Russian-born Anton Yelchin, whose recent credits include Alpha Dog and TV's Huff, is in talks to play Pavel Chekov, the eventual navigator of the USS Enterprise, in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek film, says the Hollywood Reporter. Unreliable sources tell me the audition process involved having a Ceti eel implanted in your ear. Yowch.Yelchin will join the recently cast Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy, who will both play Spock. Casting is under way in New York and London for Kirk (Josh Duhamel? Is Nathan Fillion too old?), Bones, Uhura (yikes, we're going to get Rihanna, aren't we)?, Sulu, and Scotty. Abrams is expected to sign big names to play the villain and a Federation captain.What, no Hayden Panettiere as Yeoman Rand?!
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As Huff’s second season opens, the title shrink (Hank Azaria) is lost in thought, not paying attention to his droning patient. Kind of how I felt watching this whiny, discordant and unfocused drama (Sundays at 10 pm/ET on Showtime), which whipsaws wildly and mostly unsuccessfully between raunchy dark comedy and existential family tragedy.
I kept watching my DVD time display, waiting (like the doctor) for each hour to be up. I got through seven of 13 new episodes before bailing, around the time Huff’s blabby conscience, which takes the form of a “Homeless Hungarian,” tells him to “wake up and smell the unspoken need.”
What I’m smelling is Showtime’s desperate need to launch a breakout drama that could attract the buzz of an FX or an HBO. Huff isn’t it.
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Sometimes my job gets spooky. Minutes after I Q&A'd Tara Lipinski (re: an upcoming Malcolm in the Middle), a TV Guide colleague asks if I want to chat up Amber Heard, an ingénue-on-the-rise who plays a big role on tonight's Criminal Minds (9 pm/ET on CBS) but more interestingly got the edgy film role Lipinski just told me she had to pass on. Alpha Dog (in theaters May 12), though, is but one of the many gigs Heard is about to hit you with. In fact, you may be looking at the fledgling CW network's first breakout star. You be the judge.
TVGuide.com: Get this: I just interviewed Tara Lipinski, who opted to pass on a role in Alpha Dog because of the, um, required nudity. That's the gig you wound up with, right?Amber Heard: I definitely think it is. Th
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