Friday, October 30, 2009

Actress Gilbert Helps Youngster's Debut

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Actress Gilbert Helps Youngster's Debut

Taylor Leigh Bera, age 11, just began her first professional national tour in the musical version of "Little House on the Prairie." In addition to a role as a schoolgirl, she also is an understudy for one of the leads.

She's already played Carrie Ingalls, the part she understudies, twice. She only found out about her first understudy performance 30 minutes before the curtain rose.

Luckily, she had a hand from Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls in the television series of "Little House on the Prairie," and who plays Ma in the musical.

"[Gilbert] is really nice. She helped me a lot when I was playing Carrie [that first night] because it was so last minute," Bera said.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Advocacy Groups Opposes Actress Search

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Advocacy Groups Opposes Actress Search

The Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, as well as other groups, are protesting the decision to cast Abigail Breslin, who starred in "Little Miss Sunshine," as Helen Keller in the revival of "The Miracle Worker."

The groups are protesting that no hearing- or vision-impaired actresses were auditioned for the role of Keller, who was deaf and blind. The part was played in the original Broadway production by Patty Duke.

Lead producer of the show David Richenthal explained that he needed an established star for the role and his research did not producer any well-known deaf or blind young actresses.

Richenthal did say that he would audition deaf and blind actresses to be Breslin's understudy.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Kristen Bell is an Older Actress than You Think

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Kristen Bell is an Older Actress than You Think

You might not realize Kristen Bell is 29 years old. Her characters are usually much younger. She played a high school student in "Veronica Mars" when she was already in her mid 20s.

She's excited to finally play a woman who's been married a several years in the recent movie "Couples Retreat."

She realizes that in a few years she will miss her youthful appearance. Then again, she used to look up to character actresses, and she thinks ingenue roles "tend to be boring."

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

New York Actress Johansson Comes to Broadway

Gina Wilhelm Actress - New York Actress Johansson Comes to Broadway

Scarlett Johansson is the latest Hollywood actor to come to Broadway. She'll be starring opposite Liev Schrieber in the revival of Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge."

Johansson, who was born in New York, will play Schrieber's 17-year-old niece. Previews for the play will begin December 28, and the show is set to run 14 weeks.

Strong sales this season on Broadway are being credited to high-profile screen actors like Johansson appearing on stage.

Some producers say having Hollywood stars in a play are essential to ensuring profits on Broadway.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Monday, October 26, 2009

Running with New York Actress Sarah Jones

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Running with New York Actress Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones learned her pitch-perfect accents, which serve her well in her one-woman shows, growing up in New York City.

Her characters, voices, and accents get exercise even while she runs through Central Park while she trains for the New York Marathon.

While jogging on the bridle path, she slips into the voice of her Jewish grandmother character. “Sarah puts me in marathon, can you imagine? And I says: Fine, I’ll do it, I hope the weather isn’t too bad. I love the running.”

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Friday, October 23, 2009

Remembering Collin Wilcox Paxton

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Remembering Collin Wilcox Paxton

Collin Wilcox Paxton passed away earlier this month at the age of 74. Wilcox played Mayella Violet Ewell in the film version of "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Her character falsely accused Brock Peters, who is black and is defended in court by Atticus Finch, played by Gregory Peck. Peck won an Oscar for his performance.

In 2007, Paxton talked about her audition for the role. Already an accomplished stage actress, she said the other girls reading for the role were too made up. "They had curly, clean hair and wore brassieres and high heels.

"I wore a secondhand dress, tennis shoes with holes in them, and dirty little white socks. I rubbed cold cream through my hair -- that's why my hair looked so dirty," she said.

Paxton was involved with the civil rights movement and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

At once NAACP conference in Monterrey, CA, Paxton received many "unfriendly looks," and a conference official had to remind the attendees that she was not her character from the film.

Paxton appeared on TV in "The Twilight Zone," "The Waltons," "The Fugitive," "Dr. Kildare," and "Gunsmoke."

On film, she was also in "Jaws 2," "The Baby Maker," and "Catch-22."

Her Broadway debut was in "The Day the Money Stopped," for which she earned the Clarence Derwent Award for most promising female.

She also wrote the play "Papa's Angels," which was later adapted into a book and a TV movie.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Hilary Swank Honored for Being a Good Actress

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Hilary Swank Honored for Being a Good Actress

The Hollywood Film Festival will be honoring Hilary Swankfor her body of work on October 26 at the Beverly Hilton.

Swank, who stars in the biopic about Amelia Earhart, will receive the Actress Award. Her male counterpart will be Robert De Niro.

Other honorees are Julianne Moore for supporting actress, Kathryn Bigelow, director of "The Hurt Locker," and Nora Ephron for screenwriting "Julie & Julia." Disney/Pixar will be honored for "Up."

"Breakthrough" awards will be given to Carey Mulligan for "An Education" and Gabourey Sidibe for "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire."

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Monday, October 19, 2009

Megan Fox is a Good Actress

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Megan Fox is a Good Actress

Fans have voted Megan Fox the best science fiction actress at the 2009 Spike TV Scream festival for her performance in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

Also recognized at the award ceremony were Taylor Lautner for best new fantasy actress for her work in "Twilight."

Anna Paquin also received best horror actress for her role on the series "True Blood."

Isabel Lucas won best new science fiction actress in "Transformers."

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Older Actress Megan Mullally Finds Freedom

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Older Actress Megan Mullally Finds Freedom

Now that she's over age 50, Megan Mullallyno longer has to worry about trying to get "babe" roles. In "youth-obsessed" Hollywood, that might worry some actresses.

Mullally finds it freeing. Now she's able to take the character roles she believes directors wouldn't have considered her for before.

She's currently appearing in "The Receptionist" at Odyssey Theatre, playing a frumpy gossiping biddy at the center of the storm.

She's had a plethora of exciting career choices since "Will and Grace" went off the air in 2006.

While she's thrilled to have the opportunity to play new character parts, she's still considering writing "Karen: The Musical" based on her character from that television show.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Saturday, October 17, 2009

O'Hara Finds Her Inner Wild Thing

Gina Wilhelm Actress - O'Hara Finds Her Inner Wild Thing

Catherine O'Hara recorded her voice work for cranky monster Judith in "Where the Wild Things Are" three years ago, but she remembers the experience well.

Director Spike Jonze wanted the cast to get in touch with their wild thing inside, so instead of having his voice actors stand behind microphones, he had them "thrown together in a physical reenactment of the movie."

She explains, "Spike seems to believe, why make an actor fake something, when you can just give them that experience?"

She had to record one scene while having a bun fight with the rest of the cast.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Rashida Jones Options Comic Book

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Rashida Jones Options Comic Book

Rashida Jones, star of "The Office" and "Parks & Recreation," has optioned the movie rights to her comic book "Frenemy of the State" to Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment.

She will cowrite the screenplay with actor Will McCormack.

"Frenemy of the State" was announced at the San Diego Comic Con in July, but has yet to be published. Jones is co-writing the comic with Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir and artist Jeff Wamester.

Jones says she didn't create the comic as a vehicle for herself, though the main character does bear a striking resemblance to the actress.

"It's intended for a girl much younger than me, about age 20, an interesting age for girls as they make that scary jump to adulthood," she explained.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Carey Mulligan Gets "An Education"

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Carey Mulligan Gets "An Education"

Carey Mulligan is making a splash in Hollywood with her performance in "An Education" and will next be seen in the sequel to "Wall Street."

She doesn't see this as a huge change from the acting work she's done in England. "Honestly, the main difference is the catering. The catering in America is so much better.

"But really, every job is the same in terms of the fear that you feel walking into the room on the first day. The desperation to please the director and to fit in with everybody else."

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Maggie Jones's Illness Prompts Rewrite

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Maggie Jones's Illness Prompts Rewrite


Maggie Jones, who plays battleaxe Blanche on the soap opera "Coronation Street," has had to be quickly written out of the script while she's in the hospital for emergency surgery.

Jones's deft comic timing has earned her many awards, including the Funniest Performance at the Inside Soap Awards.

Explaining her performance, Jones has said, "If I started trying to play the lines for laughs, they wouldn’t come out right and the performance would suffer."

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Monday, October 12, 2009

Kim Ok-Vin Best Actress

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Kim Ok-Vin Best Actress

Kim Ok-vin won the best actress award at the 42nd Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in Spain.

She shared the award with Elena Anaya of Spain. She won for her performance in "Thirst," a vampire movie that won the jury prize at Cannes. It was directed by Park Chan-wook.

Kim made her debut in an online beauty contest.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Lynn Redgrave Returns to Ten Chimneys

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Lynn Redgrave Returns to Ten Chimneys

Lynn Redgrave is set to return to Ten Chimneys in Wisconsin to participate in the national fellowship program for actors there.

There will be a 9-day retreat held at the site starting July 10 focusing on Shakespeare. Redgrave led the masterclasses and retreat last summer and will return this year.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Nicole Eggert Can Take and Make a Joke

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Nicole Eggert Can Take and Make a Joke

Nicole Eggert, who starred in "Baywatch" but is now 37 and has been away from the beach for a while, has been called "fat" by some critics.

Eggert proved she takes it all in stride, though, and has responded with a new video on Funnyordie.com.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Friday, October 9, 2009

Mia Wasikowska is Restless

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Mia Wasikowska is Restless

Mia Wasikowska plays the title character in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," which won't be released until March.

That hasn't stopped her from translating that role into more parts. She is the first actor to join the cast of Gus Van Sant's new movie "Restless."

The movie is described as a "dark coming-of-age" story. No leading man has been found yet.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Thursday, October 8, 2009

ABC News Looks at Elizabeth Taylor

Gina Wilhelm Actress - ABC News Looks at Elizabeth Taylor

The ABC news website has posted a gallery of Elizabeth Taylor photos through the years.

Taylor is undergoing heart surgery to repair a "leaky valve" and requested prayers from her fans via her Twitter account.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Debi Mazar No Longer "Dancing"

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Debi Mazar No Longer "Dancing"

Debi Mazar, star of "Entourage," has been eliminated from the hit show "Dancing With the Stars."

The actress was originally considered a front-runner, as she had been a hip-hop dancer and had danced in Madonna videos, but wound up being in the lowest-scoring couple on the show.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Naomi Watts is the Best Value in Actresses

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Naomi Watts is the Best Value in Actresses

Forbes Magazine analyzed the salaries and box office returns of the top actresses in Hollywood and announced that British-born actress Naomi Watts is the "best value" actress.

Watts's last three movies made $44 for every dollar she was paid.

Jennifer Connelly and Rachel McAdams were also highly rated for value, as was Meryl Streep, who, despite her high status and multiple Oscar nominations, earns $27 for each dollar she is paid.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Monday, October 5, 2009

Sherri Shepherd's Sitcom Premieres

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Sherri Shepherd's Sitcom Premieres

Sherri Shepherd, co-host of "The View," had a new sitcom premiere tonight at 7 p.m. on the Lifetime network.

Her new show, called "Sherri," finds her playing a recently divorced paralegal/actress with sass, charm, and heart.

Gina Wilhelm Actress