Ray Winstone plays troubled hardmen with such conviction, it's easy to believe he's not acting. He talks about his violent past, happy-go-lucky nature and love of westerns

According to an old Fleet Street adage, it is a bad idea to interview your heroes. As I don't have very many, however, the situation seldom arises. But the warning began to make sense while I was getting ready to meet Ray Winstone, for it's hard not to be at least a bit in love with him. So if he turned out to be a twit, I worried, it would be disproportionately upsetting.

Winstone is the East End's answer to George Clooney – the opposite of a luvvie, unaffected and occasionally ungovernable, the kind of man with whom men want to get drunk, and women want to sleep. Haunting performances as a wife-beater in Nil by Mouth, and a retired robber in Sexy Beast, elevated him to the attention of Hollywood, yet despite starring in films by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg he has stayed in Essex, where he lives with his wife of 30 years. He turned down the part of McNulty in The Wire just because he didn't want to uproot his youngest daughter to the US, and everyone who works with him says how lovely he is – great fun, down to earth, an authentic diamond geezer.

So I arrive at an exclusive private members' club in east London feeling mildly uneasy. The feeling lasts for less than a second, replaced by the disorientating sensation of having already met him, so exactly is Winstone as you'd hope him to be. He only chose the swanky venue, he explains, because you can smoke on the terrace, and "I was here in 30 minutes – straight dahn the M11, Old Ford Road and I'm 'ere." He likes being able to get to see West Ham easily, he adds – "keep in touch with my roots" – but is having a crisis of faith in football, after England's World Cup performance.

"I don't think I can go to football any more. It's doing my head in. The lack of passion, it was embarrassing, really embarrassing. Any other profession in the world, if you performed like that, well, you wouldn't get a job. You'd be sacked. And I'm, I'm kind of tired of watching people roll about on the floor – the cheating side of it. I think it's about time they started acting like men, I really do."

Masculinity, it would be fair to say, means a great deal to Winstone. He has that solid, low centre of gravity you find in men who are unusually at ease in their own skin, and a twinkly air of old-fashioned amazement at the silliness of modern metropolitan ideas. Was that, I ask, why he has agreed to promote a western season on the cable channel TCM?

"I just love westerns. One of my favourite actors is John Wayne, probably one of the most underrated actors there's ever been. He's quite an incredible actor. He had this way of being a big man, a big tough man, but he can almost show a sadness on his face – very much in the way James Stewart was, and Henry Fonda, you know? But because they were known as classical actors they got the recognition, didn't they?"

It sounds as if he might identify with this description. "Yeah, I think so," he agrees. "I remember watching The Long Good Friday [starring Bob Hoskins] one evening, and all the swearwords were bleeped out. Then the following week there was a film on with Laurence Olivier, Sir Laurence Olivier? Set in Italy, I think it was. And he swears in it – but he's allowed to swear. Because he's a classical actor. And poor old Bob comes from Luton. And I remember thinking to myself, why on earth is Sir Laurence allowed to say fuck? Does it sound better or something? And Bob from Luton ain't. What, is it less offensive?"

Kathy Burke, Winstone's great friend and co-star in Nil by Mouth, has complained in the past that critics "forget that we're actors. Just because we tend to appear in things with our own accents, saying dialogue that comes naturally to us, people think we're just being ourselves." When I ask Winstone if he agrees, for a moment he hesitates, as if wary of sounding like a whinger.

"Well – well, yeah. You kind of think – well, to me it's about believing in the character you're watching on screen. And I've worked with directors who want to know you're acting. But I don't want to see the acting thing in it. Gary [Oldman] used to say, 'I can see you acting, Raymond.' And I'd go right, OK, let's do it again." His dramatic realism, he says, is more appreciated in the US. "They kind of get it. But here, I see things here that say, well that's just Ray, innit? Well, OK, but no, it's not. I don't beat my wife, and I don't rape my kids, and I don't snort cocaine and go out and beat people. What, that's me? Well, what is Robert De Niro? What's Al Pacino? I don't count myself in that class, but you know, you've got to be believable. You either believe in what you're doing or you don't, and I kind of believe in what I'm doing so I just do it that way."

When Winstone first appeared in the 1977 BBC television play Scum, he was so believable as a violent borstal inmate that the programme was banned, but re-made for cinema two years later. Winstone had just returned from his honeymoon and was completely unprepared for the mayhem that greeted the film's Leicester Square premiere. "It was quite mad," he chuckles. "My wife probably thought, 'Ooh, I've had a right result here.'"

If so, she was in for a disappointment, as her husband's early promise soon began to unravel into bit parts, punch-ups, too much resting and raucous partying. Born in Hackney in 1957, the son of a fruit-and-veg market stall trader, Winstone had been a schoolboy boxing champion but got just a single CSE in drama, and was expelled from drama school for vandalising the head's car. His performance in Scum began to look like one of those rare, mercurial moments of unrepeatable inspiration – and he admits that, in truth, "technically and all that, I wasn't good enough".

Living in a two-bedroom London council flat with his wife and two young daughters, he wound up bankrupt. "I just didn't know how to handle money. It was my fault. I wasn't earning a lot of money, I got 1,800 quid for Scum, and when I worked we was just spending it. It was just like a laugh, you know?"

Wasn't he worried? "No, I've never really worried about anything, you know. Well, that's my trouble, I don't get stressed. No, if I did I'd have probably not got into the situation in the first place. I remember being indoors one day and we got a cheque through the post for Robin of Sherwood. And instead of paying the tax we went on holiday. 'Come on, let's go on holiday, you only live once and all that. We'll worry about the rest tomorrow.'

"But after a while I thought I was probably wasting my time, and I should go out and get a proper job. I couldn't really see myself as an actor. I don't know, I just thought it's not really for me, this." He doesn't know what else he'd have done – "Haven't got a clue, babes" – but maintains he'd still have been happy. "Well, knowing the mentality of me I probably would have been. Yeah, I'm sure I would have been."

I don't think he can have been quite as happy as he says, though, because he was forever getting into fights – though in fairness even this memory doesn't seem to trouble him. "I mean, I was punching people and everything," he recalls with a wolfish grin. "They deserved it, don't worry. A couple of things happened on set where I thought people were rude and that, and they got a clump. I remember years ago I was an extra, just an extra, and instead of asking me to move – he was a big fella – the director just picked me up and moved me. And I headbutted him. You know, he shouldn't have done that, but I shouldn't have done that either. I just done it."

What did you think afterwards? "Well, he deserved it. Then another director, he was so rude all the time – he was molestering [sic] people, I thought – and I was with my little girl, and he started digging me up at a party. And I give it 'im an' all, he got it." He grins, then shrugs philosophically. "But it's all part of growing up I guess." I wonder what his wife said. "Well, Elaine was with me. She said, have you finished now? She said we'd best go now. And she drove us home." She sounds remarkably sanguine, I laugh. "Well, yeah, I guess she's seen a bit." He chuckles fondly. "Not any more, thank God." So she wouldn't have said, Ray, we've got to pay the rent – sort yourself out? "No," he smiles with undisguised pride. "She'd usually join in."

It was Burke who came to the rescue, casting Winstone in a play called Mr Thomas in 1986 that reminded him why he wanted to act. More parts came his way – One Foot in the Grave, Kavanagh QC, The Bill – but he was still basically a jobbing actor until 1997, when Nil by Mouth produced a performance so devastatingly ugly and bathetic, it was impossible to imagine any other actor in the role. Winstone's instinct for the humanity buried inside the most brutalised masculinity was astonishing to witness. He knew himself, even as they were filming, that something radically different was happening.

"Yeah, I thought so. There was a magic about it. It was tough to make, but I knew enough to be much more technically minded, more disciplined. It was the first time I could really stand up on me own feet and be in control of how you was going to go about this, and not be frightened of pushing it to the limit."

The family moved to a big house in Essex, bigger parts came rolling in, and after Sexy Beast in 2000, Hollywood began calling, with starring roles alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Angelina Jolie and Mel Gibson. It must feel strange for the fantasy future he'd hoped for more than 30 years ago to finally arrive – and now that it has, I wonder if he can still feel like the same person. "You'd like to think you were the same person," he ponders thoughtfully. "But I'm much more chilled out. I think I used to be a bit of a raving lunatic."

Life in the Winstone household sounds almost like a caricature of a working-class boy done good. There's his inhouse bar – Raymondo's – and his Sunday roasts, and a photograph of the one time Winstone ever picked up a vacuum cleaner. "Elaine caught me once doing the Hoovering, and took a picture. I do a bit of ironing. But nah, I'm quite old-fashioned." Elaine is a traditional housewife and their eldest two daughters, Lois and Jaime, are now grown-up and both actors, but the youngest goes to the local primary school. "I was all right with nappies, but I had to wear a mask. I can see blood all day long, no bother. But poo? Urggh, no. We don't have nannies and all that, we look after our own kids. It's just what you do. If you want a big family that's just what you do, isn't it?"

When I ask how he's managed to stay married for 30 years, he offers mildly: "I don't know. I suppose being a bit old-fashioned, really. Nowadays it's so easy to have a row and walk away, but I'm pretty old-fashioned, you work at it." Some people claim it's impossible for an actor to remain faithful – but at this, Winstone rolls his eyes and lets rip: "Oh, it's just bullshit. It's fucking hard for anyone. It is, 'cos you're always going to have your rows, and you're always going to have temptations. Always. I kind of look at it and go, 'Why would a 28-year-old want to look at a 53-year-old fat boy?' I don't understand when you look at the paper and see all these people getting caught out," and he pretends to read: "'Sixty-two-year-old so-and-so caught with an 18-year-old so-and-so.' You go, mate, what did you actually think she wanted? Is it hard to work out?" He shakes his head and laughs. "You're going to lose everything, your kids, your wife, your home, everything. Down to some old bird? Nah, I don't think so."

The only time he ever looks vaguely uncomfortable is when I ask why he fronts the frankly tacky TV ads for Bet365, a gambling website. "Cos it's great," he says slightly defensively. "I don't do bank ads or insurance commercials, but with betting, people have a choice. And Bet365 actually helps me to be able to afford to do a film like Fathers of Girls for no money."

I'd been dreading the moment when Fathers of Girls would come up. The forthcoming low-budget film, in which he plays a small-town solicitor whose daughter dies of a drug overdose, is so mawkishly awful, you'd need to be Winstone's own mother (or possibly his daughter Lois, who appears alongside him) not to cringe, or to wonder what Winstone was thinking. His high opinion of the film seems unaccountable - but his explanation turns out to be irreproachable.

"Karl [Howman, the director] is my mate. I read the script and I said it's great, Karl, do you want me to do it? He said: 'What?' I said: 'Do you want me to do it? I'll do it.' He said: 'What, really, would you do it?' 'Of course I'll fucking do it. You're my mate. We've known each other 37 years.' So then we went and done it."

Knowing everything he knows now, if Winstone could go back to back to Scum and 1977, I wonder what would he do differently. He doesn't even pause to think about his answer.

"Nothing. There's no way I'd change anything. Nah, I 'ad a result."

Ray Winstone launches TCM's Western Week, which starts on Monday, Sky Channel 317. Father of Girls is released in October.

Angelina Jolie has officially turned down Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity, putting the film's production in jeopardy.

Though there are five (or is it fifty?) projects Angelina Jolie is flirting with or prepping for right now -- from her directorial debut in Bosnia to Cleopatra -- there's one film she's definitely not doing. In fact, she's refused to sign on twice now, even after some salivating hard-core press from the studio, an intriguing premise, a great director, and big money.

Though Warner Bros. fought to bring her into the fold, and she was initially intrigued by the project when it was at Universal, Jolie refuses to headline Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron's upcoming 3D sci-fi film, which would see her in a challenging Cast Away-type role set on a space station.

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I just hate this. Alfonso Cuaron is a talented filmmaker and his son Jonas wrote a sci-fi script for a movie called "Gravity" which sounds pretty great. They were going to do it with Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey Jr in starring roles, with plans to shoot after Downey finished his work on the "Sherlock [...]

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Madame Tussauds is also celebrating the statue with a special promotion. Visitors can get "buy one, get one free" admission to the D.C. Madame Tussauds to see the statue if they mention the word "umbrella" -- "ella, ella" notwithstanding -- between now and Sept. 30.

Source: CBS News



Kevin Eason is a freelance editorial cartoonist and illustrator from New Jersey. His brand of satire covers news events in politics, entertainment, sports and much more. Follow him on Facebook.

 

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Warner Bros has been trying to put together Alfonso Cuarón's upcoming 3D film "Gravity" into full on production for awhile now, but there's been a snag in the plans. Angelina Jolie was reported to be offered x amount of ridiculous money for the lead female role and would be gracing the screen next to Robert Downey Jr. Not bad right? Well she turned it down, and now Warner Bros is struggling to find a replacement with that much star power to slide next to Downey Jr. "Gravity" focuses on a survivor of a space mission to repair the Hubble telescope who desperately tries to return to Earth and reunite with her daughter. The fairly big budgeted science fiction film is said to start filming next year after Downey wraps up his role in Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes 2". Along with that, he's got to reprise his role as Iron Man/Tony Stark in "The Avengers" which could start filming in early 2011. Sure, it won't be much of a problem situating the filming dates, but it's more so just a reminder that the crossover superhero flick is happening.Apparently there were several women that they screen tested for the female lead role. Those ones include Marion Cotillard, Carey Mulligan, Olivia Wilde, Natalie Portman, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Sandra Bullock, Naomi Watts, Abbie cornish and Sienna Miller. Out of those, which one would you like to see alongside Downey on the screen for "Gravity"?Source: Deadline

Every woman has been in at least one situation where she feels vulnerable, and way too many of us have been attacked for our purse or jewelry or worse. But the good news is you don't need to be a serious ass-kicking action hero a la Angelina Jolie to know how to save your own life. 

Learning self-defense techniques doesn't mean flipping a guy twice your size over your head or having a deadly roundhouse kick (although if you can do those things, so much the better, and also, will you go work out with me?). It just means knowing how to defend yourself sufficiently that you can buy a few precious seconds to get to a safer place, start screaming for help, or run.

I live in a pretty crime-ridden city and used to work long hours, so I have taken a few self-defense classes, and I have cop friends who have given me good advice.

The most important thing I learned? Trust your instincts. If a situation doesn't feel right to you, do whatever you have to to get away. One instructor told me that attackers prey on women's desire to be nice and not hurt anyone's feelings. Don't blow off that prickling sense that something's not right, and don't worry about looking silly if you're wrong.

Here are others:

Learn the vulnerable points on the body: eyes, nose, groin, and knees, and how to target them. Use the palm strike: Put your hand out in front of you as if to say "Stop" with your fingers back, and go for the attacker's nose. If someone attacks you, he's probably going to be so surprised to have you physically fight back that he'll either get scared and run or at least not react quickly.

Your purse, jewelry, or car is replaceable.Your life is not. If someone is just after your stuff, give it to him.

Don't let the threat of being shot or stabbed stop you from defending yourself against an armed attacker. An instructor told me you actually have a decent chance of survival if that happens. Horrible to think about, good to know. Heels can make you vulnerable but can also be a weapon. If someone grabs you from behind, scrape that heel down his leg and stomp on his foot with it, which will probably be enough to make him let you go. And if he does, ditch those shoes and run ... I don't care if they are Louboutins, run. Don't behave like a victim. Stay aware of your surroundings, look people in the eye, and don't get distracted. If someone gets too close for comfort, tell him to back off. Have your keys in your hand (preferably sticking out through your fingers like Wolverine) when you walk to your car or your building; dithering around hunting for them in your purse puts a big target on your back. Take a self-defense class, and practice what you learn. Your husband, boyfriend, or friends might think you're nuts, but they want you to be able to protect yourself and should willingly let you practice your ass-kicking ways. Even practicing yelling "STAY BACK" at someone who's making you nervous can feel empowering.

That's the point of learning how to fend off an attacker, after all. Feeling confident and safe is very empowering. Just don't flip your husband over your head.

 

Image via adamjackson1984/Flickr

 

Le réalisateur du remake d' Anthony Zimmer est très fier d'être au coeur de la rencontre des deux stars. Interviewé par MTV News à propos du tournage de The Tourist , qui s'est déroulé entre Paris et Venise en compagnie de Johnny Depp et Angelina Jolie , le réalisateur Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck s'est montré très fier d'être à l'origine de la rencontre entre les deux stars hollywoodiennes. "Croyez le ou non, Angie et Johnny ne s'étaient jamais rencontré avant cela. Après autant d'année à la tête d'Hollywood, ils ne s'étaient pas encore croisés physiquement, j'étais donc la première personne à les réunir. " Il précise même que les deux stars ayant signé pour le film chacune de leur côté, ils ne se sont réellement adressé la parole que sur le plateau de The tourist . Une situation qui aurait pu tourner au vinaigre, si leurs personnalités n'avaient pas collé. Au contraire, le réalisateur affirme qu'ils se sont tout de suite bien entendus, parlant même d' "alchimie instantanée" entre les deux : "Ils se sont tellement bien entendus dès qu'ils se sont rencontrés que j'ai su qu'on allait beaucoup s'amuser sur ce film. Ca s'est vérifié par la suite (...). Ce sont deux acteurs avec un grand A, mais ce sont plus des artistes que des stars, et je pense qu'ils étaient parfaits pour ces deux rôles." En soi, on n'en n'apprend pas beaucoup plus sur The Tourist . Par contre, cette interview confirme qu'il y a de plus en plus de tournages qui se mettent en place sans que les acteurs du film ne se soient rencontrés au préalable. Sam Rockwell avait fait part il y a quelques mois de son étonnement, lors de son premier jour sur le plateau d' Iron Man 2 , de devoir tourner une scène avec un Mickey Rourke totalement absorbé par son personnage, à qui il n'avait pu se présenter avant de tourner. Sur The tourist, Johnny Depp et Angelina Jolie se sont rencontrés au moment même de jouer leur première scène. Un pari dangereux pour les producteurs qui engagent des stars pour leur renommée, sans se soucier du fait qu'elles pourraient ne pas s'apprécier une fois sur le plateau...

A day of mourning

Three bombs targeted a Shiite religious procession yesterday in Lahore just after iftar, the time of breaking the Ramadan fast, killing at least 35 and injuring around 250, and sparking violent protests as members of the march set fire to several police facilities and vehicles (Tel, ET, Hindustan Times, LAT, AJE, AP, NDTV, CNN). Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds, who reportedly blamed the police for failing to prevent the attacks (NYT, WSJ, Dawn, AFP). A militant group called Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Alami claimed responsibility for the attack, but a Pakistani intelligence official suspects the involvement of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and Pakistani interior minister Rehman Malik also blamed the Taliban (Daily Times, The News, FT, AP). [[BREAK]]

Also yesterday, unidentified gunmen injured seven by firing on a Shiite procession in Karachi (NYT, Geo, ET, Dawn). Pakistani police reportedly arrested 20 people in connection with the shooting (Dawn). Pakistani military airstrikes yesterday reportedly killed around 15 suspected militants, including a local Taliban commander, in the tribal agencies of Kurram and Orakzai (Geo, Daily Times).

The U.S. has officially added the TTP to its terrorism blacklist, which makes it a crime to provide support to the group and freezes any financial assets in the U.S. (AP, Hindu, ET). The Justice Department has also charged Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the TTP, with two counts of conspiracy, and the State Department has declared Hakimullah and Wali ur-Rehman, another TTP chief, "specially designated global terrorists," offering $5 million for information leading to their locations and imposing additional sanctions (DoJ, CNN, Hindu, Post, AP, Dawn). The conspiracy charges against Hakimullah, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison, are related to the December 30, 2009 suicide bombing at a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, which left seven U.S. citizens dead.

The World Bank has raised its funding for Pakistani flood reconstruction to $1 billion from $900 million, as hundreds of families blocked the highway between Thatta and Karachi, calling for the Pakistani government to provide food and shelter (Reuters, AJE, Hindustan Times, Daily Times). The AP reports on refugees from Afghanistan who made their homes in Pakistan, which have now been washed away by five weeks of floods (AP). Some 70,000 Afghan refugees in 13 camps have been affected, and millions of Pakistanis are still homeless (Reuters).

Surprise visit

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Kabul on a surprise visit, where he reportedly plans to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and top commander Gen. David Petraeus (AFP, AP). According to CNN's count, 2010 has recently become the deadliest year for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, topping last year (CNN). Some families of members of the military who have been killed in Afghanistan have criticized the rules of engagement, claiming they prioritize the protection of Afghan civilians over U.S. troops (LAT). And NATO is investigating allegations that an airstrike in the comparatively peaceful northern Afghan province of Takhar has killed 10 election campaign workers (Reuters, AFP, ISAF).

In the aftermath of the resignation of two top Kabul Bank officials amid allegations of "unorthodox lending practices" and mismanagement, the chief of Afghanistan's Central Bank, Abdul Qadir Fitrat sought to calm nervous Afghan account holders and asserted that the Kabul Bank is solvent, though did not guarantee depositors' money (AP, NYT, Post, Times, Bloomberg). By Wednesday morning, Dexter Filkins reports, the lobby of the Kabul Bank was filled with people seeking to withdraw their money; many were told they could not, because the bank didn't have any funds to give them (Post, NYT). The Kabul Bank handles salary payments to Afghan police, soldiers, and teachers.

The NYT has today's must-read describing Afghan-led military operations in the southern Afghan town of Mehlajat, on the edge of Kandahar city, where the Taliban either hid or fled ahead of the operation (NYT).

Star power

UNCHR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has released a new video calling for more support for Pakistani flood victims (ToI, UNHCR). She has already donated $100,000 to flood relief efforts.

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The UN Refugee Agency's most famous spokesperson asks the international community to do more to help in Pakistan. Angelina Jolie says, "this is not just a humanitarian crisis.

more images September 2, 2010 (Sampurn Wire):The Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie and her husband Brad Pitt are renowned all over the world not only for their movies but also for their off-screen humanitarian efforts. Jolie is a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador herself and she has done a lot for the down-stricken countries in the Middle East ... Read the original article on Gaea Times at : Angelina Jolie Issues a plea for Pakistan.

Last week's Star magazine featured a collection of embarrassing Hollywood celebrity secrets supposedly revealed by the assistants to Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, and more. Personally, I tend to believe the great majority of what Star reports is fabricated by a team of interns who are doing their damnedest to make something of their Creative Writing major, and I'm not sure there's really a group of celebrity Deep Throats out there spilling the dirt on what their bosses do behind closed doors.  But then again, maybe there is. Let's go to the gossip and take a reality check.Kourtney and Kim Kardashian Are Slave-Drivers.  The claim: Star says Kourtney makes her assistant ride in the trunk of her Range Rover when the car's full, while Kim asks her assistants to stay out on the front lawn when she's having guests over in order to make sure everyone walks on the stone path instead of on the lawn. My call: YAWN. This is dirt? A Range Rover trunk is bigger than my first apartment, so the idea that someone might sit back there doesn't exactly make me want to speed-dial Amnesty International. And the lawn thing, well, I guess that might fall under "eccentric," but again, not a huge crazy deal. I say: potentially true, and also, who cares. Britney Spears Acts Like a Baby, Eats Crap Food. The claim: According to the article, Britney talks in a baby voice all the time and throws tantrums if she can't get her way. Employees are on call 24/7 for soda and Starbucks runs, and she recently sent an employee out for an orange soda after midnight.  My call: Color me totally unsurprised at the idea of Britney acting like a freak and demanding junk food. Girlfriend's eating habits are the only thing nastier than her extensions. Mariah Carey Guzzles Cristal and Pizza. The claim: Mariah Carey supposedly has demanded a bottle of Cristal be kept on ice each night for her bath, which she would drink through bendy straws in order to keep her lipstick intact. Now that she's either pregnant or trying to get pregnant, she lies on the couch and makes her assistant feed her ice cream or pizza. My call: The Cristal thing sounds believable -- although I don't know about the bendy straw -- but I don't buy the idea of diva Mariah flopped on a couch mainlining Domino's. Caviar, maybe. Tori Spelling Hires Only Gay Dudes. The claim: Tori Spelling only employs gay men on her household staff, in order to make sure her husband Dean McDermott doesn't get a wandering eye. My call: Let's see, he dumped his wife to jump on the Spelling money train, and Tori now weighs approximately 40 pounds soaking wet. Yeah, I could see him banging a hot nanny. Points to Tori for creativity if this is true. Angelina Jolie Talks in Crazy Accents. The claim: Angelina Jolie loves to speak in foreign accents, and channels different characters depending on her mood. When she's mad, she talks like a Russian spy; when she's feeling flirty, she pretends to be a French waitress; when she's eating, she talks with an Italian accent. My call: This sounds like something spun out of the Gossip Bullshit-O-Meter. I mean, "eating"? Angelina doesn't DO that. Miley Cyrus Is a Flasher. The claim: Miley Cyrus thinks it's hilarious to greet first-time guests at the door and "shock them by showing some skin." My call: Oh come on, how would anyone be shocked? We've all already seen pretty much everything Miley has to offer.  What do you guys think? Do any of these rumors sound believable to you? Image via Starmagazine.com

Angelina Jolie is not interested in visiting outer space. At least, she's not interested in going into outer space with Alfonso Cuaron and Robert Downey Jr., having turned down an offer for a second time to star in their 3D sci-fi film.

It's almost like someone knew that info would emerge yesterday that Angelina Jolie had declined (again) to star in Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity, putting the project in jeopardy. Because in a script review written just prior to that revelation, the idea of Scarlett Johansson or Blake Lively playing the central role is discussed, and roundly dismissed. "There’s no way Johansson and Lively are going to be in this movie...Everything depends on the actress playing the part of Ryan...[and] neither has anything approaching what is needed to play this part. Not in a million years." Take that as you will, but it is an interesting underline to the idea that Warner Bros. is reluctant to make the film without a high-caliber actress in the lead. While we wait to hear what will happen next at WB, the script review gives us a clearer picture than ever of why the movie might be a ...

P4s filmekspert Tor Milde mener Angelina Jolie er en heldig skuespiller. Her er ukas filmanmeldelser!

Salt a fait déplacer plus de 600 000 spectateurs cette semaine, détrônant ainsi les Expendables de Stallone. La semaine dernière, la première séance parisienne voyait Salt , film d'action porté par Angelina Jolie , dépassé de peu par Le bruit des glaçons , une comédie sur fond de cancer de Bertrand Blier . Depuis, les chiffres se sont rééquilibrés en faveur du blockbuster américain, qui, sorti dans 542 salles, a attiré 672 870 curieux dans les salles obscures. Il prend ainsi la première place du classement et déloge Expendables Unité spéciale de Sylvester Stallone . Avec 431 485 billets vendus cette semaine, le film perd 44% de fréquentation, mais passe aisément la barre du million d'entrées (1,2 même). Sur 454 salles, il enregistre une bonne moyenne de spectateurs par écran. The Karate Kid perd lui aussi de la fréquentation (34%) et malgré sa diffusion dans 529 salles n'atteint pas le million au cumul (894 146 spectateurs en deux semaines, dont 356 875 depuis le 25 août). Non content de dépasser les 4 millions d'entrées au cumul, Inception , de Christopher Nolan , perd très peu de fréquentation (12 %) et voit 341 407 spectateurs attirés cette semaine par ce film de rêve. Précisons tout de même qu'il est encore visible sur 619 copies ! Il faut donc attendre la cinquième place pour retrouver la comédie portée par Jean Dujardin et Albert Dupontel . Sorti dans 302 salles en France, Le bruit des glaçons a fait déplacer 285 810 personnes, ce qui est plutôt décevant après son bon démarrage du 25 août. Box-office hebdomadaire français du 25 au 31 août 2010 : 1) Salt Bande-annonce 2) Expendables : unité spéciale Bande-annonce 3) Karate Kid Bande-annonce 4) Inception Bande-annonce 5) Le bruit des glaçons Bande-annonce

La Embajadora de Buena Voluntad del ACNUR, Angelina Jolie, ha hecho un llamamiento para obtener un mayor apoyo a los esfuerzos humanitarios para ayudar a las millones de personas cuyas vidas han sido devastadas por las inundaciones en Pakistán.

Angelina Jolie has turned down offers to star in the 3D film Gravity, according to reports.

The Script settled for Bono’s daughter acting in their new video after Angelina Jolie turned it down.

Angelina Jolie has officially turned down Alfonso Cuaron’s new sci-flick Gravity, which could see the film’s production spiralling into limbo.

The film, which is about a female astronaut who is literally lost in space when her satellite crashes, has been courting Jolie for its lead role. But after months of deliberation, she has finally passed on the project.

Warner Brothers are wasting no time looking for a replacement, though, and have already tested or approached a massive range of A-list actresses.

The full list reported by Deadline includes: Sandra Bullock, Natalie Portman, Naomi Watts, Marion Cotillard, Carey Mulligan, Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Abbie Cornish, Rebecca Hall, Olivia Wilde, and Blake Lively.

Previous rumours had it that Scarlett Johansson had already “verbally agreed” to star in the film alongside her Iron Man 2 co-star Robert Downey Jr, though a verbal agreement really means Jack in the cast-iron-clad-contract world of Hollywood.

With Gravity’s proposed 2012 release date drawing ever closer, the WB and Alfonso Cuaron will have to think fast about how they’re going to get the flick onto the production line. And considering its ambitious scale and relatively modest $80m budget, they’ve got a heck of a challenge ahead of them.

Jolie, meanwhile, is currently writing her own Bosnian war story, and is attached to a Salt sequel, Tim Burton’s Sleeping Beauty update Maleficent and a Cleopatra biopic.
 

First Published: 12:31 IST Last Updated: 13:10 IST Angelina Jolie recently stated that being a vegan nearly killed her, and she would never give up red meat again.

Angelina Jolie makes a plea for aid for flood-stricken Pakistan: Reuters reports on what returnees to flooded areas are finding when they arrive: Print

more images more images ISLAMABAD - Angelina Jolie, the UNHCR Ambassador, has released a video appealing for greater support for Pakistan flood victims. The actress has already donated 100,000 dollars for the relief of flood victims. “These are not just humanitarian crises. This is an economic and a social catastrophe,” the Daily Times quoted her as saying. The floods ... Read more >>>.

Angelina Jolie, embajadora de buena voluntad de ACNUR, ha pedido la colaboración de la sociedad para hacer llegar ayuda humanitaria a los millones de afectados por las inundaciones en Pakistán. A través de un vídeo difundido por la Alta Comisaría...

Los Ángeles.- Como Embajadora de Buena Voluntad de la Alta Comisaría de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados (ACNUR), la actriz Angelina Jolie pide a través de un video sumarse a la ayuda en Pakistán, debido a las inundaciones.

En esta labor difundida, la protagonista de filmes como "Salt" menciona que la quinta parte del país asiático está bajo el agua, lo que ha ocasionado la muerte a miles de personas y la propagación de enfermedades que amenaza a 20 millones de damnificados.

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If you've been following along with the news about Alfonso Cuarón's gestating space thriller Gravity, you might be a bit confused by this headline. Angelina Jolie had been courted to star in the film, but passed on it way back in February. That has led to months of screen tests and discussions with other actresses. But Warner Bros. really wanted Jolie. Because without someone with her pull, spending $80m on an esoteric space movie with a female lead who is onscreen along for much of the time evidently seems like too much of a risk. Now Jolie has passed again, so what will happen to the movie? Deadline says that after Jolie first said no, Warner Bros. and Alfonso Cuarón tested and met with a wide range of actresses including Sandra Bullock, Natalie Portman, Marion Cotillard, Naomi Watts, Carey Mulligan, Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Abbie Cornish, Rebecca Hall, Olivia Wilde, and ...

ScarJo and Blake Lively can't open movies like Evelyn Salt.

Gente - Edicion digital 19:09

La actriz Angelina Jolie, embajadora de buena voluntad de ACNUR, ha pedido hoy la colaboración de la sociedad para hacer llegar ayuda humanitaria a los millones de personas afectadas por las inundaciones en Pakistán.

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EXCLUSIVE: Gravity, the 3D film that Warner Bros is mobilizing with director Alfonso Cuaron and Robert Downey Jr., is suddenly in danger of falling back to earth after Angellina Jolie said no to a full court press and a big money offer to star in the film. It has put Warner Bros in a bind. The studio needs an actress who can hold the screen and draw an audience to an $80 million film. Much like Tom Hanks'  role in Cast Away, the Gravity heroine is the only person onscreen for a large part of the movie. Beyond Jolie, which other actress do you bet on? Cuaron first courted Jolie when the project was tethered at Universal. She was intrigued with the filmmaker, but passed around the time it landed at Warner Bros. I'm told the studio tested or met with actresses including Sandra Bullock, Natalie Portman, Marion Cotillard, Naomi Watts, Carey Mulligan, Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Abbie Cornish, Rebecca Hall, Olivia Wilde, and Blake Lively, in meetings and tests that have been conducted since May. Warner Bros made a second overture to Jolie, but she just passed for a second time. While Downey certainly has the star power to carry such a movie, he plays a comparatively small role and it was never Downey's or Cuaron's intention for him to carry the picture. Scripted by Cuaron and his son Jonas, Gravity is set on a remote space station. While a team ... Read More »

Angelina Jolie has traveled to Pakistan in her role as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, donated $100,000 for flood victim relief and issued the public service annoucement above. I strongly support what she and others like Richard Holbrooke, George Soros,...

For those who are late to the party, how is Arcade Fire's new album?



Angelina Jolie - Salt - Games - Collecting - Movies

more images more images LONDON - Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has filmed a video where she urges fans to donate aid supplies to victims of the devastating floods in Pakistan. The actress, who is also a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, has already donated over $100,000 of her own money to help those worst affected and she ... Original article on : Jolie urges fans to donate aid supplies for Pakistan.

Below is a new PSA from Angelina Jolie that she did on behalf of the UNHCR's efforts in Pakistan. Pakistan has sustained substantial flooding that has killed thousands and left millions homeless. While Angelina was on the European tour for Salt, it was announced that she had donated $100,000 to the UNHCR's efforts in [...]

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who directed the upcoming thriller The Tourist sat down with MTV to chat about working with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, and he reveals that the sexy superstars had "incredible chemistry" on set! No surprise there......

ANGELINA JOLIE and BRAD PITT are at war over tomboy daughter SHILOH.

Angelina Jolie pleas to public for help for victims of the flood in Pakistan.

Actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie is asking for the nation's help to aid victims of Pakistan's massive flooding. In a new PSA, Jolie calls the flood an "economic and social catastrophe," adding, "The more support we can give,...

Actress Angelina Jolie attends the 'Salt' Germany premiere at CineStar on August 18, 2010 in Berlin, Germany.

La actriz, embajadora de ACNUR, solicita ayuda para los damnificados por la tragedia de Pakistán

La actriz, embajadora de ACNUR, solicita ayuda para los damnificados por la tragedia de Pakistán

Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp had never even met each other before they began filming their upcoming movie The Tourist, but their director says there was instant chemistry between them! OK! GALLERY: ANGELINA JOLIE GETS NEW LOOK FOR THE TOURIST The Tourist director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck chatted with MTV News about working with the stars of [...]

Angelina Jolie is continuing to urge the American public to get involved in the current crisis in Pakistan. In a new PSA, the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador makes a plea for more help for the victims of Pakistan’s floods, which have devastated much of the country. Angie appeals for a massive relief effort from the public for [...]

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Obama Flirting With Bloomberg Behind Geithner's Back? New York Magazine Timothy Geithner is like the Angelina Jolie to President Obama's Brad Pitt. So unpopular is he, every time the president is seen with another economically ... NYC mayor says he, Obama lost golf bet in Mass.The Associated Press Obama And Bloomberg: A Losing Duo »New York Daily News (blog) Mayor, the White House Is CallingWall Street Journal Newser -DNAinfo all 307 news articles »

• Angelina Jolie is pleading for help on behalf of Pakistan's flood victims.

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La actriz destaca la magnitud de la catástrofe y solicita que la ayuda humanitaria llegue a los millones de personas afectadas por las inundaciones que han asolado gran parte del país

Redacción Internacional.- La actriz Angelina Jolie, embajadora de buena voluntad de ACNUR, ha pedido hoy la colaboración de la sociedad para hacer llegar ayuda humanitaria a los millones de personas afectadas por las inundaciones en Pakistán.

En un vídeo que ha difundido la Alta Comisaría de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados, la protagonista de "Inocencia interrumpida" recuerda que la quinta parte de Pakistán está bajo el agua, que miles de personas murieron en las inundaciones que asolaron el país y que la propagación de enfermedades amenaza a 20 millones de afectados.

"Esto no es sólo una crisis humanitaria, es una catástrofe económica y social. ACNUR está desplegado en el terreno. Cuanto mayor apoyo podamos darle, más tiendas de campaña, alimentos, agua potable y medicinas podremos hacer llegar a las personas que lo necesitan", sostiene la actriz.

ACNUR indica en un comunicado que las necesidades de los afectados, que ascienden a 20 millones de personas, están superando la capacidad para prestar asistencia de las organizaciones humanitarias presentes en el terreno.

Además de prestar su imagen a ACNUR para hacer este llamamiento solidario, Jolie ha querido dar ejemplo donando 100.000 dólares a la institución dependiente de las Naciones Unidas.

Gente - Edicion digital 10:09

La embajadora de Buena Voluntad de la Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados (ACNUR) y actriz, Angelina Jolie, ha pedido en un vídeo que se ha difundido este miércoles "mayor apoyo" de la sociedad para poder hacer llegar ayuda humanitaria a los millones de personas afectadas por las inundaciones que han asolado gran parte de Pakistán.

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Though studies have proven that, on average, vegetarians live longer than their carnivorous counterparts, Angelina Jolie claims that she was unhealthy when she was a vegan: "I was a vegan for a long time, and it nearly killed me. I found that I was not getting enough nutrition." Angelina also said that she loves red meat, especially steak. ... More »

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Angelina Jolie Runs on Red Meat