Jonathan Groff, Glee
Before Glee, Jonathan Groff would have not been able to sing Adele's guttural, smoldering anthem of heartbreak, "Rolling in the Deep," which he used to swagger back onto the hit show last week. The actor, previously best known for his work in New York theatre, says it was Glee that taught him to rock out.
"The first song I sang with Vocal Adrenaline was 'Highway to Hell' and I remember calling [music producer] Adam Anders and saying, 'Maybe we should sit down with a...
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Simon Baker
Go ahead and stare at Simon Baker. Gawk at his curly golden locks and his winning smile. He doesn't mind, really.
"It doesn't bother me because I know time is ticking," the 41-year-old Baker tells TVGuide.com. "I've been doing this for almost 20 years, and I'm able to see myself age on film. Eventually I know what I'm going to become — I've seen my father."
When Bruno Heller was looking to cast a leading man to play the role of Patrick Jane in The Mentalist, he was won over by Baker's looks as well. But he quickly learned there was much more beneath the surface. "What Jane does is get in people's physical space and inside their heads, and in order to do that, you have to be someone that people want to be close to, whether they know it or not," Heller says. "It needed a very magnetic personality playing the part.
Look back at Simon Baker's most memorable roles
"Simon has a physical and mental grace. He's always switched on — he's always alert, always alive," Heller continues. "If you watch him working on a stage, he's never just going through the lines. He's always looking for the extra grace notes. It's actually a much tougher job. Very few actors can do the hard physical work that must be done on a show like this."
But back in the late 1980s, when Baker first began acting in commercials in his native Australia, he laughed at the idea of considering acting a form of labor...
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Mark Ruffalo
Mark Ruffalo has been offered the role of Hulk alter ego Bruce Banner in The Avengers, but he has yet to decide whether to take it, his management tells TVGuide.com.
A Marvel Studios spokesman declined to comment...
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(Not that it has even left theaters yet.) Just when you thought you might be able to quit Brokeback Mountain... Universal has announced that the acclaimed drama, which earned Ang Lee a best-director Oscar, will arrive on DVD April 4.
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Jon Stewart
The 78th Annual Academy Awards 8:01: The opening scene just demonstrates why we love Jon Stewart: No one does self-deprecation so funny. Not even George Clooney. I think my dog would look great in a Steve Martin wig.
8:05: At first, the Hollywood royalty aren't laughing quite as hard as I am at Jon's jokes — especially not at the one about the suffering caused by movie piracy. But nothing brings people together like a Bjork joke. (She was trying on her gown and Cheney shot her!) And then the gay Western montage. Not even Stewart knows how to follow up that hilarity, so I'm not even gonna try. Brilliant.
8:16: Nicole Kidman's weird intro for the best-supporting-actor nominees has me thinking right away that Clooney will win. And then he does; self-deprecation keeps working wonders. "So I'm not winning director." The music starts after about 10 sec
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George Clooney
Joan & Melissa LIVE at the Academy Awards5:30: I'm so glad my colleagues over at the channel have decided to go blue for the red carpet. Setting the tone for the evening, Joan Rivers begins with a slightly disturbing scene in which she spreads 'em for Matt Dillon in Crash and groans a lot. And she warns us that there are many more such scenes from the nominated movies to come. Next she gives a nod to Isaac Mizrahi's infamously presumptuous Golden Globes coverage at rival E!. "I would never be so presumptuous!" she declares while she pokes Lisa Rinna in the boob. Instead of groping her interviewees, she'll be using cards to indicate whether they are wearing underwear and/or have real breasts. This'll be interesting.
5:33: Joan gives her own thank-you speech tailor-made to offend her entire crew: "We are color-blind here at TV Guide. Right, black person?" Then she fills the time
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Screen Actors Guild Awards The night actors pat each other on the back. Much like the Golden Globes, there wasn't a host. There were plenty of awkward moments of presenter chatter, and TelePrompTer problems out the Ziyi Zhang. Everyone was having issues reading the thing, except for the wonder known as Dakota Fanning. I mean, the 11-year-old was unflappable as she introduced Shirley Temple Black's life achievement portion of the evening. I seriously think she's genetically enhanced, like one of those Dark Angel characters. Some other highlights:
- I much appreciated the Peter Graves-Barbara Bain Mission: Impossible reunion, PrompTer issues and all.- I admit it: While I thought the beginning "I'm an actor" monologues were supremely cheesy, I fell for them. - Apparently, if your name's S. Epatha Merkers
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Lost's Evangeline Lilly, Yunjin Kim and Cynthia Watros
Monday's Golden Globes ceremony saw ABC's Lost and Desperate Housewives win the best drama and comedy categories, while Brokeback Mountain hauled away a quartet of statues, including prizes for best dramatic film and for director Ang Lee. Although Weeds' Mary-Louise Parker bested four Housewives to take home honors for best actress in a comedy series, Felicity Huffman didn't leave empty-handed, earning dramatic-actress kudos for her turn in Transamerica. TVGuide.com has the complete coverage you seek, including pictures, a roundup of the winners, Watercooler chatter, video interviews and a whole lotta
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Geena Davis, Commander in Chief
After the shell-shocked winners step off stage at the Golden Globe Awards, they go backstage to meet the press. When they find us reporters camped out in the Wilshire Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the stars are granted a second chance of sorts: They can either address the world with more eloquence than they mustered onstage, or simply make bigger fools of themselves! Once this TVGuide.com reporter got past surly security guards at the door, I took my seat and watched a parade of Lost thespians, Desperate Housewives and Brokeback Mountaineers take their shots. Read on to see how they fared in the media frenzy.
5:15 pm/PT What will Syriana scene-stealer George Clooney do with his best-supporting-actor trophy? "I'm going to put this on the hood of my car," he quipped. "Is that too much?" Everybody's a joker, George. But this time it's a plus: While Mr. Clooney couldn't resist making that Jack Abramoff crack onstage, at
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The big winners at the 11th Annual Critics' Choice Awards, broadcast Monday night on WB, were Brokeback Mountain (for best picture, director Ang Lee and supporting actress Michelle Williams [tied with Junebug's Amy Adams]), Capote's Philip Seymour Hoffman (best actor) and Walk the Line's Reese Witherspoon (best actress). Cinderella Man's Paul Giamatti was named best supporting actor.
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