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Kevin Costner Sees Dead People

So you thought messages from "beyond" were only for phone psychic Miss Cleo, mon? Kevin Costner doesn't think so. In Dragonfly  opening tomorrow  he plays a widower faced with overwhelming signs that his late wife is trying to contact him. "I've never had such experiences myself," he tells TV Guide Online, "but I've never been skeptical about anybody else who's having them. "Most of the time when I'm listening to their story," Costner says, "it's somebody that I actually have a history with. So I know how reliable they are  then, I'm a little disappointed that I haven't had one of those kind of things happen to me!" No doubting Thomas, the actor insists he doesn't need an unseen being to levitate his living room furnishings to embrace spirituality. "If I take a look at

Thu, Feb 21, 2002

West Wing Star's Career Schiff

Fans of West Wing thesp Richard Schiff are in for a rude awakening if they go into his new film, I Am Sam, expecting to find Martin Sheen's trusty communications director, Toby Ziegler. Instead, they'll discover Schiff playing a tough lawyer out to prevent a mentally challenged man (Sean Penn) from retaining custody of his little girl (Dakota Manning). "People are calling me bad and mean," the 42-year-old Emmy winner laments to TV Guide Online. "I guess my character does have a nasty streak, but I think he's really just trying to do his job. I needed a little convincing [in accepting the role], but I jumped at the chance to work with Sean Penn. I didn't care what judgement

Wed, Jan 30, 2002

Gere's Odyssey with Homer

Richard Gere may have a future as a comedian  at least according to his No. 1 fan, two-year-old son Homer. "I can just raise an eyebrow and send him into hysterical laughter," he tells TV Guide Online. "We [also] have this game where I growl and then threaten to chew on his belly. That just tickles him to no end... My son makes me get goofy, but I guess children make fools of all of us." Homer is the 52-year-old actor's first child with actress Carey Lowell (Law &amp; Order), whom he refers to as his "wife" although the pair aren't formally married. "I've proposed to her," he explains, "but we just haven't gotten around to making it official yet. "We're both very protective parents," he continues. "I would love to carpet the world so my son wouldn't get any bruises.

Mon, Jan 14, 2002

Russell Crowe Defends His Rep

Oscar champ Russell Crowe confesses that playing real-life Nobel Prize-winning scientist John Nash in A Beautiful Mind was a bigger challenge than he anticipated. At least when he portrayed tobacco industry whistle blower Jeffrey Wigand in 1999's The Insider he had something to model his performance after. "I spent hours watching tapes of Wigand," he tells TV Guide Online, "but there was not a single piece of film  not even an audio tape  of Nash as a young man." So, how did Crowe get inside the head of the schizophrenic Princeton mathematician? Well, he let his nails grow, natch. "I have little sausage stumps of fingers, but I'd noticed in a photo that Nash had these graceful hands with tapered fingers," he says. "I decided having longer fingernails would sort of help that image. In fact, the day

Thu, Jan 3, 2002

Cate Blanchett's Big Secret

Cate Blanchett, who recently gave birth to a son, Dashiell John, might have avoided the daunting physical challenges she faced in Charlotte Gray if she had confessed during filming that she was preggers. But Blanchett soldiered on, playing a Scottish woman who goes behind enemy lines to join the French Resistance in World War II. "I didn't tell anyone at first, not even Gillian Armstrong, the director," she reveals to TV Guide Online. "It wasn't their fault, and I wanted to do my job. But it was bloody cold, the worst winter in Britain in years, and the first week we had to go through this really nasty military obstacle course." At least Blanchett  whose performance in Bandits earned her a 2002

Thu, Jan 3, 2002

Kevin Spacey Makes News

Kevin Spacey plays an emotionally damaged man struggling to find his place in the world in The Shipping News (opening Christmas day). In real life, the two-time Oscar winner faced a long struggle of his own to land the juicy part of Quoyle in Lasse Hallstr&#246m's big-screen adaptation of the best-selling novel by E. Annie Proulx. "I read it six years ago and immediately called my agent," he recalls to TV Guide Online. "I said, 'I've got to do this.' When he told me that John Travolta had already committed to the project, I hung up the phone and wept like a small child. But I didn't give up. I kept checking back a

Thu, Dec 20, 2001

Will Smith's Knockout Performance

Will Smith didn't pull any punches in his portrayal of Muhammad Ali in Ali (opening Christmas Day). Beyond the challenge of capturing the man and the myth, Smith had to look convincing in the ring. "I was sparring with former heavyweight champ Michael Bent and I told him not to be afraid to hit me," he recalls to TV Guide Online. "So he landed a punch right in the middle of my head and it sort of compressed down into my shoulders. I felt an electric shock from the base of my neck to the back of both elbows. But I didn't fall down. And that's when something almost animalistic took over, like a catharsis. You think, 'I can do this.' "That's the day I felt like a fighter," he adds, "because I could take it and give it back.

Thu, Dec 13, 2001

Depp: To Hell and Back

What was the first thing Johnny Depp thought about after the Sept. 11 tragedy? His year-old daughter, Lily-Rose Melody. "You turn away from the TV set and look at your child and imagine what the families of the victims must be feeling, the loss they're dealing with," the actor tells TV Guide Online. "I think about the future of my baby and all our children. What's growing up going to be like for them? What kind of life will they have facing a war with such an uncertain end? The entire world has changed and it will never be the same again." Depp admits his own universe was drastically altered in May 1999, when Lily-Rose was born. "When I look at my daughter, it's like having a fog lifted from in front of my eyes that was there for 35 years," he says of his only child with French actress Vanessa Paradis. "For the first time, y

Tue, Oct 16, 2001

Bruce Willis: Ex-Action Hero

In his post-Moonlighting years, Bruce Willis became a megastar in a string of action thrillers, starting with 1988's Die Hard. Unfortunately, the recent real-life terrorist attacks have soured his taste for battling baddies onscreen. "I'm not an action hero anymore," Willis declares to TV Guide Online, "and I think it would be inappropriate for me to compare anything that happens in Hollywood and the entertainment industry to the tragic loss of life on Sept. 11. "I know people who died in that tragedy," he continues. "It's impossible to wrap your mind around what happened there. What happens in Hollywood isn't real  it's about diversion. What I'm trying to do is just entertain people. I'm proud to be an entertainer." Willis hopes moviegoers will find his screwball comedy

Thu, Oct 11, 2001

Ben Stiller's Touchy Subject

Are American moviegoers really ready for a spoof set in New York City  especially one that revolves around an assassination attempt on a world leader? Ben Stiller hopes so, since that's the basic plot of Zoolander (opening Friday). Admits the actor/director: "You go through every emotion, wondering if it's right to release, much less even talk about it. It does seem so trivial in the wake of what happened on September 11th. "I thought about it a lot," Stiller adds, "and I finally decided that even in the best of times, this movie is just a silly diversion that makes you forget about your problems for an hour and a half. Hopefully, it will be good for people to have a few laughs. We're giving them the option to do that." Like many filmmakers nowadays, Stiller was obliged to make some last

Thu, Sep 27, 2001

SNL Gets Out of Politics

When Saturday Night Live kicks off its 27th season this weekend, it will do so without its most popular character: President George W. Bush. In fact, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have led producers to put the kibosh on political humor altogether. "I think in some ways we've seen Bush transform into a real leader," Dubya impersonator Will Ferrell tells TV Guide Online. "There's also a collective spirit at Saturday Night Live that this is not the time to make fun of anything political or topical. We're very sensitive to that and we're going to have to play it by ear. "Frankly," he adds, "there's only one topic that's on anyone's mind right now, so our first shows are going to be more light-hearted and character-based." That said, Ferrell believes that the long-running sketch comedy can provide an important public service during this difficult time. "In the

Wed, Sep 26, 2001

Ferrell and Bush: Comedy Duo?

Saturday Night Live's Will Ferrell  whose dead-on impersonation of President Bush jumpstarted the long-running NBC sketch comedy's critical and ratings resurgence last season  has no problem with his alter ego taking a month-long vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. As proof, the comedian offered Dubya an opportunity to extend his controversial summer liberty even further. "I put in a call to invite him to take a vacation on my ranch, but he hasn't gotten back to me," he deadpans to TV Guide Online. "He might be ready because there's that saying that you need a vacation from your vacation. We could have fun, and maybe talk about doing a show on the road together." In the meantime, Ferrell will continue to poke fun at Bush  and no less so now that he's settled into his role as the nation's Commander in Chief. "It doesn't matter what office Bush holds, we jus

Fri, Aug 17, 2001

Jason Biggs's Just Desserts

It's been two years since American Pie was served up to moviegoers, and Jason Biggs continues to be haunted by the now-legendary scene in which his character makes love to an apple pastry. In fact, when filmmaker Kevin Smith asked the 23-year-old New Jersey native to appear in his new comedy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (due Aug. 22), he wanted him to parody his kinky past. "It's sort of a caricature. I'm trying to deal with being the 'Pie Guy,' which is sort of what my life has been like," Biggs tells TV Guide Online of his cameo, in which he plays himself. "For the last two years I've been known as the 'Pie Guy.' So it's sort of fun to laugh at it." Well, in the much-ant

Fri, Aug 10, 2001

Jessica Alba: Bride-to-Be

Jessica Alba may play a genetically enhanced supervixen on Dark Angel, but she feels a little more vulnerable than that in real life. As the rising starlet has learned, giving up her privacy is a lot tougher than taking on TV baddies  especially when it comes to her romance with fianc&eacute; and Dark Angel co-star Michael Weatherly. "I just won't talk about us," Alba says firmly. "I know the media will dive into your personal life as much as you allow them to." Feeling she's damned if she does or doesn't dish, the actress simply throws up her hands. "If celebrities don't want to talk about something," she points out, "then the made-up stories are everywhere. In the end, you just have to say to yourself, 'It's not brain surgery, it's just entertainment. Nobody's dying here.'" By all accounts, Weatherly (who has a five-year-old son with ex-wife and former Loving co-star Amelia Hei

Mon, Aug 6, 2001

Danny's Bonaduce: Rehab Redux

Partridge Family alum Danny Bonaduce recently checked himself into rehab  and that's where he'll be when he isn't co-hosting his L.A. radio show and yet another TV talk show, The Other Half. (Unlike his failed solo talk effort, Danny!, Half's an all-male knockoff of The View, with Dick Clark filling Barbara Walters's heels.) Explains Bonaduce: "I come out to do my job and then I go right back in." No stranger to rehab, Bonaduce kicked his widely publicized drug habit 10 years ago, managing to plea bargain his way out of jail terms for substance abuse and assault. This time, the troubled celeb got a wake-up call about his persisting drinking problem while on a recent cruise to Spain. "I was eating pie out of the tin and drinking beer at eleven o'clock in the morning," he recalls. "My wife said, 'Are you sure this is how you want to be known? The fat drunk guy on TV?' I said, 'You're right. Let's get back and I

Wed, Aug 1, 2001

Jackie Collins Sounds Off!

Haven't gotten your fill of fame whores just by watching reality TV? Well then, why not tote the latest Jackie Collins novel, Hollywood Wives, The New Generation, down to the beach this summer? As always, the bestselling author says her fiction is based on real dreamers who've fallen prey to their own celebrity-fueled fantasies. "I write about people who have nothing and want everything," Collins says. "You take a beautiful young girl: She wins the local beauty contest. She thinks, 'Why can't I be a star? I see Ren&#233e Zellweger  I'm prettier than her. Why can't I go to Hollywood and meet Jim Carrey? Why can't I meet George Clooney?' They come here and what happens is, an attractive older woman will come up to them and say, 'Do you want to sleep with movie stars? Because I can arrange that.' And that's how some of them become hookers. They're being paid to sleep with this guy that they worshipped." Even if Collins wo

Mon, Jul 2, 2001

Kirsten Dunst Goes Demure

Has Kirsten Dunst revealed too much? At 18, her shapely form has clearly filled out in all the right places. But now, the actress confesses that she's had second thoughts about serving up the evidence with provocative photo spreads in mags like Details and Maxim  not to mention the daring duds she donned at the MTV Movie Awards. "It's weird," she says, "because I'm at this place where I'm very comfortable with my own body, but I have this role model thing. I know that some kids do look up to me. Recently, I've been wondering, 'Have I been too sexy?' I think sometimes it's sexier not to show too much, and I think that's where I'm headed now. "I'm not into showing everything in a magazine anymore," Dunst sums up. "It's like, 'What's the point?' It's not that interesting to reveal all of yourself." While she's still willing to employ her sexuality when necessary for her art, Dunst reportedly nixed a prolonged nude scene in

Thu, Jun 28, 2001

Fast and Furious Love Triangle

The Fast and the Furious isn't just a macho action-thriller about speedy autos and the hunky men who drive them. And that was bad news for star Paul Walker  who plays an undercover cop romancing Jordana Brewster in the flick (skidding into theaters Friday). "I had to do a love scene with Jordana [and] she was dating Mark Wahlberg at the time," he tells TV Guide Online. "And there was a rumor that he wanted to be on the set the day Jordana and I locked lips. I kept looking around to see if he was there. I admit I was a little nervous, but it was cool: Mark never appeared and Jordana was a complete sweetheart. The only downside was hearing the crew snickering while we were trying to get it on." Walker felt a little more comfortable cozying up to the film's other stars  the cars. "I grew up around them," says the 27-year-old

Mon, Jun 18, 2001

Angelina Jolie Licks Her Wounds

How's this for irony? When Angelina Jolie  who plays video-game vixen Lara Croft in Tomb Raider (opening Friday)  was asked by one of hubby Billy Bob Thornton's kids for Tomb tips, the stepmom was stumped. "Every time he got stuck [with the game], he would look at me for help," she laughs. "I could not help him at all. I can't play it. I get frustrated with that game." Fortunately, Jolie's father, Jon Voight  who also plays Lara's papa, Lord Croft  does a better job putting her at ease in unfamiliar situations. "It's a very unique experience to get to work with your parent," she says. "I think we were probably both nervous for each other... because it meant so much to us. But when he showed up, I was a little more calm. I would be getting dressed up and trying to look tough, and Dad had this really silly pig toy that he w

Wed, Jun 13, 2001

Michael J. Fox's Growth Spurt

Michael J. Fox  who plays the young hero at the center of Disney's latest cartoon pic, Atlantis: The Lost Empire  is relishing his burgeoning career as a voiceover artist. "The best part of doing animation is that you don't have to shave, get hair and make-up and dress up nice," he laughs, "but you still look great on screen." That was especially true of Milo Thatch  his alter ego in Atlantis (which opens wide on Friday). "When he gets more heroic, his biceps get a little bigger and his chin is a little stronger; he's more rugged looking," explains the former Spin City Emmy winner, who also was the voice behind the title mouse in Stuart Little. "And they made me taller, which was nice." Ever since going public with his battle against Parkinson's disease, Fox has been standing mighty tall on his own. But although h

Mon, Jun 11, 2001

Al Roker: Daddy Dearest?

Al Roker, Today's perennially jolly meteorologist, reveals that there are moments when even he can lose his sense of humor. "I don't mind signing autographs," he tells TV Guide Online, "but when it gets in the way of being a dad, well, I wonder why people seem to forget I have a private life." Case in point: Roker  who has two girls from two separate marriages  was recently at Miami International Airport when the unthinkable happened. "My two-and-a-half-year-old, Leila [with third wife, ABC correspondent Deborah Roberts], had a load in her pants," he remembers. "There was no place to change her in the bathroom, so I was trying to do it on a chair in a very crowded terminal waiting room. This woman came up and asked to take a picture with me. I said, 'Ma'am, can you just give me a moment while I finish changing this diaper?' She kind of huffed, 'Well, you seem so much nicer on TV.' I'm like, 'I'm halfway through a poopy diaper here.

Mon, Jun 4, 2001

Sopranos Star Puts Out a Hit

While Sopranos fans were surprised when Uncle Junior lifted his voice in song on this season's final episode, it was hardly a challenge for the character's portrayer, Dominic Chianese. The 70-year-old actor may have found late-blooming fame playing the crusty patriarch on HBO's mob drama, but his real dream is to put a hit on the charts. "I started my career as a singer," he tells TV Guide Online. "Growing up, all during my raging hormone phase, I saw all these women swooning over this skinny kid named Frank Sinatra, and I thought, 'Maybe they'll do that to me someday.'" In fact, Chianese  who toured with a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe and worked at Folk City in New York City's Greenwich Village before he started acting  is capitalizing on his TV notoriety with the release of Hits, an eclectic CD collection featuring classics such as "Santa Lucia" and "Amazing Grace." "I'm ready to beco

Fri, Jun 1, 2001