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Leading Men

Scarlett’s Leading Man: Topher Grace

Monday, May 21st, 2007

Topher Grace
Topher Grace was born in New York but grew up in Connecticut. He bears an uncanny nickname for someone whose name is Christopher.

I was actually a Chris until prep school. But my parents didn’t realize that Chris Grace sounds kind of a weird when you say the names together. And, as you know, you can never get people to call you Christopher. Americans are so lazy. They won’t even say your full name. I’d be like, “Hi my name is Christopher,” and they’d say, “Hi Chris,” and I’d be like, “No Chris-TO-PHER.”

I’ve heard people say it’s preppy. But I had never met a Topher before. I did it to be a wise a–. I do love irony, probably more than I should. I practice it in my professional and personal life.

He is also the shy leading man of Scarlett in the movie “In Good Company.” In it he played Carter, a reluctant yet ambitious manager who doesn’t know what to do with his life. Though the romance between Scarlett and Topher was featured only half of the movie, it awfully tackled the reality of a hostile corprate environment where employees are reduced or laid off on the behest of the owners. Topher was also the naive boss of Scarlett’s father, played by Dennis Quaid, after the company shakeoff. It became sinister when he fell in love with Scarlett much to the anger of her disappointed father.
It is gonna be one of those films that you can’t ignore playing during the weekends. The movie came out in 2004.
Many will remember Topher as this pencil-thin oversexed but sweet teenager Eric Forman from “That 70s Show,” which coincindentally catapulted Ashton Kutcher’s career.
The 28-year-old actor from New York saw the inevitability of a huge break in Hollywood. He didn’t renew his contract to continue “That 70s Show” to be able to play Eddie Brock/Venom in the latest “Spiderman.”

I was a huge fan - not just of Spider-Man but of Todd McFarlane, who was the illustrator when I was 12, 13, at the time of the origin of Venom. So not only did I love Spider-Man and Peter Parker, but on top of it, I was there for the birth of that character. So I had this meeting at Sony, and all of a sudden Sam Raimi’s in the room, and then [producer] Laura Ziskin’s in the room, and [producer] Avi Arad, and they’re starting to tell me the plot of Spider-Man 3, and I’m thinking, “Where is this going?” And then when they told me they wanted me to play Venom, I had to bite my tongue so I had some negotiating power.
We went to Comic-Con and they had a trailer there that I hadn’t seen, and I was geeking out about it backstage. I mean, that would be a cool moment in my life if I weren’t on the screen. And it’s me! It’s blowing my mind. It’s some of the coolest stuff I’ve ever seen in film, and I’m a real cinephile.

So the next time you see Topher, say hi. Because this kid will make it bigger in Hollywood.

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Leading Men: Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Wednesday, April 25th, 2007

Jonathan in It isn’t a good week for actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers who reportedly checked into a rehab due to his drinking problem. I don’t think he’s riding into the bandwagon of celebrities going for treatment. He might be an Irish and drinking is in his blood but the 29-year-old actor seems to be a workaholic lot. Thing is he shouldn’t mix alcohol with working.
Aside from his successful TV series “The Tudors,” which began airing on April 1st in the United States, where he plays the young Henry VIII, he’s doing films right here and there. An official message from his rep has been released to People.

“After a non-stop succession of filming, Jonathan Rhys Meyers has entered an alcohol-treatment program,” rep Meredith O’Sullivan says. “He felt a break was needed to maintain his recovery.”
Meyers’s rep adds: “Jonathan plans to resume his schedule following completion.”

He has become somewhat a household name in 1998 after portraying as a glam rocker in Todd Haynes’ “Velvet Goldmine.” The story is loosely based on David Bowie’s life from his pre-glam to Ziggy Stardust’s era. It has become a cult movie but is not popular among the diehard Bowie fans. David himself has never encouraged it, even to the point of forbidding his songs to be included in the soundtrack.
A scene from Match Point
The pretty Irish lad starred with Scarlett on the movie “Match Point” that came out in 2005. Directed by Woody Allen, the title refers to the character he plays, Chris Wilton, who is a tennis pro searching for a new life direction and the role of luck plays on people. He seems to have found it when he befriends the members of a wealthy British family. Emily Mortimer (Chloe) and Matthew Goode (Tom) play siblings in the family. He soon starts an amiable relationship with Emily’s character. Until he meets Nola Rice, Scarlett’s character, a struggling actress who is engaged to Tom. The film delves you in till you find yourself rooting for Jonathan’s character to succeed even though it isn’t right. Woody Allen is playing with your neuroses and fears and, man, he wins.
I swear, upon watching it I thought about my little lies hoping that my loved ones should not know. It is a relief that that you are not in the characters’ shoes.
Jonathan is known to have dated his costars including Toni Collete from “Velvet Goldmine.” It was rumoured that he and Scarlett, who did some intimate scenes, were involved for some time. Both of them denied it though. His present girlfriend is Reena Hammer, an heiress. Page Six reported that the couple were spotted having some wild public hanky-panky in a club without ordering anything.
He currently serves as the new face of the men’s fragrance Hugo by Hugo Boss.
Meanwhile, fans have to wait till Mr. Rhys Meyers, ho hypen please, is back on track. Hopefully too some channels in Germany and Austria will consider airing “The Tudors” in local TV.

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Scarlett’s Leading Men: Eric Bana

Monday, April 2nd, 2007

Eric BanaEric Bana is one of those artists the audience takes a notice after a hundred times peeking at his pictures or scenes. Like his fellow character actor James Caviezel, his acting prowess and attitude plus the good looks could make you admire him. But not to the point where you could project him side by side with the mass appeal of Orlando Bloom or the hard yet charming face of Brad Pitt. Hardly as it seems, actors like him need a pivotal role that could spawn him next to the A-list actors.
When asked about his status as a celebrity: “Yes and no. I get it on a human level, in the sense that everyone wants to know a little bit of gossip, everyone likes to hear something about someone. But I’m not that interested in hearing it about people that I know. So I don’t understand the fascination with celebrity. Some events are not as interesting to the public as the media would like them to be, to a degree. But it makes sense. It’s an industry. It’s a business.”
He starred in several films like “Munich,” “Troy” and played the Hulk in Ang Lee’s interpretation of the metamorphosing Marvel hero. But is he going to be the next matinee idol?
Sure, Eric is good-looking and talented yet it is impossible that teenage girls and young women will chase him from one place to another. Maybe because Eric is a family man and he is an Australian and doesn’t care about Hollywood bullshit and all?
Recently Scarlett admitted that she struggled acting with Eric. Her co-actor in the new movie “The Other Boleyn Girl.” She said she couldn’t stop looking at his private parts.
Could it be that the 6-foot-two actor is well-endowed?
Eric plays Henry VIII in the movie and had to wear a codpiece for the part a decorative flap used to cover male genitalia in medieval England. It proved to be too much of a distraction for Scarlett, who plays Mary Boleyn, “We’d be ready to do a scene and I couldn’t look at anything else… I won’t get over that codpiece for a long time. Eric would use it as a tool. He would rest his hands or a cup of coffee on it. People would even lead him around the set by it.” The actress said.
So the next time you see him on the screen, remember the name: Eric Bana.

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About Scarlett Johansson

From Scarlett Johansson' rise to fame with the 1998 film "The Horse Whisperer" to her present status as the current "It" girl of Hollywood, this site aims to document and dish out everything and anything about the busty and talented young actress. So check us out from Monday to Friday for the latest discoveries and analyses on Scarlett.

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