mother is a hero. She's 92 and still gets around. She lives here; I moved her out. Still takes the bus.Brooks: Get her a car, man. [Laughter.]Oldman: I've never heard my mother say, "Poor me." She used to do big tapestries and then met my father when he was in the Royal Navy and became a housewife. Then when I was about 6 or 7, he ran off with his best friend's wife. It happens. I have older sisters who had flown the coop. I was essentially an only child. She's a great inspiration.Nolte: You're very lucky to have a mom of 92. I lost mine at 86. That was the last parent. When the last parent dies you call your sister or brother and say, "How old are you?" Whichever one's the oldest, that's the next to go. My sister's two years older than me, but it's not going to work out that way, I don't think.Brooks: You're getting the most calls?Nolte: Yeah.THR: What's the best or worst career advice somebody has given you? Nolte: The best advice is to do theater.Clooney: Sometimes when you work with younger actors who haven't done theaterbecause most of them haven't now; they've gotten famous quicklywhen you're directing them, they will try to "win" every scene. But you have to lose some scenes because you're going to win in the end. If you had done theater, you would go, "No, I'm not going to cry in these next two scenes because I'm going to really lay it on at the end and have earned it."THR: Has directing changed your acting? Brooks: I started as an actor before I became a director. I went to Carnegie Tech, which was a theater school. You were taking mime with this man Jewel Walker and dance with Paul Draper. You did everything.Clooney: You took mime?Brooks: Shh! Anything you do helps you as an actor. A trip you take to Spain will help you as an actor. As a director, I work with actors from an actor's point of view. I think there are some directors who like the picture more than the person.Clooney: You are more direct. You simplify a lot of things. There's this weird dance that directors and actors have to play. The director is basically trying to manipulate the actor into doing what hewants Oldman: Yes, but the actor likes to think that it was his idea!Clooney: Right. So the actor is trying to manipulate the director into doing what he always thought. There's this weird dance .Waltz: I read this really interesting article written by a cognitive behavioral psychologist, Daniel Kahneman. The "illusion of validity," he calls it. Everybody is so convinced about the validity of their actions, their opinion, and so confident about their decisions. It's complete illusion. It's really a confidence of communicating your point rather than being right or wrong.THR: Do you like your work when you see it? Waltz: I don't see it. Not regularly.Clooney: Do you go back and see old things you've done?Waltz: No. Never.Oldman: I think it's healthy sometimes. It's just, it's old work. Some of it's good, some of it stinks, and what does tomorrow bring?THR: What makes a great actor? Plummer: The great rage. Someone who can lose their temper suddenly, very quickly, and frighten the shit not just out of the person he's playing with but the audience as well. That's the rage. Mr.Oldman has that. Then, the ability to make classic roles seem so modern and fresh.Oldman: He does that. [Points at Clooney.]THR: Gary, do you agree you have the great rage? Oldman: I think a few ex-wives would agree.Brooks: Fifteen minutes before we started, he was yelling at the hairdresser. [Laughter.]Clooney: There's an element of that even in comedy. You'll see that kind of rage. It doesn't have to be angry. Watch Joel McCrea in [Preston Sturges' 1941 film] "Sullivan's Travels," and there is this sort of throbbing undercurrent that's always going around.Oldman: Albert has that, too. I've certainly seen it in Mr. Nolte.Brooks: I think it's an additional thing also, especially in movies. The actors who have always been the most affecting to me are the ones that allow me to interpret on my own. There are some actors that give you 100 percent, but they don't let you get in. They're working; you see them working. There are other actors that are instinctively laid-back. It's really like a painting. I mean, why should any work from a modern artist sell for millions of dollars? It's only because people are standing there and they're thinking what this means to them. The same thing happens with a good actor.Clooney: Good singers will do that. I used to say to Rosemary: "You're 70 years old and can't hit any of the notes you used to hit. Why are you a better singer?" She goes: "I don't have to prove I can sing anymore. I just serve the material."THR: Do you have any regrets? Plummer: There are a couple of parts I think I'd like to have played that I didn't get. I made a little success in London in "Becket," the play about [Thomas] Becket and King Henry II. I was furious when Peter O'Toole, my friend, got [the lead role in the movie, 1964's "Becket"]. Son of a bitch.THR: Have you ever thought of doing something other than acting or directing? Brooks: I wanted to be an eye doctor for a few years.Plummer: I started studying the classics as a pianist.Brooks: Do you still play?Plummer: When drunk, yes.Clooney: I'm going to his house.Brooks: Can I go home with you? You have more fun than me.Plummer: I'll think about it and let you know.Nolte: A lot of what we discussed is the decision of whether to live in real life or not. I certainly prefer not to be in real life. It's horrifying. The Cold War and the bunkers and all that shit that was laid on us as kids, it's just not any place I wanted to be. So I felt at home when I hit the stage. I prefer it to the horror of real life.Brooks: Nick, that's a good title for your autobiography.Nolte: What, "Whore of Real Life"? I think it was my fifth wife.Clooney: No, no"Horror."Nolte: Oh, the horror! The Performances Albert Brooks, "Drive"Brooks takes a 180 from his comedic persona to play a brutal crime boss opposite Ryan Gosling in the violent thriller.George Clooney, "The Descendants" and "The Ides of March"Clooney directs himself as an ambitious presidential candidate in "Ides" and stars as a lawyer forced to deal with his comatose wife in "The Descendants."Nick Nolte, "Warrior"After a career spanning five decades, the gravel-voiced Nolte co-stars in the mixed martial arts drama as an alcoholic father seeking redemption from his two sons.Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"Oldman, who came to prominence in 1986's "Sid and Nancy," leads an ensemble cast as a veteran spy in the adaptation of the John le Carr novel.Christopher Plummer, "Beginners" and "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"Plummer steals scenes as a terminally ill man exploring his homosexuality in director Mike Mills' drama "Beginners" and appears in David Fincher's adaptation of the Stieg Larsson novel.Christoph Waltz, "Carnage"The Austrian uses a convincing American accent in Roman Polanski's adaptation of the play "God of Carnage." It's a far cry from his role as a Nazi commander in "Inglourious Basterds."

Realistic, exotic search for 'Lady'

Luc Besson already were built with a tough task in showing a precise, well-rounded story of courageous Burmese democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, performed by Michelle Yeoh in "The Woman.InchJust like challenging for that helmer: developing a realistic and consistently accurate search for the film, that is occur the repressive nation of Myanmar, formerly referred to as Burma.Finding appropriate shooting locations needed in france they director, his producers and key people from the production, including scenic and costume designers, to visit extensively throughout Southeast Asia."Luc and that i made our first trip to Rangoon six several weeks just before the shoot," states producer Virginie Besson-Silla, who's even the director's wife. "We engaged the expertise of a production liaison office in Rangoon (to facilitate government-released visas and filming permits). The limited character from the military regime required employing guides and motorists to consider us with the regions of Rangoon, such as the lakeside house of Aung San Suu Kyi and also the surroundings, where i was allowed to visit.InchInchThe appearance and the design of Burma were always vital to Luc, and important was taking the power,Inch Besson-Silla adds.The power and what Besson-Silla terms "the spirit" from the Burmese everyone was contained in the greater than 50 stars, experts, translators and extra supplies Besson's company, Europa Films, hired around the shoot, that was located in Bangkok, capital of neighboring Thailand."For security reasons the project was initially entitled 'In the sunshine,AInch noted set designer Hugues Tissandier within an email. "This Year we made scouting outings through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. An exploratory visit to Burma reveal our selection of Thailand because the right location. The nation, which shares edges with Myanmar, is extremely similar in the colors and architecture. Because of its closeness to Burma there is the potential of acquiring materials for Burmese materials and add-ons," Tissandier added.Areas of the film are occur the U.K., where pursuing precision was equally vital. States U.K. producer Andy Harries, "Luc was dead-set on shooting on a single street in Oxford where Suu and her husband Michael Aris (an english academic and tireless campaigner for his wife's Nobel Peace Prize) had resided using their two sons, just before Suu's 'relocating' to Myanmar in 1988."Harries oversaw the Oxford segments from the shoot and continued to be involved car production. "We acquired permits to shoot while watching actual house they'd resided in, although the house's interior was re-produced on Paris soundstages," he notes.Harries' resolve for the project came via his wife, Rebecca Frayn, the film's scribe, who spent 3 years rebuilding the occasions of Aung San Suu Kyi's emergence like a political pressure and her lengthy many years of house arrest under Myanmar's military regime."Rebecca and that i had our first consider the repressive military whenever we traveled through Burma over two decades ago," he recalls. "Even so, immediately after Aung San Suu Kyi's first landslide election on her Democratic party, the folks weren't permitted to discuss her (and when they did, feared) brutal reprisals. It was how she received the title 'The Lady.' The Burmese individuals requirement for discretion caused this (shorthand) that grew to become her appellation."Rebecca and I felt like declaring that story might help in her release from house arrest," adds Harries. "Later, when Aung San Suu Kyi received her unpredicted November 2010 release, i was only six days in to the shoot, and, obviously, Luc and Rebecca were happy. Because of her release, it had been essential to do something about it towards the film."Additionally to Thai cast people, several Burmese exiles and refugees were hired for that shoot, lending authenticity towards the production. "Faces from the Burmese everyone was essential to the film's realism," states Besson-Silla. "Because of shared edges with India, the Burmese have features that reflect both their Southeast Asian and Indian heritage."Following a base in Bangkok was established, key production people organized outings to Burma, driving pairs appearing as vacationers to complete research. They required 1000's of photographs, and shot hrs of film in HD, used as further documentation to make sure precision.Costume designer Olivier Beriot compensated close focus on the "changing style" of Aung San Suu Kyi through her first years in Burma -- modifications that presented challenges for his team."The wardrobe and hair styles of Aung San Suu Kyi went through changes after she started residing in Burma," notes Bertiot. "Upon coming in Rangoon in 1988, Suu will get from the plane putting on the standard Burmese outfit: a 'longhi' (traditional skirt for males and ladies), a shirt with this specific asymmetrical Asian cut and black velvet slip-ons sans hosiery Within the next 5 years the cleavage lines of her traditional shirt grew to become greater and she or he also progressively stopped putting on short-sleeved blouses."Throughout public looks (campaigning and speaking at visits towards the outlying provinces) she's putting on strong colors to appear far through the showing crowd," adds the costume designer. "The various longhi's (she wears) through the movie were bought in Rangoon fleas marketplaces a couple of several weeks before the beginning of shooting on a single of my visits (towards the city)."Bertiot adds that the majority of the military wardrobe -- from uniforms of simple soldiers to generals -- is made in Bangkok within the workshop of the gifted Thai costuming team of 25 blades and seamstresses. "An ex-Burmese soldier refugee in Bangkok was our curator of these specific military uniforms.""In Bangkok the trees were just like Rangoon, the wild birds seemed exactly the same. It felt right," states Besson-Silla. "The weather is similar and also the excessive warmth and humidity boost the orange glow towards the sun, that you simply also see in Burma. The colour palette which was essential to Luc the saffron, oranges and yellow counseled me there."Eye around the Academy awards: Art Direction, Costumes & Makeup Matter over minds Makeup for beauty a lot more than skin deep Helmers, designers go ahead and take edge from war Realistic, exotic search for 'Lady' Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com