TV Guide Author: michael.ausiello

Alec and Kim Staying Put in U.S.

Alec Baldwin is denying reports that he and wife Kim Basinger plan to leave the U.S. if George W. Bush should ultimately be declared the next president, and believes a right-wing conspiracy is behind the story's spread. As Baldwin tells TV Guide Online, the saga dates back to 1992, when a reporter asked him what he would do if [then-incumbent president] George Bush beat Bill Clinton. "And my exact words were, in a very offhanded way, 'It might be a good time to leave the country,'" recalls the staunch Democrat. "So, eight years later, a journalist in an interview with my wife brings up that quote and [asks], 'Well, if your husband is to leave the country, would you go with [him]?'" Naturally, Basinger replied that she would, and according to Baldwin, certain factions of the media  most notably Internet gossip guru Matt Drudge  had a field day. "Drudge prints in the Drudge Report, 'Baldwin Vows to Leave U.S. If Bu

Wed, Dec 6, 2000

Lena Olin ODs on Chocolat

For the stars of Miramax's upcoming comic fable, Chocolat, life was literally like a box of the sweet dark stuff. But unlike Forrest Gump, Lena Olin knew exactly what she was going to get the day she showed up to work on the film's London set: A big bellyache. "We did a scene where Vianne (Juliette Binoche) comes to see Josephine (Olin) in her room and she hands her a rose truffle... and it's a big piece of chocolate," recalls the Swedish-born actress. "And [with all the different takes], I had to eat 40 or more of these big chocolates. By the end of the day, I was so nauseous." Still, Olin  who says she cured her upset stomach by filling up on "salty things, like potato chips"  admits that her co-workers had no trouble gorging themselves on Chocolat's scene-stealing props. "People were on that chocolate," laughs the 1990 Oscar nominee (Enemies: A Love Story). "Crew, cast... everybody was eating the chocola

Tue, Dec 5, 2000

The Skinny on Courtney Thorne-Smith

Her name is Courtney Thorne-Smith, and she has an eating disorder. The former star of Ally McBeal tells US Weekly that the pressure to be thin ultimately led her to quit the Fox dramedy. "I started undereating, overexercising, pushing myself too hard and brutalizing my immune system," the 33-year-old actress says. "The amount of time I spent thinking about food and being upset about my body was insane." Thorne-Smith, who reprised her Ally role as attorney Georgia Thomas on the show's season premiere, said the breaking point came last year when she learned she would have to do a nude scene. "I ate fruit all week just to try to be really lean by Friday," the ex-Melrose Place heroine recalls of the May 18, 1999 Ally episode. "I remember Gil [Bellows, who played her hubby, Billy] said, 'You look good,' and I was like, 'I'd better. I haven't had a piece of chicken in five days.

Tue, Dec 5, 2000

Lisa Ling: Shorn to Be Wild

Not since Felicity's Keri Russell took a machete to her mane has a haircut wigged out so many. On last Wednesday's The View, co-host Lisa Ling, 27, went under the knife for an image-altering trim, and five days later the new 'do is still causing a stir. "I've been on the show for a year and a half and I've never gotten as much of a response as I have over this haircut," Ling tells TV Guide Online. "I talked about doing it on Tuesday, and within one minute of the show ending, I had 600 e-mails. It's been overwhelming. "I like to think that we discuss very stimulating, topical issues on our show, [but] inevitably the e-mail I get will reflect what I'm wearing or my hair," adds Ling with a sigh. "But that's just the way it is. And quite honestly, I'm guilty of it myself. I'll be watching a show and no matter what the person's talking about, I get fixated on his or her appearance." Ling, whose long,

Mon, Dec 4, 2000

Introducing Queer's Gale Force

Much of the controversy surrounding Showtime's provocative new gay soap, Queer as Folk, has centered on the character of Brian, a 29-year-old sexual predator who, in Sunday's season premiere (10 pm/ET), seduces a 17-year-old virgin and then discards him like a dirty Kleenex. But it was going to take a lot more than a little statutory rape to scare unknown actor Gale Harold out of taking the role. "Let's be honest, people are breaking the law in every way, in every state, at every second," Gale tells TV Guide Online, "and it's only a small percentage of people who are getting prosecuted for those crimes or even apprehended by the authorities. My point of view on taking this job is that I'm interested in real work... and it's just something that happens. It's not like we're making it up or doing it to try and say, 'Look at this! Freak out! Feel uncomfortable!' It's a real experience, it's something that goes on. And if people are not aware of it, then it's for a var

Fri, Dec 1, 2000

Bruce Reveals: "I Still Love Demi"

With Bruce Willis's 10-year marriage to Demi Moore now officially over, the Unbreakable actor is speaking out about what caused the seemingly rock-solid union to sour. "Things change," Willis tells US Weekly. "People grow at different rates. People change at different rates. It's difficult for any couple to keep their marriage intact under the best of circumstances, and our marriage was under a huge magnifying glass all the time. So it might have been a little more difficult for us." Willis  who declined to discuss his recent split with Spanish beauty Maria Bravo  admitted that he has yet to pinpoint the specific cause of his failed marriage. "I haven't figured it out yet," he explains. "I still love Demi. We're very close. We have three children whom we will continue to raise together, and we're probably as close now as we ever were. We realize that we have a lifelong commitment to our kids. Our friendship continues. The insti

Thu, Nov 30, 2000

Downey Arrest Casts Dark Cloud Over Ally

As Robert Downey Jr. braces for the fallout from his weekend arrest in Palm Springs on a new batch of drug charges, producers of Fox's Ally McBeal no doubt are scrambling to assess what effect, if any, the actor's latest legal skirmish will have on the resurgent dramedy. Downey  who chose Ally as his comeback vehicle after being released from prison in early August on a separate drug charge  was freed on $15,000 bail Sunday after police detained him for cocaine and methamphetamine possession. He also was charged with being under the influence of a controlled substance and committing a felony while out on bail. At the time of his arrest, Downey was on a break from shooting his ninth of 10 scheduled episodes playing Ally's (Calista Flockhart) love interest, legal-eagle Larry (his fourth episode aired last night). However, buoyed by glowing critical reviews and an upkick in the ratings, prod

Tue, Nov 28, 2000

Felicity Cutup's Stage Fright

For three years, Robert Patrick Benedict has kept Felicity viewers in stitches as Noel's (Scott Foley) goofy, obnoxious sidekick Richard. However, behind-the-scenes of the WB drama, the actor admits that the comedy doesn't always come as that much of a relief. "When you work on a closed set without a studio audience like this, you don't know if people are laughing or not," Benedict tells TV Guide Online. "And if they are, you don't know if they're laughing with you or at you. It's a lot of [pressure]." Luckily, this season, producers decided it was high time that Benedict be given more to do than deliver some witty dialogue every third week. In a recent episode, Richard revealed some surprising vulnerability when he came out... as a virgin. "He's more three dimensional now as opposed to being [just] comic relief," he notes. "I was the annoying nudge down the hall. Now they're slowly developin

Mon, Nov 27, 2000

Ricki Lake: Queen of Queens

Ricki Lake is only halfway through her six-episode stint as Kevin James's sister on The King of Queens, and already producers of CBS's hit sitcom are begging her to quit her day job. "They want me there every week," Lake tells TV Guide Online. "They're like, 'Wait a minute, can't your talk show go away? Can't it be cancelled?'" Not likely. Although Lake says she's "so psyched" to be a part of Queens, the native New Yorker insists she has no plans to put down her microphone anytime soon. "My talk show is not going anywhere," she says. "I truly love going to work every day. I love talking to people about the inner-most details of their life. "But I love acting, too," adds Lake, who has agreed to return to Queens on a recurring basis next season. "So, this is a great opportunity where I'm able to come in and play this really funny part. It feels like just enough for me right now." Besides, i

Fri, Nov 24, 2000

Ricki Lake: Queen of Queens

Ricki Lake is only halfway through her six-episode stint as Kevin James's sister on The King of Queens, and already producers of CBS's hit sitcom are begging her to quit her day job. "They want me there every week," Lake tells TV Guide Online. "They're like, 'Wait a minute, can't your talk show go away? Can't it be cancelled?'" Not likely. Although Lake says she's "so psyched" to be a part of Queens, the native New Yorker insists she has no plans to put down her microphone anytime soon. "My talk show is not going anywhere," she says. "I truly love going to work every day. I love talking to people about the inner-most details of their life. "But I love acting, too," adds Lake, who has agreed to return to Queens on a recurring basis next season. "So, this is a great opportunity where I'm able to come in and play this really funny part. It feels like just enough for me right now." Besides, i

Thu, Nov 23, 2000

Ricki Lake: Queen of Queens

Ricki Lake is only halfway through her six-episode stint as Kevin James's sister on The King of Queens, and already producers of CBS's hit sitcom are begging her to quit her day job. "They want me there every week," Lake tells TV Guide Online. "They're like, 'Wait a minute, can't your talk show go away? Can't it be cancelled?'" Not likely. Although Lake says she's "so psyched" to be a part of Queens, the native New Yorker insists she has no plans to put down her microphone anytime soon. "My talk show is not going anywhere," she says. "I truly love going to work every day. I love talking to people about the inner-most details of their life. "But I love acting, too," adds Lake, who has agreed to return to Queens on a recurring basis next season. "So, this is a great opportunity where I'm able to come in and play this really funny part. It feels like just enough for me right now." Besides, i

Wed, Nov 22, 2000

Boy Meets Queer World

Theater-trained actor Randy Harrison makes his television debut with Showtime's provocative new series Queer as Folk  and what an initiation it is. In the pilot episode, airing Dec. 3 on the cable network, the newcomer's 17-year-old alter ego, Justin, loses his virginity with a 29-year-old in a scene so sexually explicit that even the predominantly gay audience at last week's premiere screening in New York were squirming in their seats. "It actually wasn't as much of an adjustment as I thought it would be," Harrison tells TV Guide Online of his transition from the stage to the small screen. "The cast is amazing and it's such a great environment up in Toronto (where Queer is shot). We all get along really well, which you sort of have to given the intimate nature of a lot of the stuff that we have to do. It's been really idyllic." Although Queer as Folk delivers on its promise to be as racy as the British series on which it is based, Harrison

Mon, Nov 20, 2000

Great Expectations

The pressure is on for Bruce Willis and director M. Night Shyamalan. The duo's highly anticipated follow-up to last year's $293-million-grossing phenomenon, The Sixth Sense, arrives in theaters on Wednesday, and you don't have to possess special powers to know that expectations are high. But the inevitable hype surrounding Unbreakable didn't dampen Willis's enthusiasm about the project. "There was huge excitement on my part," the actor admits. "[I] couldn't wait to get started on this film. There were a lot of times in pre-production [where] I kept calling and saying, 'Come on man, let's start this thing. Let's start shooting this movie.' I don't think there was any trepidation [because The Sixth Sense] had done well financially." Shyamalan admits that the added stress placed on him as a result of The Sixth Sense actually benefited Unbreakable. "I viewed it personally as a great opportunity and an honor to have everybody very

Mon, Nov 20, 2000

Oscar's Newest Golden Boy?

Newsweek called him "the most endearing prepubescent hero since the disarming Swedish waif in My Life as a Dog 15 years ago." Well, come February, the rest of the world may be calling 14-year-old Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell an Oscar nominee. Regardless, don't expect to see the young Brit back on the big screen anytime soon. "He's got two years of heavy exams," Billy Elliot director Stephen Daldry tells TV Guide Online of Bell, who attends public school in his hometown of Billingham, England. "At the end of two years, maybe he can do some more film work." Daldry  a celebrated London stage director who made his feature debut with Billy Elliot, the story of a little boy who wants to be a ballet dancer  believes that Bell is making a wise decision resisting the lure of the spotlight. "What should happen to the kid? Should he move down to London and try to get a film career? I think it would be a disaster," he

Fri, Nov 17, 2000

Cyndi Lauper: She's Too Unusual for TV

Television is not ready for a sitcom starring '80s pop icon Cyndi Lauper  at least not yet anyway. The actress/musician had been talking with NBC about starring in her own comedy series, but creative differences  coupled with an executive shake-up at the Peacock  led to the project's collapse. "It was a sitcom incorporating music and video... [but it] was too radical for what they wanted," Lauper tells TV Guide Online. "They kept making it conform, conform, conform to their thing." The departures of NBC execs Warren Littlefield and Bridget Potter  the latter of whom Lauper describes as "a great creative force behind what I was trying to do"  ultimately laid the idea to rest. But the colorful performer, who netted a 1995 Emmy for her recurring role as flamboyant Marianne Lugasso on Mad About You, remains confident that the project will someday rise from the dead. "It will come," she insists. "There will be someplace t

Thu, Nov 16, 2000

Helen Hunt: Not So Mad About Critics?

Mad About You has been off the air for more than a year now, but TV critics still cite the comedy as a perfect example of a show that overstayed its welcome in American living rooms. But don't expect Oscar-winner Helen Hunt  who, along with co-star Paul Reiser, earned $22 million for the show's ratings- and quality-challenged final season  to apologize for not quitting sooner. "I didn't feel that way," she tells TV Guide Online. "What can I say? Some people think it got better as they went along. I thought it got more interesting, actually. I thought the marriage had gotten to a place where they had to start going through difficult things like fertility... [So], I don't regret it." Hunt  who received an equally severe tongue-lashing from critics for her most recent film, Pay It Forward  admits that the decision to take Mad About You into its seventh year was fueled mostly by a need for closure. "At the end of the si

Thu, Nov 16, 2000

Nathan Lane Sees Angry People

Nathan Lane's decision to blurt out the shocking twist at the end of The Sixth Sense on the Late Show with David Letterman last year is still coming back to haunt him. The film's Oscar-nominated director, M. Night Shyamalan  whose latest effort, Unbreakable, also contains a kicker climax  admits that he was miffed that the Birdcage star played the role of spoiler. "I got really upset about that because he did it in kind of a cruel way, trying to be [a] funny, on-the-edge comedian, and it didn't go [over well]," Shyamalan says. "The crowd moaned  everybody moaned  because he said it. It wasn't a cool thing, and I don't think he got a lot of satisfaction out of it. I know he received a lot of negative attention for it." Calls to Lane's spokesperson were not returned at press time. Despite one actor's lapse in judgement, Shyamalan has faith that the average moviegoer  as well as members of the media 

Wed, Nov 15, 2000

Coming Up Necks on Buffy and Angel...

The title characters on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel better brace themselves: Tonight's crossover event  starting at 8 pm/ET on the WB  features the much-anticipated return of queen vamp Drusilla (Juliet Landau). However, according to co-executive producer Marti Noxon, the ex-lover of Angel (David Boreanaz) and Spike (James Marsters) won't be commuting between both shows for long. "The initial crossover shows her on Buffy, but she's really going to be populating the Angel universe," Noxon tells TV Guide Online. "That's where we're going to be seeing more of her." Considering the winning chemistry between Landau and Marsters, some Buffy fans will no doubt feel that such news bites big time. But as Noxon explains, Drusilla's services were in greater demand on Angel. "In the Angel w

Tue, Nov 14, 2000

No Friends for Katie Holmes

Rumors are rampant that Dawson's Creek babe Katie Holmes is in talks to appear in four episodes of Friends later this season playing a youngster with a connection to Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) who ends up falling for Ross (David Schwimmer). But the actress shouldn't bid Dawson and Pacey adieu just yet... "That's news to me," responds an NBC spokesperson. "But maybe Warner Bros. would know and they just haven't shared yet." Actually, a rep for the studio behind the sitcom also was in the dark about any such development. "I have not heard that at all," she says. Holmes's publicist, Leslie Sloane, was equally unaware of such negotiations. "If anything, Katie's got a movie in the works, so that doesn't make sense," says Sloane, referring to the Edward Zwick-directed Abandoned, in which the actress will play a college student

Tue, Nov 14, 2000

Who's That Guy?

Mark Ruffalo, star of the just-released Sundance winner You Can Count on Me, may not be a household name yet, but that's not to say moviegoers don't know him. "People say that I remind them of their little brother a lot," Ruffalo tells TV Guide Online. "[Or they] think that I look like [an] evil Donny Osmond." Well, if You Can Count on Me becomes the hit some predict, Osmond soon may be referred to as the good Mark Ruffalo. The film  which is generating Oscar buzz for Ruffalo and co-star Laura Linney  explores the relationship between a brother and sister orphaned at a young age. "I liked how complex he was," Ruffalo says of his character, an irresponsible yet well-intentioned drifter. "He's got a lot of different emotional notes: He's angry but he's also really open; he's frustrated but [also] willing to hear; he's cruel but, at the same time, very caring. As an actor, it's really exciting [and] challenging to play those d

Mon, Nov 13, 2000

Don't Count Out Linney

As one of the stars of 1998's The Truman Show starring Jim Carrey, relatively obscure thesp Laura Linney received some long-overdue exposure. Yet, the film  which grossed $125 million in North America and earned a handful of Oscar nominations  didn't give the actress the career boost some had anticipated. "Quite frankly," Linney tells TV Guide Online, "there wasn't a lot there for me." That's not to suggest that the post-Truman era hasn't been a busy one for the Juilliard grad. In addition to shooting four independent films last year  including You Can Count On Me (opening today)  Linney appeared in the TNT flick Running Mates, reprised her role as Mary Ann in the upcoming third installment of Showtime's Tales of the City, and most recently, starred on Broadway in Uncle Vanya. And while none of these projects were on the grand scale of The Truman Show, Linney admits when it comes to choosing

Fri, Nov 10, 2000

David and Delta: A Match Made in Hell?

David Alan Grier didn't anticipate there would be much trouble finding an actress to play the first lady to his secret service agent in NBC's new comedy, DAG. "When we started casting, I thought, 'Well, we would have our pick [of] older actresses,'" the former In Living Color actor tells the TV Guide Channel. "In Hollywood, if you're older than 25, you're shunned to the barren women's menstrual hut." Designing Women alum Delta Burke apparently escaped in time to nab this plum role  to the surprise of Grier. "Her name came late to the mix. I didn't even know if she wanted to do a show," he admits, before adding with a laugh, "She came in and we just went at each other... fighting, pulling hair. I said, 'Wow.' I can take a punch and I can work with Delta." In DAG, which premieres Nov. 14 (9:30 pm/ET), Grier's Jerome "Dag" Daggett

Thu, Nov 9, 2000