People
By Barbara Kiviat
WHO COULD'VE SEEN IT COMING?
Before you judge, remember that you too were once young and unwise. Now that that's over, let's review some of the reasons no one should be surprised that pop star BRITNEY SPEARS and dancer turned rapper KEVIN FEDERLINE sued each other for divorce and custody of their two kids. 1) Total time Brit spent in her first marriage: 55 hr. 2) Status of K-Fed when the two started hanging out: single--unless you count the pregnant girlfriend. 3) Method by which they developed a trusting and intimate relationship: doing a reality show. At the end of the day, it says something when a wife files for divorce, then goes ice skating, and the next day her spouse shouts from a stage, "You know I'm a free man, right, ladies? You wanna dance with a pimp?"
JIM CARREY'S SPOOKY MATH MOVIE
FIRST LOOK
Life has been known to imitate art, as it did on the set of the psychological thriller The Number 23. JIM CARREY plays a man who sees No. 23 everywhere after he starts reading a murder mystery with a plot alarmingly parallel to his life. Twenty-three has a real-world following for its supposedly mystical way of popping up. During the shoot, cast and crew noticed the number in odd places, like the address of a sushi restaurant that catered the crew's dinner. "I thought, This is my 20th feature--too bad it's not 23," says director Joel Schumacher. "Then as I was shaving one morning, I thought, Wait, you also directed three television movies." Chilling. The film opens in February. On the 23rd, natch.
Q&A
STANLEY TUCCI
Stanley Tucci plays one of those dour but potentially lovable doctors on 3 Lbs., which starts Nov. 14 on CBS
You used to be an outhouse cleaner? After my freshman year, I came back home for the summer, and I worked at a camp, and my job was to clean outhouses.
Any lessons that you apply to acting? Yes, don't ever clean an outhouse.
You haven't done a lot of TV in a while. How's the adjustment? The hours are always long no matter what movie or TV show you're shooting, but this is a steady job. [Every day] you think, My God, again? It's confusing.
TV wasn't really missing an hour-long medical drama. How is this one different? I have no idea, because I don't watch the other ones. You'll have to tell me.
I don't really watch the other ones either. So then neither of us can answer.
You were a voice in Robots, and you're working on a couple more animated movies. What are the ups and downs of being a cartoon? It's not always easy. A lot of the time you'll end up saying the same line 50 different times, 50 different ways. But it's fun to play like a kid and do these extreme characters. And you don't have to brave the elements and stand outside in the freezing rain in the middle of the night.
You were fabulous in The Devil Wears Prada, by the way. Oh, thank you. I was nervous because I had no preparation. I was asked to do it like three days before we started shooting. But it ended up great. We laughed a lot, that's for sure.
Did you keep the clothes? I took a pair of pants and a tie.
Do they know you took them? They do now, yes.
SCREEN TEST
Are you more celebrity savvy than your friends? Pass around photocopies of this week's quiz, pick an impartial observer to yell "Go" and find out!
1) As Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen provoked which of the following:
A) Two college students to sue, claiming they were duped into misbehaving in the Borat movie
B) A Turkish man to say he inspired the character and should get an apology
C) Russian authorities to consider banning the film
D) All of the above
2) Aside from marriage and kids, the "most exciting" thing to happen to Cate Blanchett is:
A) Waiting tables in a restaurant off Times Square
B) Landing a job directing plays in Australia
C) Whispering "Meet Joe Black" in Brad Pitt's ear before shooting big emotional scenes in Babel
D) Getting really good at checkers
3) Faith Hill says she screamed "What?!" when Carrie Underwood beat her out for Country Music Awards female vocalist because:
A) That's just her sense of humor
B) She was working on her Kanye West impression
C) Her hearing aid had just cut out
D) In her family, that's how you celebrate another's victory
ANSWERS: 1) D; 2) B; 3) A