People

By Rebecca Winters Keegan

Q&A JASON BATEMAN

Arrested Development's straight man Jason Bateman gets to show off his inner oddball as a sleazy lawyer in Smokin' Aces

Base this guy on anyone we would know?

He was a combination of a bunch of degenerates I've known and a degenerate part of myself. I had benign polyps on my vocal cords that were removed the day after I filmed the scene. It worked well for the character because he's supposed to have been up for days. That's something comic and heartbreaking: a guy who's doing these sex, drugs and rock-'n'-roll things, but he's really a wienie lawyer. Any chance of an Arrested Development movie? I had held out hope that we would do the movie version. It's [creator] Mitch Hurwitz's call. We didn't have a chance to get greedy with the show. We probably would have run it into the ground.

What's the secret to playing a good straight man?

The straight man is the audience. I like being the tour guide. It's a lot of responsibility to be the element that tethers a scene to the real world.

What did you tell yourself in the lean years between Teen Wolf Too and A.D.?

As an actor, you can't stay at the office an extra few hours and try and solidify your next promotion. You really can't do anything to help yourself. I got very bummed out.

Do you appreciate the success more this time?

Sure. But you want to be careful you don't buy the attitude you should be renting. I've budgeted for complete failure at least a few more times.

I SPY JOHNNY AS A RUSSIAN DISSIDENT

British investigators aren't the only folks doggedly pursuing the murder case of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned in November after trying to publish an anti--Vladimir Putin book. Also hot on the trail is JOHNNY DEPP'S production company, Infinitum Nihil, which will adapt Sasha's Story: The Life and Death of a Russian Spy, a forthcoming book by a London journalist. While Litvinenko's dramatic life story may drive Depp to ditch his Pirates of the Caribbean eye patch for a fur hat, Miami Vice director Michael Mann has taken on a competing project, Death of a Dissident, a book co-written by Litvinenko's widow. With all that talk of polonium 210 in the air, the race to make it to the box office first could get dangerous.

TAKING HITS ON THE WAY OUT

Hell hath no fury like a soccer coach scorned. Just as Los Angeles prepares to pucker up to its newest megastar resident, DAVID BECKHAM'S old team is doing the sports-world equivalent of writing nasty graffiti on the girls'-bathroom wall. After Beckham's $250 million job with the U.S.'s Major League Soccer was announced, Real Madrid barred Beckham from playing in any more games. And team president Ramon Calderon said the English midfielder is joining the Los Angeles Galaxy because no other team wants him. "David Beckham is going to be some sort of film actor living in Hollywood," Calderon scoffed. Unfazed, Beck's wife Victoria scoped out Hollywood homes, and American sports fans contemplated something novel: buying tickets for a soccer game.

SCREEN TEST

Brit witticisms, a missing Prince, must-have accessories--answer these questions correctly and prove just how in the know you are about Golden Global events:

1) Which of these fashion moments did not happen?

A) Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin carried a Curious George doll

B) Sandra Oh strutted the red carpet in a bejeweled stethoscope

C) Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Best Picture winner Babel while leaning on custom crutches

D) Alec Baldwin wore a puzzle-piece pin supporting autism research

2) Which Brit winner's quip is real?

A) Sacha Baron Cohen: "Thank you to every American who has not sued me so far"

B) Hugh Laurie: "It seems weird to me ... Nobody offers you a free acceptance speech"

C) Helen Mirren: "[The Queen] already has an orb that goes with her scepter. So I will gratefully receive this one"

D) All of the above

3) Prince missed accepting his Best Original Song award because he:

A) Got caught in traffic and was late to the ceremony

B) Found out he was wearing the same thing as Sharon Stone and rushed home to change

C) Demanded not to be seated at the same table as the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy

D) Needed 2 B L8 2 feel like the most important 1 there

ANSWERS: 1) B; 2) D; 3) A