Get Ready for the Tonys

KaGina Wilhelm Actress - Get Ready for the Tonys

The Tony Award ceremony will air Sunday night at 8 p.m. on CBS. Before the awards are handed out, Linda Winer of newsday.com looked at several magic moments from this year on Broadway.

Among the actress-related highlights was the confrontation between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots in "Mary Stuart."

The powerful meeting reveals both the courage and insecurity in both queens.

Lauren Ambrose received plaudits for her performance in "Exit the King." In it, she believes that she "love the life back into" Geoffrey Rush's titular king.

Winer feels Kristin Scott Thomas has been wrongly overlooked for her work in the revival of "The Seagull."

Pia Glenn's work in Will Ferrell's "You're Welcome, America, A Final Night with George W. Bush" also deserves some appreciation.

Glenn received the Astaire Award for best female dancer for her turn as the disco-dancing Condoleezza Rice.

Finally, Winer highlights Angela Lansbury's work as Madame Arcati in the revival of "Blithe Spirit." Lansbury is nominated for a Tony for this work. Tomorrow we'll see if she wins!

Gina Wilhelm Actress

A New Twist on the Period Drama

Gina Wilhelm Actress - A New Twist on the Period Drama

Jessica Biel has done several action roles, notably "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Cellular."

So when she got her role in the period piece "Easy Virtue," she had to study, mainly watching Katharine Hepburn and Jean Harlow.

Even with the study, she was still nervous going into the film. She was the only American in the movie, which also stars Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Firth says she needn't have worried. He found her enchanting, and said that "The entire crew was reduced to poor saps."

In the movie, she plays a blond bombshell race car driver.

The entire movie should be a departure from the standard period piece. It's being directed by Stephan Elliott, who helmed "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Carey Mulligan Makes it Big at Sundance

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Carey Mulligan Makes it Big at Sundance

Carey Mulligan is having a good year.

She just made her Broadway debut in "The Seagull" with Kristin Scott Thomas, and she was an audience and critic favorite at the Sundance Film Festival in "An Education."

"An Education" sparked a bidding war at the festival.

She also appeared in "The Greatest" this year with Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon, for which she had to learn a new accent.

Mulligan made her film debut in "Pride and Prejudice" with Keira Knightly at an open casting call.

All this is in spite of the fact that she's never had any formal training.

Instead, she gets her training working with some of the greats in the industry like Emma Thompson, Sarandon, Brosnan, and Sally Hawkins.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Has Kate Winslet "Blown Her Chances" at an Oscar?

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Has Kate Winslet "Blown Her Chances" at an Oscar?

Now that the Oscar nominations have come out, everyone is trying to figure out who's going to win.

Film critic Barry Norman thinks that Kate Winslet may have blown her chances at a win with her flustered Golden Globe acceptance speech.

In the speech, Winslet recognized the other women who were nominated in her category. Unfortunately, she forgot the name of Angelina Jolie.

In accepting the Golden Globe, Winslet said "I'm so sorry Anne, Meryl, Kristin - oh god, who's the other one... Angelina!"

Norman feels that between the unintended slight towards Jolie, Hollywood "royalty," and the fact that Winslet isn't American, she may very well have ruined her shot at winning the Oscar.

Though probably not connected, oddsmakers have shortened the odds that Meryl Streep will win the Oscar for her performance in "Doubt."

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Will Melissa Leo Get an Oscar Nomination?

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Will Melissa Leo Get an Oscar Nomination?

As we get closer and closer to the time for Oscar nominations to come out, people are still trying to handicap who--and what--will be named.

Will "Wall-E" be nominated for best picture (not likely. When "Beauty and the Beast" got the nomination, there wasn't an animated feature category)?

How about "The Dark Knight?" Will it (probably)?

And then, who might surprise us with a nomination?

The Chicago Tribune suspects that Melissa Leo may be nominated for her work in "Frozen River."

If that happens, Kristin Scott Thomas or Angelina Jolie may get squeezed out.

Then Angelina will have someone new at whom to glare.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Actress Scott Thomas has Uphill Climb This Award Season

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Actress Scott Thomas has Uphill Climb This Award Season

According to the Los Angeles Times, women named Kate (or Cate) have it easy when it comes to film awards.

Katharine Hepburn was nominated for 12 Oscars. Kate Winslet was the youngest woman to get five nominations. Cate Blanchett has 5 nominations, too, and won a supporting actress Oscar-for playing Kate Hepburn.

Winslet and Blanchett are both up for awards again this year, as is Kate Beckinsale.

Emma Thompson has been nominated for a Golden Globe for her work in "Last Chance Harvey." Her character is named Kate, too.

Where does this leave Kristin Scott Thomas? This year she's brilliant as a woman released from prison after 15 years in "I've Loved You So Long," a French-language film.

Sadly, though, actress Scott Thomas doesn't play a Kate. Not even a Cate or a Kathryn. Instead, she's a "Juliette."

Ah well, at least she has that nomination from 1995 for "The English Patient."

Who did actress Scott Thomas play then? Oh, right: Katharine Clifton.

Gina Wilhelm Actress