Sir Ben Kingsley Raves About Mary-Kate Olsen
Sir Ben Kingsley Raves About Mary-Kate Olsen
You’ve been falling in love with her (and her sister) since their debut in the 1990s on “Full House.” But actor Sir Ben Kingsley reports that Mary-Kate Olsen is still as charming as ever.
The British actor/icon recently revealed to press that he is an ardent admirer of Olsen, with whom he co-starred in “The Wackness.”
In an interview, Kingsley gushed, “Mary-Kate is a genius. She’s great company and a very good actor indeed.”
And he knows his stuff. The 63-year-old actor has been a permanent resident on Hollywood’s A-list ever since his breakthrough role in “Ghandi” as the title character. He’s set to begin working on “Taj Mahal” soon, opposite Indian actress Aishwarya Rai.
Tom Returns to the Scene of the Crime
Tom Cruise went back to where it all began Friday.
We could mockingly lead you astray for pages and pages as to what that means, but you all know: The microscopically examined movie star sat down next to Oprah Winfrey today for the first time since…yeah, that.
And except for the fact that Cruise is now the remarried father of a 2-year-old daughterwho does, in fact, partly resemble himwith a recent flop under his belt rather than a box-office topper, not a whole lot has changed.
Speaking from the sanctity of Cruise and Katie Holmes' Telluride, Colo., manse on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the actor's breakthrough role in Risky Business, Oprah asked her pal about "the couch" and his relationship with Katie Holmes, Scientology and his beliefs, Brooke Shields, Matt Lauer and making movies.
This time, of course, she also got to ask about that in-house sonogram machine, whether he believes in God, whether Suri is his and whetherknowing that hindsight is 20/20he would now think twice about putting his feet (not to mention his heart and soul) on the furniture.
"That was a moment and it was real," Cruise said, referring to the infamous couch jump that seemingly set off the spiral of "What's with him?" gossip.
"But I don't know if I would…knowing what I do nowyeah, I get it," he said, referring to the 24/7 media frenzyof varying degrees of verisimilitudethat ensued. "I just felt that way [about Holmes]and I feel that way about her. That's just how I felt."
Besides, "You were egging me on!" he challenged the daytime queen.
So knowing what he knows now about the Internet's wily ways, Cruise might not have been so…expressive. But what about all those other things?
- On his feelings for "Kate": "I can't even articulate it, what it's like, that feeling and the connection and just who she is and what she means to me. It's very special and, I think you know, Suri was born a year to the day that I met her."
- And to those who say what they have isn't real: "That's laughable to me."
- On the sonogram machine he set up in-house to monitor his child in utero: "You just want the baby to be as safe as possible."
- On the especially freaky-deaky rumors that Suri is not his child: "Someone compares your daughter to Rosemary's Baby…It's one thing to say stuff about me…this is off the charts."
- His faith: "I believe in God. There's no way you can be up here [gesturing to his beauteous surroundings] and there isn't a God."
- On Nicole Kidman, and rumors that she's been pushed out of Connor and Bella's life: "That's ridiculous. We share custody." They don't exactly all gather round the table together due to everyone's busy schedule, but…"We share custody whenever."
- On his own relationship with Connor and Bella, who at times seem to belong to his former life: "They're good people, my children. I'm proud of them. I don't want them to worry. They know I'm there. No matter what, I'm always there."
Oprah's two-part interview with Cruise continues Monday from her Chicago studio, where the topic of conversation will revert more to his career accomplishments and what made him "Tom Cruise" in the first place.
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Tom Returns to the Scene of the Crime
Tom Cruise went back to where it all began Friday.
We could mockingly lead you astray for pages and pages as to what that means, but you all know: The microscopically examined movie star sat down next to Oprah Winfrey today for the first time since…yeah, that.
And except for the fact that Cruise is now the remarried father of a 2-year-old daughterwho does, in fact, partly resemble himwith a recent flop under his belt rather than a box-office topper, not a whole lot has changed.
Speaking from the sanctity of Cruise and Katie Holmes' Telluride, Colo., manse on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the actor's breakthrough role in Risky Business, Oprah asked her pal about "the couch" and his relationship with Katie Holmes, Scientology and his beliefs, Brooke Shields, Matt Lauer and making movies.
This time, of course, she also got to ask about that in-house sonogram machine, whether he believes in God, whether Suri is his and whetherknowing that hindsight is 20/20he would now think twice about putting his feet (not to mention his heart and soul) on the furniture.
"That was a moment and it was real," Cruise said, referring to the infamous couch jump that seemingly set off the spiral of "What's with him?" gossip.
"But I don't know if I would…knowing what I do nowyeah, I get it," he said, referring to the 24/7 media frenzyof varying degrees of verisimilitudethat ensued. "I just felt that way [about Holmes]and I feel that way about her. That's just how I felt."
Besides, "You were egging me on!" he challenged the daytime queen.
So knowing what he knows now about the Internet's wily ways, Cruise might not have been so…expressive. But what about all those other things?
- On his feelings for "Kate": "I can't even articulate it, what it's like, that feeling and the connection and just who she is and what she means to me. It's very special and, I think you know, Suri was born a year to the day that I met her."
- And to those who say what they have isn't real: "That's laughable to me."
- On the sonogram machine he set up in-house to monitor his child in utero: "You just want the baby to be as safe as possible."
- On the especially freaky-deaky rumors that Suri is not his child: "Someone compares your daughter to Rosemary's Baby…It's one thing to say stuff about me…this is off the charts."
- His faith: "I believe in God. There's no way you can be up here [gesturing to his beauteous surroundings] and there isn't a God."
- On Nicole Kidman, and rumors that she's been pushed out of Connor and Bella's life: "That's ridiculous. We share custody." They don't exactly all gather round the table together due to everyone's busy schedule, but…"We share custody whenever."
- On his own relationship with Connor and Bella, who at times seem to belong to his former life: "They're good people, my children. I'm proud of them. I don't want them to worry. They know I'm there. No matter what, I'm always there."
Oprah's two-part interview with Cruise continues Monday from her Chicago studio, where the topic of conversation will revert more to his career accomplishments and what made him "Tom Cruise" in the first place.
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Frances O’Connor: In the Limelight
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If you’ve caught any of the first few episodes of Cashmere Mafia, you probably know that the main reason to tune in each week is this actress in the above picture. I thought my reason for watching would be Lucy Liu (who I love and who is ever so gorgeous) but she’s been less-than-impressive and her storyline is bland and annoying. Instead I have fallen in love all over again with Frances O’Connor who plays the quirky, intelligent Zoe Burden on the show.
After the jump, I have some information about her life, some filmography and some excerpts from interviews.
While Frances O’Connor was born in England, she spent most of her life in Australia (living there from the age of 2). She was raised in a Roman Catholic family and attended a convent school in Perth, Australia. In this interview, O’Connor talks about the strong foundation Catholicism gave her: “I am really glad I was raised Catholic. I like the fundamental aspects of that religion. I think they give you great grounding in terms of having a moral code. But I do not subscribe to any religion specifically now.”
O’Connor attended Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts and has a B.A. in Literature from the Curtin University of Technology (also in Western Australia). She achieved screen success in Australia with her breakthrough role in the crime thriller Kiss or Kill (1997). This film earned her one of her two Australian Film Institute nominations for “Best Actress.” The other film for which O’Connor was nominated for an AFI award was Thank God He Met Lizzie, a romantic comedy.
In addition to these AFI nods, O’Connor has received a Golden Globe nomination in 2000 for Best Actress in a Series / Miniseries / TV Movie for Madame Bovary. I’ve not seen Madame Bovary yet, but I think I might resurrect my Netflix list and add it. She also received critical acclaim for her role in Iron Jawed Angels, an HBO movie about the womens’ suffrage movement that also starred Hillary Swank. The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival that year and got a standing ovation from the audience.
Also after the success of Kiss or Kill, Frances O’Connor landed the roll of Fanny in Mansfield Park in 1999. This was the first time I fell in love with her. Admittedly, I am mildly obsessed with all things Jane Austen but I was captivated by O’Connor’s portrayal of the reserved and full of conviction Fanny. I highly recommend it to not only Austen geeks but also to anyone who enjoys a good period romance. Here Frances O’Connor explains why she likes period dramas: “Well I have only done three in about nine films. But what they all share are fantastically complex and interesting characters. That is the important thing to me rather than the period the piece is set in.”
And Mansfield Park is not the only period drama O’Connor has appeared in. In 2002, she played Gwendolyn Fairfax in Oliver’s Parker’s screen adaptation of the comedy of manners The Importance of Being Ernest. Despite it’s all-star cast which included Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, Reese Witherspoon, and Judy Dench, the film didn’t go over well, only grossing about 8.3 million dollars. Here O’Connor talks about the reaction in America to her appearance in what seemed like so many period films: “In Australia I was seen as somebody who did only very modern, contemporary stuff. Then as soon as I went overseas I did two period pieces so it was like, “When are you going to get out of the corsets?” And I was thinking I just got into them!”
While O’Connor has appeared in some flops (Windtalkers in 2002 with Nicholas Cage and Timeline in 2003 with Paul Walker), she also co-starred in one of my favorite guilty-pleasure films, Bedazzled with Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley. I know, I know. I shouldn’t love Bedazzled but I do. I love how Brendan Fraser has to play all these different characters (the drug dealer is great, that nose!). Frances O’Connor follows suit appearing with Fraser in all the fantasies that the devil constructs for him after he makes a wish (or perhaps, I should say nightmares).
You may also recognize O’Connor from 2001’s AI: Artificial Intelligence. Remember that movie with Jude Law and the little kid who sees dead people? It was Stanley Kubrick’s last project that Steven Spielberg finished after Kubrick’s death. O’Connor played Monica Swinton the mother whose child is suffering from an incurable disease and “frozen,” so she adopts David (Haley Joel Osment). The film got mixed reviews, even from the actress herself: “I think it is flawed. But at the same time I think it was a very brave experiment.”
Nowadays, you can see Frances O’Connor every week on ABC’s new show Cashmere Mafia. The show is produced by Darren Star Productions, the same company responsible for Sex and the City. Another SATC alum who joined the crew of Cashmere Mafia is Patricia Field, famed costume designer. On Cashmere Mafia, O’Connor plays Zoe Burden, a successful woman who works in Mergers and Acquisitions by day and tries to be the best mommy she can at night and on the weekends. Not only is O’Connor’s comedic timing the best on the show, but her American accent is surprisingly natural. How did she learn to “speak American”? She watched Sesame Street and learned from Grover.
You can catch Frances O’Connor in Cashmere Mafia, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.