Billy Zane, Teri Polo tapped for Finnegan
Billy Zane (pictured) has done some TV over the years — Twin Peaks, Boston Public, and Charmed, for example — but I think of him more as a movie star. In fact, he has four movies in the works right now — 4Chosen; Mama, I Want to Sing!; The Hessen Affair; and Love N’ Dancing.
But hold the phone, because like so many other movies stars, Zane has signed on for a TV pilot. He’ll star opposite Teri Polo in ABC’s Finnegan. The show revolves around the organized crime/vice unit in Los Angeles, led by a tough female detective named Finnegan (Polo). Zane will play Deputy D.A. Brian Clark. Because, you know, we don’t have enough crime drama shows on the air right now.
Teri Polo, meanwhile, has also done plenty of TV and movies. You might remember her from Northern Exposure, Felicity, The Practice and The West Wing. Upcoming movies include Two:Thirteen, Material Lies, The Beacon and Little Fockers (the third installment of the Focker franchise).
Just like writers, I guess it’s good for actors to diversify and not have all their eggs in one basket. Gigs come and go, and the acting world is one heck of a fickle business.
Eddie Griffin Sued for Smackdown
To quote his big-screen alter ego in Undercover Brother, this is one of them funky times.
A former production manager is suing Eddie Griffin, accusing the funnyman of a drunken assault while working on a TV pilot in March.
The lawsuit was filed today in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Griffin and the Leslie Greif Company by Vince Beane, who worked on a VH1 reality series tentatively titled The Eddie Griffin Project. (View the court docs.)
The plaintiff claims that on March 10 the comic actor wrongfully accused Beane of slighting Griffin’s mother by “treating her, like a slave nigga” or a “ghetto Momma on junior prom night just waiting to get slammed” because, per producers orders, he booked her and Griffin into a “cheap three-star hotel.”
Beane’s complaint accuses the production company of plying the erstwhile Malcolm & Eddie star and others with more than six bottles of Veuve Clicquot Champagne, which purportedly caused Griffin to go off on Beane, grabbing him by the collar and smacking him around for failing to find better accommodations.
“That was for my Momma…she ain’t no nappy-headed ho,” Griffin is quoted as saying in the court documents.
For his part, Griffin’s rep called Beane’s allegations “completely absurd” and “without merit.”
Beane also blasts his employers for failing to provide adequate security to ensure his safety.
“The Leslie Greif Company negligently failed to advise Vince Bean of the violent propensity of the inebriated Eddie Griffin and his short and uneasy temper of which they were well aware and encouraged in hopes it would enhance his outrageous behavior,” the suit states.
“This failure to warn created an unsafe environment and perilous situation for the unsuspecting plaintiff.”
The suit contends that Beane suffered “severe bodily injury and emotional distress” along with “loss of enjoyment of life.”
The production manager says he didn’t fight back, fearing retaliation from Griffin’s five-man posse, which includes a former heavyweight boxer.
Beane is seeking unspecified general and special damages to pay for medical expenses, as well as wage loss and loss of future earning capacity.
Kevin Smith talks Reaper
Two days ago we reported that Clerks writer/director Kevin Smith would be directing a television pilot for the CW. Well now we have new details, direct from Smith himself.
“Would’ve said something here first, but there wasn’t supposed to be something said at all yet, as my deal’s not closed,” Smith said of the /Film story that revealed the news. “But, yes - if t’s are dotted and i’s are crossed properly - I’m going to direct the pilot for Reaper.”
Reaper is an hour-long supernatural-themed CW drama from exec producer Mark Gordon (Grey’s Anatomy). The series is about a 21-year-old slacker who ends up becoming Satan’s bounty hunter, retrieving souls lost from Hell.
Smith describes the series as “less Brimstone or Dead Like Me (as some have suggested) and more Shaun of the Dead than anything else.”
The director is trying get Clerks II stand-out Trevor Fehrman (Elias) into the cast. He also says that long time collaborator David Klein will shoot the first episode.
Why is Smith doing a tv pilot? “A. The script is funny, and B. I’ve always been curious about trying my hand at directing something I didn’t write. Never had an interest in doing that on the big screen, but Reaper presented an excellent opportunity to give it a go in a smaller, yet, ironically, far larger, pond.”
Production will begin in March 2007 for two weeks.
“It’s not going to compromise my schedule too badly,” says Smith. “I’m still in the midst of writing the next two flicks, which Mos and I are hoping to shoot back-to-back this fall and winter.”
January Jones Biography
Best known for her role as Alyson Hannigan’s sister in “American Wedding†(2003), the third installment in the “American Pie†comedy film series, pouty-lipped head-turner January Jones became almost as famous for her choice of notable beaus, as for her choice in movie roles.
The 5’ 7†beauty was born, fittingly, on Jan. 5, 1978 in Sioux Falls, SD. However, her parents came up with the name after reading a Jacqueline Susann book called Once is Not Enough, featuring a character named January Wayne. While attending Roosevelt High School, Jones spent her pre-modeling, pre-Hollywood time toiling away at a local Dairy Queen.
At age 18, she moved to New York City and made her first mark as a stunning model for hip suburban clothier Abercrombie & Fitch. After making the requisite move to Los Angeles, Jones made her acting debut with a small role in the independent film “All the Rage†(1999), starring Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin. Jones followed this with a guest appearance in the Fox TV pilot, “Get Real†(1999). Two years later, she had her biggest break to date when she landed a role in her first major motion picture, the teen-oriented thriller “Glass House†(2001), starring Leelee Sobieski.
Like all young and beautiful starlets on the cusp of fame, Jones quickly became a fixture on the young Hollywood scene. Her blonde beauty attracted a variety of male admirers, including a relatively unknown pre-Demi stud named Ashton Kutcher. The couple, who reportedly met in 1998 at an Abercrombie & Fitch shoot, dated for three years – until Kutcher became enchanted with the older actress Demi Moore. Jones moved on to funnyman extraordinaire Jim Carey and “American Wedding†co-star Sean William Scott before meeting and falling for pop-classical singer and favorite “Oprah†guest, Josh Groban in 2003.
Jones continued to hone her acting chops, landing roles in a variety of high-profile projects: as a bank robber in the Bruce Willis-Billy Bob Thorton crime comedy “Bandits†(2001); as a memorable lesbian sexpot with temperament issues in the Adam Sandler-Jack Nicholson hit comedy, “Anger Management†(2003); and as an British tourist in the hit romantic comedy, “Love Actually” (2003). At the same time, Jones was featured as #82 in Maxim magazine’s “Hot 100 of 2002″ supplement. Next up was the star-making role of Cadence Flaherty, the beautiful sister and maid of honor to the not-so-blushing bride, Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) as well as the love interest of the obnoxious hound, Stiffler (Sean William Scott) in “American Wedding†(2003). While the film tanked, Jones had received her first major coverage for a role that she had won from literally thousands of on-the-brink ingenues.
Looking for further challenges, Jones learned to 50’s swing dance for her role in “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights†(2004), the critically maligned sequel to the 1987 dance classic. She journeyed back to the small screen, appearing in the recurring role of Marissa Wells on the Showtime comedy series, “Huff” in 2004. The actress continued to expand her range as a dramatic actress by portraying Barry Pepper’s repressed wife in Oscar-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones’ directorial debut, “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada†(2005). The prestigious film – a first for Jones – won Best Screenplay and Best Actor awards at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
- Born:
on 01/05/1978 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota - Job Titles:
Actor, Model
Significant Others
- Companion: Ashton Kutcher. dated from 1998-2001; no longer together
- Companion: Josh Groban. dating as of Fall 2003
Milestones
- 2001 Made her feature debut in the suspense drama “The Glass House”
- 2002 Had a part in Steven Soderbergh’s comedy “Full Frontal”
- 2003 Played Gina in the hilarious Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler comedy “Anger Management”
- 2003 Played the sister to the not-so-blushing bride in “American Wedding”
- 2004 Appeared in “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,” co-starring Diego Luna
- 2005 Played the bored wife of a border patrolman (Barry Pepper) in Tommy Lee Jones’ “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada”