Pushing Daisies

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet. Aside from his movie, Miss Pettigrew, Lee also has Possession coming in March and here, Lee plays a completely different character from the sweet Ned we’re used to seeing. Lee plays Roman, who is a creepy, psychotic, badass.

The story of Possession is adapted from an Korean movie (Addicted) and is about two brothers who are very close. The more adventurous brother is in love with his brother’s wife. In an unfortunate fate, the two ends up in an accident that leaves them in a coma; but the younger brother recovers from it and wakes up to the identity of his sibling and starts pursuing his sister-in-law.

This suspense thriller also stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Michael Landes and will open in theaters at the end of March. Here’s the trailer:

Lee Pace, Possession

EW ranks twenty eight year old Lee Pace as one of the Top 30 people under 30 years old, along with the likes of Michael Cera, Paul Dunn and Elijah Wood.

BROKE OUT IN… ABC’s freshman series Pushing Daisies, as a pie shop owner who can raise the dead with his touch.

WHY HIM Talk about range: Long before Daisies, Pace was a Golden Globe nominee for his portrayal of a transgendered nightclub performer in Showtime’s Soldier’s Girl (2003).

WHAT’S NEXT He appears as a charming pianist alongside Amy Adams and Frances McDormand in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (March 7) as well as in the upcoming lush fantasy, The Fall.

They failed to mention his creepy character in Possession though…talk about range really, this guy has it.

Lee Pace, Top 30 Actors Under 30

Last week, I posted about the rerelease of Lee Pace’s movie from two years ago (The Fall) and I had the Russian Trailer on it. Well, I found the English version, and with better quality to boot. The film’s cinematography is highlighted in this one. It looks to be truly an amazing fantasy movie. I hope they have this out on BluRay or DVD, too.

Anyway, here’s the English trailer via:

Plot / Synopsis: In a hospital a little girl with a broken collar bone meets a bedridden man who starts telling her a fantastical story which reflects his state of mind. As time goes by fiction and reality start to intertwine in this uplifting epic fantasy.

The film opens in theaters on limited release next month.

Would he not be perfect? This guy could play a good guy or a bad guy, a man or a woman, somebody sinister or someone to like — he’s that versatile. And with his theater training, he’d fit right into the cast and we could hope for another brilliant musical number or two!

It’s interesting to note that sometime in 2006, Nathan Lane and Kristin Chenoweth were considered to work on a sitcom together. According to TV Squad, the show, which has remained unnamed, would have been a comedy series about two talk show hosts ala Regis & Kelly. I wonder what happened to this?

Nathan Lane’s most recent appearance on television was on 30 Rock, where he played Alec Baldwin’s brother, Eddie. He will be seen next in the movie Nutcracker: The Untold Story.

Nathan Lane, Kristin Chenoweth

In a previous release of UK’s Home Entertainment Week Magazine, an ad for Pushing Daisies supposedly appeared which stated that the show is coming to ITV1 in April 2008.

Consequently, the UK release of Season One’s DVD, with all of its 9 episodes, is slated for June this year. In fact, you can already pre-order the DVD at Amazon UK. And you will very well see, the date of release indicated is June 16, 2008. The DVD is priced at £23.24, definitely way ahead of the USA release which remains to have no clear status on Amazon US.

Pushing Daisies in the UK, Pushing Daisies DVD, Pushing Daisies

Can you spot Anna Friel in this photo? This was taken from 1999 by esteemed photographer, Annie Leibovitz, who is celebrating her 14th year with Vanity Fair. Or rather, Vanity Fair is celebrating 14 years of her work on their covers.

“Vanity Fair marks the 14th year of its gigantic annual Hollywood Issue, and thus the 14th year of Annie Leibovitz’s spectacular gatefold covers. These classic photographs capture Tinseltown talent and glamour like nothing else.”

APRIL 1999: “NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK” Adrien Brody, Thandie Newton, Monica Potter, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Stiles, Leelee Sobieski, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Polley, Norman Reedus, Anna Friel, Omar Epps, Kate Hudson, Vinessa Shaw, and Barry Pepper. | Vanity Fair

There’s our girl in the short red hair, looking very cool.

Of the actors in this photo, two of them went on to become Academy Award winners (Brody & Witherspoon); one is a regular on House (Epps), a few of them have carved their identities in Hollywood (Hudson, Sobieski, Ribisi, Stiles, Newton)…but I am not familiar with the rest anymore. Where have they gone, I wonder?

Anna Friel, Vanity Fair, Annie Leibovitz

How many of you loved Kristin’s Oscar appearance last night? It was the sole reason why I tuned to the show. Her number came up some hour and a half into the ceremony, as she was the third to perform.

As many of you may have read on this site, Kristin was chosen to sing “That’s How You Know” an original song composition for the Disney movie, Enchanted. It was one of the five nominated pieces for Best Song at the Oscars. Although the winner eventually went to Once (which is a far better movie with a great song than Enchanted — my opinion only), I think Kristin’s number was the most entertaining one, followed closely by Jon McLaughlin’s “So Close”.

In case you missed it, here’s that performance once again, as introduced by Miley Cyrus (who’s a big star among pre-teens…I just learned that today!):

Kristin was also a dazzling sight at the red carpet. She looked absolutely gorgeous in her little back dress. And her understated make-up, plus the hair tied up into a messy bun, made her look naturally put together. The accessories she had on? Simply elegant. Oh, this woman dresses up really nice and really well! I didn’t catch the red carpet interviews, but apparently TV Guide caught her going inside the Kodak Theater. Who was she wearing?

And do we love her more or less in a longer hair style or what? I think Kristin has always had her hair longer and many prefer that on her. But I’m very used to seeing Olive Snook in that bob cut, if you ask me. It suits her Pushing Daisies character well. Like Kristin, I’m a short gal myself and shorter hair styles make us little people look a lot taller. I hope she keeps the shorter do.

Photos courtesy of WireImage.

Kristin Chenoweth, Kristin Chenoweth at the Oscars, Oscar Awards 2008, Miley Cyrus, Jon McLaughlin, Enchanted movie, Once movie

This was supposed to be an entry for last week, but I was only able to watch the interview early today. Kristin as guest on the talk show circuit? Such a joy to watch. On Leno, she talks about the many breakdowns and accidents she’s had with her cars, the stuff she did during the strike, and how she prepares for the Oscars.

Kristin admits to keeping a journal and writes them in 8th grade composition notebooks

“I’m sure I’m gonna get more prison mail now”
she says after demonstrating how she has re-learned to put her fist on her mouth to keep boredom at bay during the strike.

(more…)

The only reason why I’m watching Oscars this year is because of her. Here’s an article from the Associated Press and photo of Kristin is from the show, Wicked.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — Sets are being built. A stretch of Hollywood Boulevard is closed. Rehearsals have begun. With the writers’ strike finally in the rear-view mirror, round-the-clock preparations are under way for Sunday’s Academy Awards.

Kristin Chenoweth says she’s trying not to be nervous about singing for “several billion people.”

On Tuesday, Oscar’s head honchos traded their offices at the Kodak Theatre for seats inside the landmark Capitol Records building, where conductor Bill Conti and his 61-piece orchestra practiced the year’s nominated songs.

Joining them was Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth and singer Marlon Saunders, who are set to perform “That’s How You Know” from the movie “Enchanted.”

(more…)

The Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy & Horror Films, currently on its 3rd decade of foundation, has announced the list of Movies and TV nominees for its 34th Annual Saturn Awards and Pushing Daisies earns three (Best TV Series, Best Actor and Best Actress)!

(more…)

This is scene from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from 2002. Lee Pace appeared as guest and played the role of a convicted sex offender, in the episode Guilt (Season 3):

Can you imagine “Ned” as a sexual offender? Was there a trace of anything menacing in his performance? His voice and delivery sounded awfully “Ned”-ish.

Many thanks for the tip and the video upload on youtube!

In another Lee Pace related news, Amy Adams, his co-star in the movie Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, in her interview with Elle Magazine says this of Lee Pace:

“On the set of Miss Pettigrew, Adams was so distracted by her costar Lee Pace, outrageously sexy in his role as Adams’ brooding love, director Bharat Nalluri had to ask Pace to leave the set so Adams could concentrate. “Lee wasn’t working that day, so he was just lounging. He’s 6′4″, so he’s a lot of boy, and he was wearing cowboy boots,” she says. “I was kind of staring at him, because he painted such a picture, and the director came over, and I was completely in this land of admiring Lee. And Bharat goes over and tells him, “Can you leave the set? Amy’s distracted by your masculinity.’ I was so mortified. But he’s so much fun, too. He’s got such a zest for life. He’s a really good actor. So that’s my gush about Lee Pace. I hope I’m not blushing.” | Elle Magazine

The complete feature will be out on the stands in March, in time for the screening of the said movie.

Lee Pace, Amy Adams, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, Law & Order SVU

Lee Pace’s 2006 Toronto Film Festival movie, The Fall, will be on a limited theater run in the USA this March.

Set in the 1920’s, the film is about a little girl who meets a bedridden fellow at a hospital who tells her fantastical stories of five people escaping a deserted island.

The Fall is directed by Tarsem Singh and was also shown at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival, the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival and the 2007 Sitges International Festival of Fantastic and Horror Cinema. It was released in Russia only last month (hence the Russian Trailer below):

Lee Pace, The Fall

Anna Friel will be seen on the big screen next in the movie Bathory. It is the story of a Hungarian countess, Elizabeth Bathory, who was said to have killed 600 girls, thus earning her the nickname Countess Dracula. Her lifestory has inspired countless of legends where the countess supposedly drank blood from virgins to retain a youthful glory.

The role of Elizabeth Bathory was originally meant for actress Famke Janssen. Anna Friel’s daughter, Gracie, will also be part of the film and this would have to be her own film debut.

The film began production in early 2006 but is only set for release on March 5, 2008 in Hungary. It will also be shown in countries like Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lebanon, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Thailand, USA, Czech Republic and Slovakia this year.

Bathory is the first English-language film of director Juraj Jakubisko and is considered as the most expensive Slovak movie, with a budget of US $12M.

Below is the film’s trailer:

Anna Friel, Bathory

Aside from supporting causes against Domestic Violence, Anna Friel also does her part for the environment and the current climate crisis. She has made a public service video for the PSA, which also tapped stars like Naomi Campbell and Julia Louis Dreyfus, and encourages the use of bikes to go around town…

Watch it:

Anna Friel, PSA, Climate Crisis Video

Excerpts from the Women’s Health interview with Anna Friel…

Your American accent on the show is flawless.
Thanks. In my car on the way to work, I speak with an American accent and keep it the whole day, even during personal phone calls. I have a voice coach who gives me 30 notes [on how to improve] every day! I wanted the character to have a lot of air in her voice and to be very wide-eyed. I based it a lot on my daughter, Gracie. I wanted my character to be childlike.

It must be fun to do a show your 2-year-old can watch!
Those bright visuals really get her. She likes to come to the set because they’ve built a sweet shop that looks like something from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She takes sweets from all the jars. Her new thing is to say to me “Cut, Mummy! Cut!”

You and your partner, actor David Thewlis, are raising Gracie but aren’t hitched. Suspicious of marriage?
Oh no, I always thought I was quite conventional–that I’d get engaged, marry, have a child–but it’s all gone higgledy-piggledy. I think it’s nice we’ve stayed together for the right reasons and not some tangled mess. And he’s never asked, really! No, I’m always saying I don’t need to. I think we’ll wait to do it when Gracie can actually stand up at the wedding and be a part of it.

What do you guys do when you’re not working?
We love the mountains and the sea, and we love to watch movies. People hate watching them with us because we talk and analyze all the way through!

Anna Friel, David Thewlis