The Hollywood Reporter gathered TV’s 6 most wanted women for a photoshoot and interview in which they all discuss comic-con, their shows and what it’s like to be a woman lead on television.
Sarah Michelle Gellar
The actress stars in the CW’s upcoming suspense thriller Ringer. Of the buzz surrounding the show, Gellar says: “I definitely feel pressure. It’s not outside pressure; it’s pressure because the fans have been so loyal, you want to … make them happy. There’s definitely something to be said for being the quiet show that gets to build on its own merit, as opposed to an expectation that already exists.”
Maggie Q
The star of CW’s Nikita is a pro at Comic-Con. Her advice to her fellow THR roundtable panelists who’ve never been? “This year, you’ll say, ‘It’s going to be this’; ‘It’s going to be that.’ Next year when you come back, it’s going to be great. People who come are already going to be fans of the show. So you’re going to be answering specific questions about the show, which is much more fun than trying to be like, ‘It’s not going to suck, I promise.’”
Anna Torv
Torv, who co-stars on Fox’s Fringe, recalls her first Comic-Con. “I went and had a look around the first year that I went down there. The show wasn’t on the air yet and everybody was at our panel to hear J.J. [Abrams] speak, so I was quite fine to go and have a look. And then, you know, it changes bit by bit. It’s one of the few opportunities that you actually get to sit and talk to people who watch your show and have an interaction with them.”
Jennifer Morrison
The former House co-star will play the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming in ABC’s fairy tale drama Once Upon a Time. “As an actress, it’s nice to look for something different. It was wonderful playing Cameron on House for all of those years — amazing writing and an incredible cast. I have no complaints, but it was also exciting to be let free and to play new characters and try something new. And part of the appeal of Once Upon a Time for me was that it was totally character-driven. It wasn’t procedural and, you know, I’ve been saying medical terms for a long time.”
Yvonne Strahovski
Strahovski, who co-stars on NBC’s Chuck, says she can relate to the physicality of her character. “I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy, so I think all of the action and stunts have always been a part of me. I love doing that stuff, and now my character has sort of evolved from being very comfortable in the spy world but not very comfortable with being a normal person with family and a boyfriend and stuff. She’s evolved into a more natural human being and more easygoing in social situations. It’s nice to be bringing that into it … to be more normal on the show but still being the spy.”
Britt Robertson
Robertson, who stars in the CW’s new supernatural series The Secret Circle, says she appreciates the buzz that comes with the show. “We’re working with Kevin Williamson, who did The Vampire Diaries. It has a sort of cult following, and I think because of that, and since we are sort of its sister show, people are excited for The Secret Circle. I guess we’re just hoping that we don’t let people down.”
You can read the interview and see video clips from the whole thing here. I definitely agree that they are the most wanted women on TV, well for me anyway.
It’s been 15 years since the first Scream came out in theaters and instantly became a classic and it’s been 11 years since Scream 3 came out. Now Scream 4 is set to be released tomorrow, and I can’t wait for it, so to celebrate this Digital Spy have come up with a list of the five best Scream death scenes. See if your favorite is on it:
05. Liev Schreiber – Scream 3
The initial suspect in the murder of Sidney Prescott’s mother Maureen, Cotton Weary was in fact framed by original killers Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. Cotton, who was having an affair with Maureen at the time of her death, parlayed his trauma into becoming a Z-list celebrity. A talk show host by the time Scream 3 rolled around, Cotton and his girlfriend Christine (Kelly Rutherford) met a grisly end at the start of part 3 when Ghostface came looking for Sid…
04. Sarah Michelle Gellar – Scream 2
Sarah Michelle Gellar was defining her career in the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when she appeared in 1997′s hastily-assembled Scream sequel. It’s a clever bit of casting, as SMG’s smart-lipped sorority girl Casey ‘Cici’ Cooper gets nowhere near being “the final girl” as she carks it on campus. A knife in the back and drop off a balcony sees Buffy bite the dust in the clip below, which has a cracking ‘jump’ misdirection at the 3-minute mark and also features the voice of Gellar’s Cruel Intentions co-star Selma Blair…
3. Rose McGowan – Scream
“You wanna play psycho killer? Can I be the helpless victim?” Rose McGowan’s Tatum Riley almost gets away from Ghostface. But alas, that garage exit is just a bit too small for her to squeeze through. Getting squelched up against the ceiling is an undignified and painful end for Sidney’s best pal. Incidentally, Rose McGowan allegedly discovered during filming that she could fit all the way through the pet flap of doom…
2. Jamie Kennedy – Scream 2
Randy Meeks’s knowledge of horror cinema’s rules and conventions helped him survive the first Woodsboro bloodbath (just about!), but when it came to the sequel he was all out of luck. Played with a nerdy exuberance by Jamie Kennedy, Randy’s murder in the back of a truck was not met favourably by Scream fans so Craven resurrected the character via a recorded video message for Scream 3.
1. Drew Barrymore – Scream
It had to be this, didn’t it? The opening scene to Scream shocked cinemagoers and perfectly sets up the self-referential, satirical tone for the horror franchise. Drew Barrymore, who was on the verge of a career resurgence at the time, could’ve been the star of the franchise… Not so in Craven and writer Kevin Williamson’s mind. The pair rip a page out of Alfred Hitchcock’s book (Psycho famously offed Janet Leigh early), killing Drew’s Casey Becker in the opening minutes as she waits for her boyfriend. It sums up Scream’s ethos perfectly: Nobody is safe!
Of course Drew’s had to be number 1 but I would have made Sarah Michelle Gellar’s number 2. What are your thoughts?
Maxim have come up with a list of their hottest nerd crushes and I have to agree with most of them, although I think they are missing Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) and Eliza Dushku.
13. Liv Tyler (Arwen Undómiel) The Lord of the Rings
Granted, she wasn’t the purtiest gal in the LOTR trilogy—that would be Orlando Bloom—but her pert-lipped princess upped a whole new generation of fantasy fetishists’ expectations for elvish tail.
12. Milla Jovovich (Leeloo Minai Lekarariba-Laminai-Tchai Ekbat De Sebat), The Fifth Element
The primordial shrieks, the speaking in tongues, the acrobatic dives from tall building and speeding car alike… In short, nerds dig Leeloo because she reminds them of their moms.
11. Natasha Henstridge, Species
Of course, when she impaled some random dude with her tongue during a make-out session, she added a layer of dread to an exercise that already set hearts a-palpitatin’ among the nerdlinger set.
10. Jennifer Garner (Sydney Bristow), Alias
The show’s mythology lost us after a few seasons—wasn’t it eventually revealed that Sydney was her own mother or something?—but the costumes never did. Note to future starlets: Well-tailored schoolgirl and dominatrix getups can do an awful lot to conceal your profound inability to emote.
The Trek has come a long way from Scottie’s paunch and brogue, hasn’t it? If Mr. Blackwell were commenting on Seven’s nothing-to-the-imagination jumpsuits, he’d say something like, “Set your phasers to STUNNING!” Then he’d inch closer to death’s sweet embrace, hating himself just a little bit more.
7. Famke Janssen (Dr. Jean Grey/Phoenix), X-Men
There’s something about a smart-gal-gone-bad (more like telepathically superbad, actually) that never fails to whirr a fan boy’s propeller. Separately, how come X-Men Nation never entirely warmed to Halle Berry’s Storm? She’s got glowing eyes and she can make it hail. Like a man needs anything more in a mate?
Not that any of these gals are remotely attainable, but this impossibly dimensioned tart gets bonus points for literally being the figment of some video-game designer’s imagination. That most people prefer the pixelated Lara to the one embodied by Angelina Jolie in the two Croft movies says an awful lot, none of it good, about us as a society.
5. Grace Park (Lt. Sharon “Boomer” Valerii), Battlestar Galactica
She gets the nod over cast mate Tricia Helfer’s Number 6 for a single reason: Helfer, who plays a cylon frostier than a mug o’ root beer on the show, recently dropped her space drawers for Playboy (photos available at alt.battlestar.nerdbooty). Park, on the other hand, remains as mysterious to this audience as the outdoors.
4. Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity), The Matrix
Whether her form-fitting suit was leather, pleather, or vinyl, she cut quite the figure in it, especially when bounding off walls and displaying the best high kick this side of Radio City Music Hall (hoy-o!). Too bad the producers saddled her with actual human emotions in the two sequels.
3. Gillian Anderson (Dana Scully), The X-Files
Remember the episode, set in Las Vegas, when Scully, like, totally transformed into the anti-Scully and started hitting on the Lone Nerdm…er, Gunmen? That was cray-zee! Scully would no sooner swim in that pool than wear a miniskirt.
2. Zoe Saldana (Neytiri), Avatar
It’s a testament to the incredibly advanced level of motion capture animation on display in Avatar that we left crushing on Zoe Saldana even though she doesn’t technically appear as herself in the movie. We left thinking, “Is it wrong to want to go blue?” And the answer is: “Of course not.”
1. Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
The nerd-universe equivalent of Phoebe Cates doffing her top in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Thank God it’s Friday! We’ve got some of the funniest quotes for you today! Between Jessica Simpson trash talking “Melrose Place” to Kristen Stewart calling herself a lesbian. Enjoy!
“Who writes this crap? i have had bad scripts to work with, but this? thank God my sister is amazing and got you some press.”
– Big sis Jessica Simpson, blasting “Melrose Place” after recent news that her sister Ashlee Simpson-Wentz had been cut from the show, on Twitter
“I went to sleep as Rihanna and woke up as Britney Spears.”
– Rihanna, on the media storm that followed her physical attack by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown
“Sarah was a little nuts before. Don’t get me wrong. I loved the nuts that she was.”
– Freddie Prinze Jr., on the calming effect their new baby Charlotte has had on his type-A wife Sarah Michelle Gellar
“I felt completely rancid!”
– Mariah Carey, on her glammed-down role in the new film “Precious”, at the movie’s AFI Audi Film Festival premiere
“I think I’m just misunderstood. I’m not a fame seeker. Everyday I look in the mirror and I wonder [why I'm famous]. I don’t sing. I don’t dance. I’m not a Nobel Peace Prizewinner. I just had eight kids and I had a show on TLC.”
– Jon Gosselin, trying to redeem himself during a public dialogue with celebrity Rabbi Shmuley Boteach in New York City
“I love the smell of diapers.”
– Sarah Jessica Parker, on just how much she loves being a mom
“There’s no answer that’s not going to tip you one way or the other. Think about every hypothetical situation: ‘Okay, we are. We aren’t. I’m a lesbian.’”
– Kristen Stewart, on why she refuses to confirm or deny that she and her New Moon costar Robert Pattinson are dating
“I still love those damn Dorritos, baby! And I’m telling you: The Keebler elf is real.”
– A slimmed-down Mo’Nique, on the junk food that still tempts her
“Me! I want to be the first to have it back to back, buddy.”
– The reigning Sexiest Man Alive Hugh Jackman, when asked who deserves to succeed him
“I don’t feel a day over 6!”
– Big Bird, on kicking off Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary
With Sorrority Row being the latest slasher movie out now and because it is a cast full of women, Rotten Tomatoes have decided to throw together a list of the top 25 women from slasher films.
Janet Leigh — Psycho (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal slasher took Janet Leigh, already a star, and made her an immortal — by killing her off early in the indelible shower scene. Leigh got an Oscar nomination for her work, remained a big star through the 1960s and, importantly for the genre, gave birth to Jamie Lee Curtis, with whom she’d co-star in 1998′s Halloween: H20. Meanwhile, Psycho’s Vera Miles, who played “final girl” Marion, worked only sporadically in B-grade flicks until she took a role in 1983′s Psycho II. A lesson here: sometimes it pays to die big.
Margot Kidder — Black Christmas (1974)
Bob Clark’s hugely influential slasher flick, which anticipated Halloween’s seasonal title and stalker-cam, as well the he’s-calling-from-inside-the-house of When a Stranger Calls, offered two lead scream queens. Olivia Hussey, already a star for Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 Romeo and Juliet, played “final girl” Jess. But it was up-and-comer Margot Kidder, as the boozy, foul-mouthed and soon-to-die Barb that audiences remembered. While Hussey’s star waned, Kidder’s soared, thanks to the Superman movies and The Amityville Horror. Her career derailed in the mid-1990s due to her bipolar disorder, but she returned to acting and popped up recently as Laurie Strode’s headshrinker in Rob Zombie’s Halloween II. Another lesson: old scream queens never die, they just do cameos.
Jamie Lee Curtis — Halloween (1978)
Arguably the most enduring and liked scream queen in cinematic history, Jamie took a leaf from her mom’s book by making her name with her debut in John Carpenter’s terrifying Halloween. While Laurie was in danger of being overshadowed by her more sexed-up co-stars, particularly P.J. Soles, her nice-gal virgin status meant she lived to see the end credits. And Curtis wasn’t above making more genre flicks — and for the next five years she did nothing else, with The Fog, Prom Night, Terror Train, Halloween II (pictured) and Road Games. Realizing she needed to move on, Curtis successfully branched into comedy with hits Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda and Freaky Friday, and also showed us how good she could look in True Lies. Not forgetting her roots, the actress also returned to the Laurie Strode role in Halloween: H20 and Halloween Resurrection.
Carol Kane — When A Stranger Calls (1979)
By the time Carol Kane made this film, she was a very respected actress who’d starred in The Last Detail, Dog Day Afternoon and Annie Hall, and who’d been Oscar-nominated for 1975′s Hester Street. It was an unusual choice, but the film was a minor box-office hit, largely on the strength of its opening 22 minutes. But after that Kane’s career trajectory saw her take more supporting roles, and not always in successful films, with Transylvania 6-5000 and Joe Versus the Volcano stinking up her resume. Things weren’t helped by Kane reprising the Jill Johnson role in 1993′s TV movie When A Stranger Calls Back. Possible lesson: if you’ve worked with Woody Allen, Sidney Lumet and Hal Ashby, you probably don’t need to do a slasher film.
Adrienne King — Friday the 13th (1980)
Having seen what Halloween did for Jamie Lee, no doubt Adrienne King had her sights set on stardom when she landed the “final girl” role of Alice in Friday the 13th. She survived the film — memorably chopping off mama Vorhees’ head — and starred in 1981′s Friday the 13th: Part 2. Problem was, her screen presence inspired a deranged stalker, who tried to break down the door of her apartment. The life imitating art angle of this impressed Adrienne not at all, and she instead carved out a career as a voice actress and artist. Her role in this year’s horror Walking Distance marks her first screen appearance in 28 years.
Melissa Sue Anderson — Happy Birthday To Me (1981)
What’s a 1970s TV star to do when falling ratings finally mean you get evicted from The Little House On The Prairie? In Melissa Sue Anderson’s case she took the lead in this Canadian slasher, whose poster memorably promised death by shish kebab. Tastier is that Melissa played both Ginny, the “final girl”, and her doppelganger, the birthday-obsessed wack job. Look for a new generation of fans when it’s re-released on DVD this year, with the original artwork intact. But Happy Birthday To Me didn’t break Melissa Sue Anderson into the big-screen business, with her subsequent acting in either TV movies (10.5 Apocalypse) or obscure indies (1990′s Dead Men Don’t Die).
Holly Hunter — The Burning (1981)
Just as Halloween aped Black Christmas and Friday the 13th aped Halloween, The Burning was a close fit for Friday the 13th, being the story of kids at a camp where bad stuff once went down. Enter a killer named Cropsy. He has a molten face, a big pair of scissors and a very bad attitude. The Burning’s trailer, with its repeated voiceover warning “Don’t!”, was one of the inspirations for Edgar Wright’s hilarious fake trailer in Grindhouse. This is most notable for being the debut for Holly Hunter who, perhaps anticipating her Oscar-winning turn in 1993′s The Piano, was given no dialogue. Other fun facts — Jason Alexander, future George in Seinfeld, was in this, and it was the first flick produced by Bob and Harvey Weinstein under their Miramax banner. [Note: Holly's... not pictured.]
Heather Langenkamp — A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Wes Craven’s slasher revitalized the ailing, hacky genre with the introduction of a new supernatural villain who was even freakier than Halloween’s The Shape, Friday’s Jason or The Burning’s Cropsy. But Freddy Krueger’s charisma was a problem for Heather Langenkamp, who played “final girl” Nancy Thompson. While popular in the original and two sequels, she wasn’t able to translate that success into mainstream success, with the nearest thing she got to fame again being a five-episode arc in 1980s sitcom Growing Pains. Not to worry, though, she found a niche running the environmentally friendly Malibu Gum Company.
Rose McGowan (scream)
After Elm Street, slasher-horror entered a decline until Wes Craven and scriptwriter Kevin Williamson turned the genre on its severed ear by sending up its conventions in the hyper-self-aware Scream. The Weinsteins put up the $14m budget — a fortune for such fare — and that meant it needed names, which it got in Drew Barrymore, Courtney Cox and Neve Campbell. But it was also the launch-pad for little known Rose McGowan, who’d until then been relegated to bit parts in Pauly Shore flicks and was the praised lead in underseen indie The Doom Generation. While her character Tatum’s mission to get brewskis from the garage would lead to Ghostface arranging her head-squashing with the roller door, McGowan’s career fared a bit better, with Charmed and Planet Terror earning her a devoted fanbase, if not yet a breakout mainstream hit.
Sarah Michelle Gellar — I Know What You Did last Summer (1997)
The success of Scream helped this straighter, duller slasher, also from the pen of Kevin Williamson, get into cinemas. Jennifer Love Hewitt was the “final girl” but before long her similarly tripled-barreled co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar would be the bigger star. That year saw her take on TV’s Buffy and the megahit Scream 2. A smart gal, she opted for a more serious route with Cruel Intentions and went for rom-com in Simply Irresistible. Thing is, audiences really want to see her spooked, whether for laughs in the massive-grossing Scooby-Doo flicks or in the likes of The Grudge, which raked in $110m. With her last few flicks (Suburban Girl, The Air I Breathe) tanking, it might be time for Sarah to face off once again against a creep in a yellow slicker, a creep in a ghost mask… or maybe just Edward Cullen.
Tara Reid — Urban Legend (1998)
Following the Psycho formula re-established by Scream’s early kill of Drew Barrymore, this one offed Natasha Gregson-Wagner in the opener. That left Rebecca Gayheart, Alicia Witt and new cutie Tara Reid in the picture to be killed off. Playing a college sex therapist helped audiences remember Tara, and she was soon on her way to the A-list with American Pie and Cruel Intentions. Even flops like Josie and the Pussycats and Dr. T and the Women weren’t career killers, and she was back at the top of the box office with American Pie’s sequel and early Ryan Reynolds’ hit Van Wilder. But then the Tara Reid car crash began, with her party-girl shenanigans making people forget how they’d warmed to her raspy comic appeal. The slide translated to the big screen, with her thereafter languishing in F-grade horror such as Uwe Boll’s Alone in the Dark and Incubus.
Michelle Williams — Halloween: H20 (1998)
Between Brokeback Mountain, I’m Not There and Wendy and Lucy, Oscar nominee Michelle Williams is shaping up as one of the finest actresses of her generation. But her first big box-office hit was this belated resurrection of the franchise. In it, she stars as Molly, a horny student at the exclusive school run by Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode. Of course, Michael, aka, The Shape comes a-calling. Getting chased by him did Michelle’s career no harm but, that said, it’s unlikely she’ll be back ducking psycho blades at any time in the future. Unless, of course, you count Scorsese’s Shutter Island.
Brittany Murphy — Cherry Falls (2000)
In this under-rated and sly comic take on the slasher genre, the kids scramble to lose their virginity because the maniac only kills the pure, hence the title. Having then-rising star Brittany Murphy, fresh off Girl, Interrupted, didn’t help Cherry Falls’ prospects and this $14m production, which had to go to the MPAA five times before they approved a cut, didn’t even make it to theaters. Brittany’s climb would continue for a while — with 8 Mile, Just Married and Sin City — but the misses soon outnumbered the hits. As her pay packet has shrunk, she’s returned to horror-tinged thrills with Deadline, Abandoned and Something Wicked.
Katherine Heigl — Valentine (2001)
No-one can accuse Ms. Heigl of being an overnight success, and she’s been working solidly since 1992. During the ’90s she played daughter roles to Gerard Depardieu and Steven Segal, and in 1999 signed on to this, director Jamie Blanks’ follow up to Urban Legend. In it, Heigl, who supposedly later claimed she wouldn’t have done it if she’d read the script properly, plays Shelley, a med student who has her throat slit early in proceedings. Fun fact: Tara Reid and Jennifer Love Hewitt were originally cast in the roles that went to Jessica Capshaw and Denise Richards. As for Heigl, despite being dead, she passed her med school exams and graduated to mega-stardom in Grey’s Anatomy and then Knocked Up, 27 Dresses and this year’s The Ugly Truth.
Jessica Biel — The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Like any number of slasher starlets before her, Jessica Biel jumped from a successful TV series — in this case, 7th Heaven — to “final girl” in Marcus Nispel’s forceful remake of Tobe Hooper’s ferocious original. Dudes who wouldn’t be caught dead watching 7th Heaven became overnight Biel fans. But it has been a rocky-ish road since then for the actress. After Blade: Trinity, Biel broadened her horizons but hasn’t often found the right material to suit her talents. She was good in The Illusionist, but seemed out of place in I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry and Stealth. Horror’s not on her immediate horizon, but her next flick Nailed sounds like it could be on offcut from an offal-spiller. In it, she plays a girl who gets a nail stuck in her head, which causes her to act erratically but leads her into the arms of Jake Gyllenhaal.
Shawnee Smith — Saw (2004)
This $1.2m indie, which generated a franchise worth half-a-billion, added “torture porn” to the psychotic killer mix, with controversial results. A considerable degree of Saw’s impact was thanks to a cunning viral campaign which featured Shawnee Smith with her mouth about to be ripped off by an explosive face trap. Despite having done a lot of movies in the 1980s and 1990s, including Summer School and The Desperate Hours, Smith was at the time of Saw’s production best known as “the dumb girl from Becker”. This movie changed all of that, and she’s appeared in each of the sequels (see Saw II, pictured). As for whether she’ll break from horror, well, if she’s getting back-end each time a Saw is released in time for Halloween, she’ll probably never need to work again.
Paris Hilton — House of Wax (2005)
The loose remake of the 1933 early-Technicolor experiment Mystery of the Wax Museum and 1953 3-D hit House of Wax had one special effect: Paris Hilton’s ability to generate publicity. Producer Joel Silver admitted the heiress had been cast for just that reason. In fairness, she wasn’t terrible in the film, but the death scene, which mocked her infamous home video, was just, well, weird. Happily, this one’s box-office failure just as effectively killed off Paris’ serious big-screen hopes. But if you really want to be frightened by a film she’s in, just try to sit through The Hillz or The Hottie and the Nottie.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead — Final Destination 3 (2006)
This franchise cast Death his bad self as a serial killer, whose favorite method is inescapable fate, directed mostly at teens via insanely complicated series of events that culminate in spectacular terminations. Mary Elizabeth Winstead — who’d been noticed in kiddie comedy Sky High — landed the role of the final girl, the one who lives long enough to see her pals suntanned to death, impaled and nail gunned. She wasn’t so lucky in 2006′s Black Christmas remake (above), which saw her blood spray all over a car, but she at least avoided such a fate in 2007′s Death Proof. Winstead’s next role — as love interest Ramona V. Flowers in Edgar Wright’s comic fantasy Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World — sounds just the change of pace.
Scout-Taylor Compton — Halloween (2007)
Once Mr. Zombie had established the whys-and-whats of Michael Myers’ “backstory” in his reimagining of Halloween, he switched over to more familiar ground — The Shape stalking Laurie Strode on Halloween. Compton held her ground well enough against her big, bad brother well enough that she was brought back for Halloween II. The daughter of a mortician, she’s a true believer in the genre and happy to tell fans about her love for Chucky, Jason and, of course, The Shape. She has another teen thriller in the can — Triple Dog, which looks a cross between Sorority Row and Dead Man’s Curve — but after that, Scout’s smartly diversifying as Lita Ford, opposite Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, in The Runaways.
Jaime King — My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009)
This blonde beauty’s career started with a bang — her third film was Pearl Harbor — but there’s been a lot of whimper since and she has struggled to nail leading lady status on the big screen. Her turn as Goldie in Sin City helped keep her in fanboy hearts but critically panned flicks like White Chicks, Bulletproof Monk and The Spirit did her few favors. Redemption, perhaps, has been found in the slasher genre. As Sarah in this year’s 3-D My Bloody Valentine remake, she was the last girl standing, with the film clocking up an impressive $51m at the box office. Realizing she’s on a good thing, King has signed on for Saw sequel director Darren Lynn Bousman’s remake of Mother’s Day.
Danielle Panabaker — Friday the 13th (2009)
Like Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Danielle got her start in Sky High. She then gravitated toward the killer-thriller with a supporting role as Kevin Costner’s daughter in the nutty but enjoyable Mr. Brooks. She embraced the role of Jenna in Friday the 13th but didn’t quite make it out of that one alive. She did however impress enough that her next two flicks are horrors. Panabaker co-stars opposite Timothy Olyphant in next year’s remake of George A. Romero’s viral horror The Crazies and she’s now shooting The Ward, Halloween director John Carpenter’s long-awaited return to fright features.
Rumer Willis — Sorority Row (2009)
We won’t spoil it for you by revealing when/if/how the daughter of Bruce and Demi buys the farm in this week’s Sorority Row. But we’re thinking that after playing support roles in her parents’ movies — 1996′s Striptease; 2005′s Hostage — this is Ms. Willis’ way of announcing herself to the world. But we can’t really foresee a scream queen future for her, with her next film supposedly a quirky comedy called Slightly Single in L.A. As for her star prospects, we’d rate them as pretty good. It’s in the genes, you know. And in the address book.
Briana Evigan — Sorority Row (2009)
For our money, Briana Evigan is the one to watch out of the current crop of slasher starlets. Like Rumer, her dad was an actor, most famous as B.J. McKay in B.J. and the Bear (where, one asks, is the big-screen version of that?). Briana made her debut in 1997, aged just 10, opposite him in horror flick Spectre, but really impressed with both her dancing and acting in last year’s Step Up 2 the Streets. As moral center Cassidy in Sorority Row, she’s a knockout, and it helps that the movie is shaping up to be one of the more enjoyable slashers in years. But it’s the one-woman film she already has in the can that really could prove her breakthrough. Burning Bright (above) has her as a teenage girl who has to protect her autistic brother from a tiger loose in their house in the chaos after a hurricane. “Briana is authentically Briana,” Bright’s director Carlos Brooks told RT. “That’s why both the fanboys and the girls love her. She’s got huge crossover appeal — she’ll be a star because she’s got the guts to be herself.”
Rooney Mara — A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)
Rooney’s the wild card because so little is known about her work. She did make her debut in 2005′s straight-to-disc Urban Legends: Bloody Mary and has a part in the upcoming Michael Cera comedy Youth in Revolt. What we do know is that she’ll take on the Nancy Thompson role and that she has apparently signed on for a sequel. Lesson: learn from the Langenkamp.
Last week we got the nominations for the 2009 Emmy Awards, but now we get an even better list – the 25 biggest Emmy snubs ever.
25. SPORTS NIGHT
Aaron Sorkin’s dramedy about a struggling cable sports program had it all: a swoon-inducing central romance (between Peter Krause’s sly anchor and Felicity Huffman’s brainy producer); a stunning supporting cast (including the awesome Robert Guillaume); and lightning-quick dialogue that ranged from heartbreaking to hilarious. And funny enough, we reacted to Sports Night’s lack of Emmy recognition much the same way we would to a typical episode — by laughing out loud and reaching for the Kleenex.
24. WALTON GOGGINS The Shield
Michael Chiklis garnered most of the award attention for his bulldog-on-steroids performance as Vic Mackey, the head of a stop-at-nothing L.A. police squad. But as his onetime right-hand man and best friend Shane Vendrell, Goggins also proved he’s an acting force to be reckoned with. A loose cannon whose messes kept getting bigger and stickier and more dangerous each season, Shane spun out of control in season 6, playing all sides against each other and becoming hell-bent on self-destruction after dropping a hand grenade in the lap of his squad mate at the end of season 5.
23. MY SO-CALLED LIFE
Okay, so it only lasted one season. And while ”the Academy” didn’t know it then, this critically acclaimed ratings bust has since become one of the most beloved cult-classics to ever hit the tube. It not only captured teen angst in a way few have been able to replicate, but it also showed the softer side of trying to figure out who you are. Although I may never forgive Claire Danes (she admitted to EW in 2004 that she had a hand in the show not returning for a second season) at least they didn’t go with their first rumored pick — Alicia Silverstone. Cher pining over brooding Jordan Catalano? Whatever!
22. SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Can you believe it!? I guess it’s not too surprising that SMG was never nominated. The closest this classic ever got to a major nomination was a writing nod for the genius Joss Whedon (and the poor guy didn’t even win). But if there was one person that deserved that little golden angel it was Gellar (duh), who played Buffy Summers as a high school girl all high school kids could relate to. Sure, the goths may have claimed her, but Buffy blurred the lines of cliques and social circles and played into a fantasy any high schooler would envy: superpowers + important mission in life.
21. HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET
When it premiered in January 1993, Homicide was a meticulously bleak show — morose, cynical, and allusive in a way nothing else on prime time was even trying to be. Critical raves poured in for these tales of the Baltimore homicide division; viewers, correctly suspecting a downer, stayed away in droves. Sadly, the Academy didn’t bestow the Best Dramatic Series love either. And that’s a crime.
20. AN AMERICAN FAMILY
Twelve episodes. One family. A 20-year-old gay man. And more than 10 million viewers. Long before The Real World, The Osbournes, and Wife Swap, filmmakers Susan and Alan Raymond gave America a peek inside the lives of a normal clan, the Louds, in An American Family. PBS’ documentary series was so ahead of its time that no Emmy category existed in 1973 to accommodate it. (Sure, it might have qualified for Outstanding Documentary, but that category was filled with news-division shows on such topics as Watergate.) Among the first ”ordinary people” to become ”celebrities,” the Loud family appeared on the cover of Newsweek and son Lance became something of a gay icon. Little did they know what they had wrought.
19. KATEY SAGAL Married…With Children
With a cigarette dangling from one hand and the remote control from the other, Sagal’s sex-obsessed Peggy ruled the suburban middle-class wasteland that was the Bundy household. It was the actress’ own idea to outfit her character in ’60s- and ’70s-style TV-housewife garb — a hilarious move, as it further highlighted the divide between those women’s devotion to homemaking and Peg’s refusal to ever lift a fake nail…unless it was to eat a bonbon.
18. RON HOWARD The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days
Don’t you wish there was a ”Best Narration” category? Because Ron Howard would’ve cleaned up for Arrested Development. Sticking to his on-screen appearances, the Academy dissed Howard in his six seasons as Howdy Doody look-alike Richie Cunningham on Happy Days. But how could little Ronny not have scored a nod for the episode ”Opie the Birdman” from The Andy Griffith Show? Not many child stars can communicate a dawning youngster’s awareness of the value of life, the importance of parenting, and the pain of separation as he did in this episode, a performance mature in its innocence.
17. AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL
Just how crazy a weave must Tyra don before Emmy takes notice of ANTM? The supermodel’s modeling competition may not score the ratings of some other reality juggernauts, but when it comes to entertainment value, the show never disappoints (see: every cycle’s makeover episode). And unlike some other reality shows, ANTM actually does produce some success stories (e.g. Eva Pigford, Danielle Evans, Adrianne Curry…kinda). C’mon Emmy, you know that ANTM deserves to still be in the running to become Best. Reality. Competition. Show.
16. KRISTIN DAVIS Sex and the City
From home, we all followed Kristin Davis’ Park Avenue princess Charlotte York as she went through the same big-girl realizations as the rest of us. Discarding Prince Charming fantasies and big-city illusions, Charlotte developed throughout the series into the sweet but strong woman we later saw on the big screen
15. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
The most likely reason Ronald D. Moore’s magnum opus hasn’t been nominated is that it’s ”too genre,” which is ironic given that Battlestar Galactica is a self-conscious break from the genre conventions that have clogged much of TV sci-fi (I’m looking at you, Star Trek: Enterprise). BSG is great drama that just happens to be set in a sci-fi context.
14. CHLOË SEVIGNY Big Love
While it’s slightly shocking to see indie fashionista Chloë Sevigny so comfortable in the conservative skin of Mormon Nicki on HBO’s Big Love, the actress’ portrayal of the second wife is believable far beyond her single braid/turtleneck/long skirt ensembles. She gives an honest glimpse into the struggles facing a fundamentalist polygamist gal trying to survive in a world where her belief system is illegal.
13. DESI ARNAZ I Love Lucy
Sure, we all know that the real star of I Love Lucy was comedy legend Lucille Ball, but Lucy wouldn’t have been half as funny without her heavy-accented, bongo-banging, disciplinarian foil/husband Ricky Ricardo, played by real-life spouse Arnaz. In fact, out of the show’s four regular cast members — Ball, Arnaz, William Frawley, and Vivian Vance — Arnaz was the only one never recognized during its six-year run. Emmy, you got some ‘splainin’ to do.
12. CONNIE BRITTON AND KYLE CHANDLER Friday Night Lights
Eric and Tami Taylor, TV’s most realistic couple (and yes, that includes reality shows), are just too divine. Why? They — he, the obsessive coach; she, the doting mom and school counselor — are believable: They fight, make up, talk, parent, and work together with the harmony and grace of a pair that’s been together in real life for years.
11. THE WIRE
We can almost convince ourselves that there were too many fantastic actors on David Simon’s Baltimore threnody for Emmy to get around to them all (though how one overlooks Dominic West or Michael K. Williams, we’ll never know). But that a series routinely hailed as one of the best shows ever on television — if not the best — never even garnered a dramatic series nod? Shameful.
10. COURTENEY COX Friends
How was Cox — who aced her half of the Chandler-Monica affair — the only Friend ignored?
9. BOB NEWHART The Bob Newhart Show
Three noms for Newhart’s next sitcom didn’t make up for earlier snubs.
8. HEATHER LOCKLEAR Melrose Place
Her hilariously bitchy stroll on Melrose turned a snooze into a must-watch.
7. NORMAN FELL
Three’s Company
The only thing lovable about wife-hating homophobe Mr. Roper? Fell’s perfect timing.
6. MICHAEL LANDON
Ignoring the beloved star for his two seminal series, Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie, is like never sending your dad a Father’s Day card.
5. THE HONEYMOONERS
One of the best sitcoms on TV, and prototype for the rest of the best. Pity Emmy voters never noticed.
4. LAUREN GRAHAM Gilmore Girls
Put those hyperliterate scripts in a lesser actress’ hands — see what hash they make of them.
3. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Believe it or not, kids, before Lost, Emmy didn’t always understand shows with fanciful premises.
2. ANDY GRIFFITH
The Andy Griffith Show
Don Knotts nabbed four trophies, but not one nod for the sheriff? A crime!
1. ROSEANNE
Emmy loved the sitcom’s actors but never acknowledged the show or its writers. So the stars did an amazing job saying…nothing worthwhile?
I think this is one of the few lists that I agree with everything on it, yes including America’s Next Top Model. I am a huge fan of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and always thought it was robbed every year.
Fame and fortune doesn’t necessarily always turn celebrities into financial fools. While frugality may not be the biggest Hollywood trend, there are a few celebrities who can pinch a penny with the best of us — and we’re not just talking about getting snapped by the paparazzi stocking up on party munchies at Costco every once in a while.
Eva Longoria
The Frugal Facts: Her wedding in 2007 reportedly cost $1.5 million, but this ‘Desperate Housewives’ star still scored a lot of freebies to give to her 200 guests: Van Cleef & Arpel 18K yellow gold charm bracelets, and L’Oreal, Cole Haan, and Bebe products were a few. She says the frugal gene runs in her family, explaining that her dad would take her and her three siblings camping with no food. “He would tell us that we could live off the land. I can skin a deer, a pig, a snake … ”
Tyra Banks
The Frugal Facts: Despite a fortune estimated at $75 million, this 34-year-old is an avowed penny pincher. “I am frugal,” she said in a June 1 ‘New York Times Magazine’ profile. “I’ve always been this way. When I was young, my mom would give me my allowance, and I’d peel off a little each week and have some to spare. ” Banks’s culinary tastes runs toward Cheesecake Factory, and is known to stock up on hotel soap.
Sarah Jessica Parker
The Frugal Facts: Contrary to Parker’s character in ‘Sex and the City,’ the 43-year-old isn’t such a slave to fashion. In fact, she used to get sick from buyer’s remorse and return items the next day. Explaining that her family went through a time when they were on welfare, Parker says of her son, “Just because mommy and daddy are rich and famous, that doesn’t mean he should ride the gravy train through life … I want [James] to be normal.”
Mick Jagger
The Frugal Facts: Jagger reportedly pulled out of buying a painting by bandmate Ron Wood because the $140,000 price tag “scared him off.” His ex-wife, model Jerry Hall, complained, “He always wanted me to pay for everything to do with the house and the children. He’s generous with gifts and presents, but yeah, he’s pretty tight with the day-to-day stuff.” He explains that he was taught as a child to be frugal: “We don’t like to throw computers away as soon as they don’t work — apart from out of the window in frustration. We like cars to be repaired instead of junked.”
Paul McCartney
The Frugal Facts: Paul McCartney is worth more than $1 billion, but he’s not likely to advertise it. At a birthday party for his ex-wife, he made the guests pay for their drinks. Even his fashion designer daughter, Stella, reportedly called him “a tight bastard” for sending her and her three siblings to local state schools rather than posh private ones. Nor is he resting on his investments.
Tobey Maguire
The Frugal Facts: Even after his price jumped up to $26 million a picture thanks to three ‘Spider Man’ mega-hits, Maguire is usually snapped wearing lived-in t-shirts and jeans. “You know those Lotto winners, who win big and blow through all that money? That would never happen to me,” says Maguire, who credits his poverty-stricken childhood as the impetus for his quest for financial security. “I just never wanted to put myself in the position where my spending was so huge that I had to keep making movie after movie.”
Halle Berry
The Frugal Facts: Halle Berry can make a fashion designer millions simply by wearing a gown on a red carpet. After all, she’s one of the world’s most photographed women. Still, this fashion icon would sooner hit the sales racks than fly to Paris for a couture fitting. Berry, whose mom struggled to raise her and her older sister after their father walked out when she was four, is an unabashed saver. “I am pretty frugal,” say the twice-divorced Oscar winner and new mom. “I save a lot because I’m always worried about when this trip is going to stop. So I’m saving for that day so I can have a life that is secure and comfortable.”
Jay Leno
The Frugal Facts: Despite his huge fortune, the only flashy thing about Leno is his collection of cars and motorcycles. “When I was a kid … I had one job which the money went in the bank and the other job that I lived off of,” he said in 2004. “I still do that to this day. I have yet to touch a dime of my Tonight Show salary. I live off the money I make as a comedian … Maybe it comes from having parents who grew up during the Depression.” Yet, While Conan O’Brien offered to cover the salaries of pink-slipped staffers during the writers’ strike, Leno only did so after being shamed by all the bad press.
Sarah Michelle Gellar
The Frugal Facts: Growing up, money was tight at Sarah Michelle Gellar’s house, especially when her dad walked out she was just six. Now after soap opera and movie fame, the New York native remains careful about her money. “I take my reusable bag to Whole Foods so I get a discount,” Sarah told Self magazine in 2007. “I go to Bloomingdale’s on double reward days. And I always print my dry cleaning coupons before I go. The main thing I want to do is make sure that I can take care of myself and my mother,” she said in 2000.
Leonardo DiCaprio
The Frugal Facts: Other than shelling out $2.5 million for an island near Belize in 2005, the environmental activist tends to live on the cheap. “I don’t pay lavish expenses,” he has said. “I don’t fly private jets. I still have only one car, and that’s a Toyota Prius. I don’t spend money on a lot. Money is very important to me because it allows me the freedom to choose what I want to do as an actor and most importantly because I want to accumulate enough so that one day I can do something really great and beneficial for other people, for the environment or for children.”
Skin Diseases apparently has a Coalition. Thank God Buffy is willing to strip down to raise awareness. It isn’t exactly a sexy charity that everyone jumps on board to support.
She was photographed in the buff and the nude photos of Sarah Michelle Gellar then went to auction. Over 10,000 bids were placed, but she only raised $2,000 for the coalition. Dave Navaro and Leila Ali also joined in and were photographed in their birthday suits for the charity auction.
Prude. There isn’t side boob or anything. I say, if you are going to do it…do it with gusto and let it all hang out. You know your “Welcome Aboard†tattoo will be air brushed out anyway.
Vaseline has a “mystery celebrity” contest on their website, asking if you can identify the naked celebrity, and frankly, the demographic most suited to answering this question is probably horny teenagers.
Who doesn’t love gorgeous women? Every magazine and Web site rounds up their list of Most Sexy This and Hottest That. Who’s got time to read all of them?
Yet we here at Gone Hollywood don’t want you to miss out on any hot celebrity chicks, so we have rounded up all the ladies that make up the elite of celebrity hotness.
Hottest Chick on TV- Kristen Bell
I love Veronica Mars. So Kristen Bell on Heroes is like candy. She looks like the type of girl who would tie you up and make you squeal…in a good way.
At first I thought Portia was guilty of the utmost crime of snobbery. You remember her days on Ally McBeal. She would strut around with long hair like she was Lady Lovely Locks and look pretentious. But now that she is openly dating Ellen Degeneres I can’t tell you how hypocritical I have become. I mean “Arrested Development†was pure gold.
Hottest Actress That is Actually Talented- Keira Knightley
How could you not love Keira. She swears like a sailor on shore leave and doesn’t have any shame. Keira is someone you could drink with and she would be racking up pints faster than you can say pirate hooker.
“Apparently on the Internet I’m a sexy beanpole, tomboy beanpole.”
Rose McGowan is one saucy kitten. She is one of those girls who will bust out freaky toys that make you nervous, but always wanted to try. Plus I have three words for you. Machine gun leg.
Hottest Young Hot Hollywood Chick- Hayden Panettiere
The second of the hot blondes on “Heroes†is Hayden. She is constantly bouncing around in a cheerleader skirt and is never without lip-gloss. Her character never dies and undergoes various grotesque accidents. Beauty and gore. It is like soft core porn and candy for a man.
Salma has just been inducted into the MILF association and has projects around every corner. After fighting her way from Mexican soap opera status, she now ranks among the A-listers. Plus she has fantastic boobies.
She is thin, blonde and rich. We get it. But I fail to see the appeal in Cameron Diaz. In true form she is rather ditzy and lacks talent. This is one chic who make it on appearance alone.
She ranks 14th on the Forbes’ list of the rich and powerful women. Sandra Bullock has that girl next door quality and buckets of cash you could roll in. She is also the type of girl you can bring home to mom, hold a decent conversation with and will ride your Harley without complaining about wind blown hair.
Before you gasp with fear of the voluptuous curves of the Queen, know that in a Yahoo Personals poll she came in third of the most desired single celebrities. Sure Jessica Alba was number one and Jennifer Anniston placed second. But Latifah placed third above Jessica Simpson and Maria Sharapova.
UPDATE (Freddy): In the interest of completeness, here are some of the more notable omissions from Cara’s list. Sure, it takes the list beyond 10 and technically screws up the title. But it’s hot women, people, so get over it already. (And Queen Freakin’ Latifah? Please. No way I’d hit that.)
Sarah Michelle Gellar has changed her name to Sarah Michelle Prinze, taking her husband’s name five years after they married.
Hollywood actress Sarah Michelle Gellar has taken the last name of her husband Freddie Prinze Jr. as a fifth wedding anniversary present.
“She officially changed her name to Sarah Michelle Prinze,” a source close to the actress told Us Weekly. “On their anniversary, she showed (Freddie) her new driver’s license. It was so sweet.”
Gellar is best-known for playing the title character in the cult TV series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
She and Prinze starred together in two “Scooby-Doo” movies and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” The couple married on Sept. 1, 2002.
I guess she wanted to be sure the marriage would last first.
Source: Actress is now Sarah Michelle Prinze (UPI)
Sarah Michelle Gellar has been named Maxim’s “Woman of the Year.â€
Our readers have been asking us to get you on the cover for years. Why now?
Lots of things. I’m 30, and I’m promoting a bunch of different kinds of movies. I like to shake things up every once in a while. It’s good to leave people wanting more, but I don’t want to leave them waiting too long or they’ll lose interest. Besides, how could I not do a Maxim shoot when I have a movie coming out in which I play a porn star?
Exactly. In Southland Tales, you’re a porn star who is trying to get her own reality show. It’s quite a departure from Buffy.
I ran the gamut in the films I made this year. When you think about who should play a porn star, don’t I just pop into your mind? The character I play is sort of Arianna Huffington meets Jenna Jameson.
