stephen.miller

Ben Kingsley's Triumph

It didn't take much arm-twisting for Ben Kingsley to star in Clare Peploe's gender-bending romantic comedy Triumph of Love. He plays crotchety 18th-century philosopher Hemocrates, who's anti-women and decidedly anti-love  that is, until tricky co-star Mira Sorvino seduces him. Hemocrates falls hard, which is what made Kingsley fall in love with the part. "Coming from the theater, I thought, 'Do I really want to do another play on film?'" he tells TV Guide Online. "[But] the script read beautifully and I really liked my character very much. He was very empowered, and then he loses all his power, then gets it back by learning something." Naturally, the Oscar

Fri, Apr 19, 2002

Mira Sorvino's Sexy Sex Change!

Set in the 18th century, director Clare Peploe's Triumph of Love stars Mira Sorvino as a princess posing as a young gentleman. In this gender-bending comedy  opening today  she must charm the pants off co-stars Ben Kingsley, Fiona Shaw and Jay Rodan, slipping in and out of male/female personas to get her way in a royal intrigue. To get a leg up on her character's seductive, macho alter ego, Sorvino turned to an "enterprising" TV hero for inspiration. "I have to say the most prevalent persona in my Phocion character is

Wed, Apr 17, 2002

Oscar Nominee's Big Promise

When it comes to the politics surrounding Oscar acceptance-speech length, there's no denying that a double standard exists. While Julia Roberts is allowed to thank every second cousin twice removed, Joe Nobody  fresh off his win for best animated short  can barely squeeze in a shout-out to his dying grandma. Of course, let's face it: That's exactly the way it should be. Even Justine Shapiro and B.Z. Goldberg, the relative unknown co-directors behind this year's Oscar-nominated documentary feature, Promises, admit they understand the celebrity bias. As a result, should they emerge victorious come March 24, they won't be exceeding their 40-second allotment. "We're going to keep the thank-yous to a minimum," chuckles Goldberg. Adds Shapiro, whose husband, Carlos Bolado, also worked on the movie: "We never thought anyone woul

Tue, Mar 12, 2002

MTV Stud Knows No Boundaries

Troy Hartman is "outdoorsy" alright. A world-ranked skysurfer, skier, snowboarder and X-Games champ, he's also done extreme stunts on MTV's Senseless Acts of Violence. So the 27-year-old Californian daredevil is perfect to host the WB's No Boundaries (debuting March 3). Here's the sitch: With $100,000 and a brand new SUV at stake, 15 thrill-seeking strangers embark on a 30-day, 2000-mile trek to the Arctic Circle. Every 48 hours, the group designates a new leader  who not only navigates his or her team through the day's perils, but must also boot off one team member. "I hated to see any of them go," Hartman says. "It was always kind of a bummer." That Survivor-esque twist aside, Hartman denies that No Boundaries will thrive on the typical villainy and treachery so common in reality TV. "It's really an upbeat, leadership, teamwor

Fri, Mar 1, 2002

LL Cool J Unwraps

He's a founding member of rap and hip-hop, but there's a tony club into which emerging thespian LL Cool J is eager to be rushed. "I want to be in the fraternity of actors," he tells TV Guide Online. "I want to be accepted by the media and the other actors as a person [who] really does act and does his job as an actor. Right now, my dream and my focus is to one day be on the A-list." Well, the 33-year-old Queens, N.Y. native is about to take a step closer to joining the ranks of the Hollywood elite. After landing supporting roles in such films as Any Given Sunday, Deep Blue Sea and In Too Deep, LL moves front and center in the family dramedy Kingdom Come (opening Wednesday). "This was the biggest stretch that I've made as an actor, and the biggest step that I've taken," he says of the pic, which also stars Whoopi Goldberg, Jada Pinkett Smith and Vivica A. Fox. Even though he hasn't abandoned his music career  his

Mon, Apr 9, 2001

Marlo Thomas: A Woman of Independent Means

Much like her That Girl alter ego, Ann Marie, a young and prescient Marlo Thomas knew about "Girl Power" long before the Spice Girls hit the scene. "I remember thinking at a very early age, 'I'm always going to know where I'm going,'" she says in a Lifetime Intimate Portrait airing tonight (7 pm/ET). "Nobody's ever going to say to me 'What does she know? Where is she going to go?'" As the single-minded daughter of legendary entertainer Danny Thomas and a junior member of Hollywood royalty, where Thomas went was straight into the family business. And in the early '60s  buoyed by a breakout performance in the London stage production of Barefoot in the Park  television beckoned. "The head of ABC at the time called me in and, just like the old story, said 'Kid, you can be a TV star. I'm gonna find a series for you.'" Unfortunately, he didn't have a concept  but Thomas did. "There [was] all this stuff happening in t

Mon, Nov 13, 2000

Unrest in the Nest

Park Overall, who played feisty, opinionated and down-home nurse Laverne Todd on the NBC sitcom Empty Nest, says she squawked and ruffled quite a few feathers during the show's seven-year run (1988-95). "I was extraordinarily difficult," Overall admits in a Lifetime Intimate Portrait, airing tonight (7&nbsp;pm/ET). "But [executive producer] Paul Witt was able to handle me." Overall let it be known from the get-go that Laverne would not be portrayed as yet another stereotypical Southern country bumpkin. "I had a hard time with what I call "not reality-based stuff"  things that [the writers] would make me do that were just hillbilly stuff, which drives me completely over the edge. I would fight to keep some integrity to the kind of character I was playing and keep it from being Hee Haw, which I did. But it wasn't easy." Her tenacity paid off, and Laverne emerged as one of the show's most beloved characters  Tennessee acce

Mon, Oct 30, 2000

Lopez Talks About Man Troubles

When she's not on location shooting a film or in the recording studio making an album, Jennifer Lopez enjoys chilling with her homegirls. And what do they talk about? Well, men of course. "When girls get in a room all they talk about is relationships," says the girlfriend of Sean "Puffy" Combs. "Just so you know guys, that's what we do all the time. You know that's it for us  guys, relationships, problems and stuff." In fact, the booty-licious star of The Cell reveals that the tracks on her sophomore album, A Passionate Journey, due to hit stores in October, are inspired by those all-girl, bare-all share fests. "I realized when I'm working and then when me and the girls get together, that's what we do," she says. "We complain about this, she tells me about her thing, I tell her about mine. The other one's happy because she got roses, whatever. So the album is going to be about girls talking and stuff like that." Lopez says Jou

Wed, Sep 13, 2000

John Travolta Stays Tuned

Celebrity pilot, hubby, father and busy actor John Travolta fesses up that when he's not navigating the friendly skies to unwind, one of his earthly pleasures ? besides eating whatever he wants ? is manning the controls of his TV's remote, surfing shows that would make any good "sweat hog" proud. "Sometimes Kelly will catch me watching a Spanish station that I don't understand. Not music or anything, but a talk show in Spanish," Travolta reveals in the latest issue of Good Housekeeping, referring to his wife, actress Kelly Preston. "I don't know why I like listening to a language I don't understand, but I do." He goes on to say he's also gotten channel-busted by his wife in the midst of watching programs produced domestically in his native tongue. "She'll find me tuning into those odd home shows on public television that teach you how to do something at home that you're never going to do." Travolta further feeds his boob-tube habit by admitting to b

Wed, Jul 5, 2000

Malcolm Mom's Toilet Tale

Perhaps the reason Malcolm in the Middle's Jane Kaczmarek is so convincing as a harried mom on the Fox series is because she herself grew up in a family with four kids ? and one toilet. "Until I was finished with sixth grade, we grew up in a house in Milwaukee, with four kids and my mom and my dad," she tells TV Guide Channel. "We had one bathroom, which is what the family in Malcolm has, which [we] never thought was odd. There was a toilet in the basement. You learned to really function very cooperatively with one toilet, and it just seemed like the most normal thing in the world. "I love that that is the case on Malcolm, because I think a lot of people grew up that way," she says. "There's a certain familiarity about that." Kaczmarek recently did double mom duty on Malcolm and Felicity, playing the mom of Julie (Amy Jo Johnson) on the teen drama. "I'm addicted to Felicity," she says. "I think Keri Russell

Thu, Jun 29, 2000

Flakes Flock Biggs

Ever since Jason Biggs got intimate with an apple-filled treat in American Pie, women don't strike up a conversation with the baby-faced up-and-comer by asking "What's your sign?" when he goes out in public. Some of the come-on lines he's heard are flaky and downright pie-eyed. "A girl came up to me in a crowded bar and actually said, 'I'd love to be your apple pie tonight,'&nbsp;" he tells Maxim. His response? "Frankly, I was too stunned. I wish I'd said something cool back to her, like 'Well, OK, you got any ice cream?'&nbsp;" Biggs takes the jokes about baked goods ? plain or &agrave; la mode ? in stride, however, no matter how stale they get. "I'll be at a restaurant and some guy will totally crack himself up by saying, 'Hey, did you order the pie for dessert?' They expect me to convulse with laughter, like 'Wow, no one's ever said that before.' At the same time I understand, because he can tell his buddies, 'I met the American Pie

Tue, Jun 27, 2000

Whitney's Straight Talk

Way before "Is that your final answer?" and "Who will be voted off the island?" the query on everyone's lips has been "Is Whitney Houston gay?" Years later the rumors still persist, even after she married bad boy Bobby Brown and became a mother. Well, Girlfriend wants to set the record straight ? as it were ? once and for all. "Listen, I took a lot of grief for sh-- that wasn't me, OK, 'cause I had friends, 'cause I was close to people," she tells Out magazine. "But that ain't me. I know what I am. I'm a woman. I'm heterosexual. Period. My mother (singer Cissy Houston) raised me to never, ever be ashamed of what I am. But I'm not a lesbian, darling." So, how did it all start? Houston believes that in the early years of her career, she became something of an overnight phenomenon. The higher her star rose, however, the lower her private life became. As

Thu, Jun 22, 2000

Mel Gibson's Dark Side

Aussie screen icon and legendary prankster Mel Gibson enjoys the challenge of tackling roles that explore the dark and somewhat reckless elements of a character. So, what's the appeal? "Talk to any kid and ask what kind of story they want to hear at night. The one with the birds and flowers ? Bambi ? or the Grimm's fairy tales where you have to face your own id. I want the nightmare," he tells Movieline. "I need that conflict, the edginess that makes you want to know what happens next." Shying away from squeaky-clean screen heroes, Gibson has consciously made choices throughout his career to play characters with villainous leanings, and he believes audiences can relate to them. "Everybody has those dark sides," he explains. "There's something there people can understand. You say, 'Can I do this and have people understand the character, even though he's committing heinous acts?' I

Wed, Jun 14, 2000

Rob Lowe: Don't Call It a Comeback!

Former tabloid headliner and amateur videographer Rob Lowe just can't seem to escape those scurrilous rumors. The West Wing star gets a kick out of hearing how the hit show supposedly jump-started his career, and that he's back on top. "I never went away. I always worked and made a lot of money. I mean, it's not like I had to go and do a bus-and-truck tour of The Fantasticks," Lowe tells Mirabella. "I certainly was aware that I wasn't making any '20 Hottest Guy' lists, [and] I'm definitely at a time where I'm not thrilled about having my damn waist size on the back of my Levi's!" But at least now they're zipped. In case you'd forgotten, back in 1988 Lowe got himself into a heap of trouble and took some nasty industry hits when the embarrassing story broke about how he had videotaped himself and two girls having sex (one was underage) while attending the Democratic National Co

Tue, Jun 6, 2000

Where the Hunks Are!

Studly Dermot Mulroney admits he's got nothing on septuagenarian hunk Paul Newman, his co-star in the new flick Where the Money Is. "Yeah, you want to talk about studs, this is Paul Newman we're talking about," he tells TV Guide Online. "There's no way to win that one, no way. It's his face, you know. He has something behind his eyes in every scene that you can see the gears cranking." Baby blues and good genes aside, Mulroney enjoyed working on the heist scenes with Newman and says it felt a lot like something out The Sting. "Even when I read the script, I looked forward to those scenes for the very reason that this is Henry Gondorff (his Sting character). That was amazing." He says the two spent many nights in the cab of the truck "just goofing around or sitting quietly." Mulroney plays ex-prom queen Linda Fiorentino's ex-prom-king husband, Wayne,

Fri, Apr 14, 2000

Michael J. Fox: Spin City Survivor

When Spin City star Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease back in 1990 it was nothing more than an odd twitch in his pinkie. By 1996, when production began on Spin City, his body was convulsing out of control. "[I] could mix a margarita in about five seconds," he tells Redbook. Now, four years later, Fox, 38, is a little less shaky, thanks in part to medication and a touch-and-go brain operation. And he's Spinning out of his hit show at the end of this season to spend more time with his family and become a full-time poster boy for a Parkinson's cure. In sickness and in health, his wife, actress Tracy Pollan, has been the designated hand-holder, and Fox feels blessed. "If I only had Tracy," he says, it'd be enough. A great deal of my optimism comes from Tracy." Married since 1988, Fox remembers when he broke the news to Tracy about his illness. "She didn't panic. She didn't draw back. There was just that moment wh

Fri, Apr 7, 2000

Samuel L. Jackson: In the Army Now!

The medics were on call with plenty of cotton and iodine when silver-screen heavyweights Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones kicked each other's butts in a knock-down, drag-out faux slugfest in their new military action flick, Rules of Engagement. "That's a great scene," Jackson tells TV Guide Online. "It's exactly what it looks like on-screen." After he and Jones mixed it up, he says, "We were both out of breath, kind of beat and kind of limping and wondering, 'Why the hell did we do this?'&nbsp;" Jones may have been a formidable opponent, but nothing compared to a certain Southeast Asian tag team: For the film's Vietnam War re-creations, Jackson was shipped off to boot camp. "I reached the point where I [thought], 'OK, this might be fun. We're actually going to play army for a while.'&nbsp;" But Jackson learned that even this pretend army wants you to be all y

Wed, Mar 22, 2000

The Rules According to Tommy Lee Jones

Tommy Lee Jones, the man who hunted The Fugitive, sees combat as both a soldier and a lawyer in the upcoming movie Rules of Engagement. For the Vietnam War sequence, Jones and Co. were put through their paces in mock boot camp. "It wasn't really boot camp," Jones tells TV Guide Online. "All we did was slide around in the swamp wearing uniforms, carrying guns that shot blanks [but] mainly just learning how to wear the clothes." Playing a real-life G.I. Joe certainly earned the Oscar-winning actor his combat pay. "We got a very good idea of how difficult it is to be cool under fire." The action eventually switches from the hell of war to the hall of justice in Engagement's trial scene, and Jones admits his character is no Perry Mason ? in or out of court. "Colonel Hodges is a lousy lawyer ? pretty much a failure at life," he says. And Jones, who's turned in some pretty f

Tue, Mar 21, 2000

Robert Guillaume Bounces Back

Robert Guillaume has made millions laugh on shows such as Sports Night and Benson, but there's nothing funny about the debilitating stroke that has affected the actor's speech and motor skills in the past year. "I got a wakeup call last January and I've been heeding it ever since," Guillaume tells the TV Guide Channel. "I'm not as fast as I used to be, but fortunately I can still talk." After a brief medical leave, the 72-year-old Emmy Award winner (Soap) is back where he belongs ? playing managing editor/father figure Isaac Jaffee on ABC's Sports Night. Guillaume was pleasantly surprised that a few of his female colleagues saw him in a whole new studly light upon his return to the set. "The girls kept telling me how sexy I was." Described by co-workers as Sports Night's anchor and voice of reason, the veteran actor, who cut his showbiz teeth in mus

Thu, Mar 16, 2000

Cindy Searches for Her King

It's lonely being queen for Internet deity Cindy Margolis. If she had to choose a cyberconsort to share her throne, she  along with everyone else  would check out the "king-me" potential of Latin prince Ricky Martin. "Hopefully he downloaded me," Margolis tells the TV Guide Channel. Even if Martin hasn't, there are plenty of other prospects for her to consider. Since launching her eponymous site three years ago, Margolis shot from "nobody" to "somebody" literally overnight. She credits her "cyberbuddies" for helping to make her showbiz dreams come true. "They made me a success on the Internet," she says. Thanks to their daily web hits, both shoes fit in this Cinderella story. As the host of In Your Dreams With Cindy Margolis, seen on E!, she gets to play fairy godmother to aspiring actors, comedians and musicians by introducing them to surprise celebrity/mentor guests who have made it. Margolis knows firsthand about waiting for that big brea

Sat, Mar 11, 2000