Less than a year ago, there was a solid rumor going around that Madonna had her heart set on financing and starring in a film about Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee girlfriend (and later, wife) of King Edward VIII. Wallis was much maligned in her lifetime, especially since the general story goes that King Edward gave up the throne of England to marry Wallis. But, I’ve always felt there were other factors at play (including King Edward’s sympathy for Adolf Hitler), but Wallis has yet to have a major historical rewrite, or major cultural defense. Madonna, it seemed, had found her next project.

Since the initial flurry of rumors, things got quiet. My main problem with the whole idea of the project was that Madonna would not be up for the role of Wallis – Madonna doesn’t have the acting chops, and Wallis is an acting challenge. Fortunately, the latest rumors have Madonna stepping away from playing Wallis – but Madonna still has her heart set on writing and directing the film, doing the music, and maybe playing a supporting role. This isn’t going over well – and now Madonna can’t cast the Wallis role to save her life:

Madonna hasn’t exactly set the world on fire with her acting. So the Material Girl is turning her hand to directing a musical biopic based on the life of Wallis Simpson, the woman for whom King Edward VIII gave up his throne in 1936.

Except no one wants to Madge’s leading lady! Keira Knightley and Cate Blanchett have already passed.

“There are worries that Madonna will get too involved because she wrote the script and the music,” says a source. “And there the concern that she may want to take a small role which would discredit the film. But don’t cry for Her Madgesty – she’ll always have Evita!

[From Star Magazine, print edition, January 11, 2010]

Keira would be terrible as Wallis, so I’m not upset about that. But Blanchett would rock. Fortunately, Cate has too much sense to sign on for anything involving Madonna, so well done Cate! This seriously would be an amazing project if only Madonna would take herself and her ego out of it. Seriously, why couldn’t she just executive produce and be like Oprah? Give the project to some smart British director, like Stephen Daldry or someone like that.

Here are some old photos of Wallis and King Edward (when he became the Duke of Windsor, post-abdication):

Hot damn! Late Tuesday the first trailer for Ridley Scott’s version of Robin Hood was released, and it’s pretty awesome. The film has been broiling in controversy for the better part of the year because of behind-the scenes drama, but you can’t see any of that in this minute-and-a-half clip. This thing is so awesome, I had to look up the cast just to make sure some of these dirty, sexy people were who I thought. In addition to Russell Crowe as Robin Hood, and Cate Blanchett as Maid Marion, the film also has Mark Strong (nice, he’s in Sherlock Holmes too), Danny Huston, Max Von Sydow, William Hurt (!!) and finally, as the Sheriff of Nottingham, one of my big crushes, Matthew MacFadyen. He was Mr. Darcy in the Keira Knightley version of Pride & Prejudice, and his voice literally kills me. I love him!

Anyway, this trailer makes it seem like this version is going to be very, very dark. I mean, except for the part where Robin Hood is riding a horse on the beach. Which, you know, Robin Hood did…? Oh, and I’m loving Cate Blanchett’s dark wig. But you can do anything to her hair, you really can, and it still works.

I’m so happy this film looks good! I was worried. There was so much scandal during the production, from the alleged feud between Russell and Ridley, to Russell’s alleged weight gain, to Sienna Miller’s dismissal from the film (or, as she put it, she was too thin and beautiful for the role), to Cate Blanchett’s brilliant casting. My only qualm is that the film looks a lot like Gladiator. I mean, that’s Ridley Scott’s style and everything, but did Russell really need the same haircut? Whatever. My Crowe crush is returning!

Production stills from ‘Robin Hood’ featuring Crowe, Blanchett and Ridley Scott, courtesy of Screen Rant.

Just so I get my Blanchett cred, let me just say that I love everything about Cate Blanchett. She’s one of the coolest ladies around, she’s an amazing actress, a great mom, a true artist, and before today, a nearly flawless style icon. Cate likes high-fashion – she likes to make an impact, and you can tell that she simply loves to dress. But this dress… oh, NO. Just no, honey.

This is Cate appearing as the “guest of honor” at an exhibition opening in Melbourne. This is her first public appearance since her Streetcar Named Desire costar accidently bashed in her head with an old-timey radio. So is this crocheted quilt dress a product of a traumatic head injury? Or was it just the one “freebie” bad call Cate gets after a lifetime of being flawless?

There have been some awful red carpet faux-pas over the years, but Cate Blanchett’s latest outing in Melbourne takes the biscuit.

The Australian actress, 40, was guest of honour at the opening of the new exhibition Screen Worlds: The Story of Film, Television and Digital Culture.

But all eyes were on her bizarre crocheted dress, which looked more like a nanna’s winter bed cover than something you’d actually wear.

The odd one-shoulder number left many of her waiting fans with confused and surprised looks on their faces.

She told reporters the exhibition was thrilling, although it was her bizarre choice of outfit that ended up stealing the show – for all the wrong reasons.

Cate appeared to have recovered from a recent head injury which she picked while acting in the stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire, in Sydney.

She was injured during a fight scene with her co-star, Joel Edgerton, when he accidentally struck her with a radio. An audience member described seeing blood streaming down the actress’ neck before the play was halted ‘due to technical difficulties’.

It is hoped the exhibition will help to confirm Melbourne as Australia’s home of screen culture.

Australian Premier John Brumby said the show, held at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, brings together ‘rarely seen footage, fascinating objects and interactive displays from cinema’s early beginnings to the rise of television, games, the internet and the dominance of the digital age’.

Cate was joined by Matrix actor Hugo Weaving at the opening of the exhbition, which includes a 1896 Lumiere Cinematographe camera/projector, the rocket clock from Play School, and costumes from Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.

[From the Daily Mail]

Well, she got noticed. For all the wrong reasons. Did Cate think she wouldn’t make an impact at this event unless she wore something horrible? Or did she think this dress was just stunning. I can’t even justify this with a “maybe it just photographs horribly” – I’m pretty sure it sucked in person too. Oh, Cate. I just can’t hate you. This God awful dress has given me so much pleasure.

Cate Blanchett was injured in the middle of a stage performance of A Streetcar Named Desire in Sydney, Australia. This just happened a few hours ago, because the performance was on Wednesday night. Apparently, during the course of a scene, one of Cate’s castmates threw a radio and it hit her in the head. According to eyewitness reports, Cate had blood “streaming” out of some kind of gaping head wound. It was so bad that the play ended just seconds later and the audience was basically told to go home. They must have had to rush Cate to the hospital to get her checked out:

Cate Blanchett suffered a head injury Wednesday after she was hit by a prop during a live performance in her native Australia, according to reports.

The actress, 40, was performing in A Streetcar Named Desire at The Sydney Theatre Company when cast member Joel Edgerton threw a radio, as per the script, and it hit Blanchett on the head.

An audience member tells the Sydney Morning Herald that “she had blood streaming down the back of her head and blood on the back of her neck.”

Adds the witness, “She acted for about another 30 seconds, then ran into what we thought was the next scene, but before we knew it the lights were turned on and we were told there were technical difficulties and everyone had to evacuate the Sydney Theatre Company.”

A rep for Blanchett has yet to issue a statement.

[From Us Weekly]

Damn, this concerns me. I hope we get a “she’s fine” message soon. I’ve had simple head injuries before (don’t ask, it involved a shovel and that’s all I’m saying) and one thing is for sure – they always look terrible. Head wounds are gushers. I hope that in Cate’s case, she just needed stitches and some bed rest – she’s one of our greatest actresses.

UPDATE: Cate’s rep is saying that she’s “fine” and that the play will go tomorrow (Thursday). She probably just needed stitches.

Here are Cate Blancett and her husband Andrew Upton as they leave the Sydney Opera House on August 3rd. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .

Before I get into She Who Is Unworthy, let’s just take a moment and enjoy Meryl Streep. Meryl was out last night with her little buddy Amy Adams, attending a screening of Julie & Julia. Meryl donned a comfortable-looking red dress that I actually like, but I’m not too thrilled with her hair. Still, she’s Meryl F-cking Streep, and I doubt she cares what I think about her hair. Julie & Julia comes out next weekend – it’s the film where Meryl takes on yet another great role – that of the first lady of chefs, Julia Child. Reviews are already coming in for the film, and while most are saying there are some weak points in the film, every critic agrees that Meryl shines yet again. Playing Julia Child will probably bring Meryl her SIXTEENTH Oscar nomination. Meryl has already blown through every record ever set by Hollywood actresses, and she’s still got dozens of great performances yet to come. Meryl is the queen.

Take it as a given that Meryl is the undisputed queen, the empress of all, the best of the best and then some. So what does that make Jessica Biel? Yeah, I thought so. Jessica gave an interview to the LA Times to promote her upcoming stage performance as Sarah Brown in Guys & Dolls. Sarah Brown is the role played by Jean Simmons in the film version, with Marlon Brando playing Sarah’s seducer, Sky Masterson. Honestly, I love the film, and you couldn’t pay me to watch Jessica Biel murder those lines and songs live.

Jessica’s doing what she does best – promoting herself through any means necessary. Which means referencing her struggles with her own beauty again, and then topping it off with career-comparisons to Cate Blanchett and Meryl Streep. Bitch, please.

Biel, 27, said it took her all that time to summon the courage to take her singing beyond the shower stall. “I’ve struggled a lot in the last five years or so with my own insecurities, having done some film,” she said recently. “Will I be accepted? Is my voice good enough? I think I finally feel confident enough to do it.”

“Her voice is silvery,” said Jay-Alexander, [director of Guys & Dolls]. “It glimmers, and the higher it goes, the more it shimmers. It’s a very interesting instrument.” And she’s been training for the role “like a triathlete in a decathlon,” working with a coach two hours a day for the last two months.

Biel hopes that the role of Sarah will confound an industry that often makes assumptions about the limits of beautiful women. Her concern about that has at times ricocheted awkwardly across the Internet, as it did in May when she told Allure magazine that she wants a career like Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman’s, but her beauty “really is a problem” in Hollywood and has cost her roles.

“I just don’t want to be in a box ever where anybody feels I can only do one thing, because it’s boring,” said Biel. “I feel I have a lot to explore and a lot to give and try and probably fail doing something, but I want the shot to do it.”

That probably won’t include performing with her longtime boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, at least for now. “I never thought about doing an album,” she said. “I’m more interested in incorporating music into film or onstage. I am his No. 1 fan when it comes to music, but we’re doing our own things.”

“The only destination I’m hoping for is longevity,” she said. “I want to be able to keep working until I’m 105 years old. I want the choice. It’s difficult for women in general in entertainment. They peak earlier and the men peak at 30, 40. It’s kind of scary. But you can’t tell Meryl Streep she can’t do a part. You can’t say to Cate Blanchett ‘I don’t believe her in that.’ They do anything they want because they have explored the range, which is endless for them. That’s what I want.”

[From Los Angeles Times]

And I want Gerard Butler naked in my bed. We all want something, Biel. Wanting to be as insanely talented, beautiful, successful and cool as Cate or Meryl is fine. I want to be like them too. But name-dropping them in an LA Times interview as if you’re on the same kind of career path? As if Cate Blanchett doesn’t have more talent in her pinkie than in Jessica’s whole “too beautiful” mess? As if the only thing coming between Jessica Biel being recognized as The Next Meryl Streep is a few casting directors who can’t see past Jessica’s “gorgeous” face? Give me a f-cking break.

Update by Celebitchy: Some people are understandably commenting that Jessica Biel did not bring up her ‘beauty’ in this article in the LA Times. The piece mentions that Biel did reference it again, without stating what she said specifically. They write “Biel hopes that the role of Sarah will confound an industry that often makes assumptions about the limits of beautiful women.” They then go on to quote her Allure article, and then Biel states that she wants to make sure she’s not pigeonholed “in a box ever where anybody feels I can only do one thing.” I think we can assume that she’s again talking about her beauty without making the outrageous comment that it gets in her way as she did in Allure.

Here’s Meryl Streep and Amy Adams at the Los Angeles Premiere of ‘Julie & Julia’ yesterday. Jessica is shown at Whole Foods on July 4th. Images thanks to WENN.com .

Megan Fox was just named the runner-up of Maxim’s Sexiest Woman for 2009. She was Maxim’s 2008 Sexiest, so she sort of got dethroned. But the fanboys still love her. She’s got the Transformers sequel coming out soon, and so we’re going to be hearing a lot more about her in the coming months. Megan doesn’t really give the best interviews – it’s like she’s trying to be shocking, but she comes across as vapid. Maybe it’s just me.

Anyway, Megan gave an interview to USA Today (story via The Press Association) about working with Shia LeBeouf, and struggling to be a better actress. The Shia stuff is a little boring, because she’s trying to convince us that she’s not into Shia at all. Which she may not be, but it always helps to pretend. Plus, Shia is really cute, and her real boyfriend Brian Austin “David Silver” Green isn’t. The only good part of the interview is when Megan comes out with this line about her acting: “I mean, I’m not trying to take Cate Blanchett down. I just want to improve.” Yes, honey. You’re definitely not trying to take Blanchett down.

Megan Fox admits she felt a bit strange doing love scenes with co-star Shia Lebeouf in the forthcoming Transformers sequel.

“It’s always weird,” she told USA Today.

“That’s not something that’s ever romantic or sexy. Doing an on-set kiss is just strange, and knowing Shia so well makes it even more strange.”

Megan reprises her role as Mikaela Banes in Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen, out this June. But she is keen to take on more dramatic roles in the future.

“I’d like to develop my skills to where I can be recognised as a good actress,” she said.

“That’s my end goal. It has nothing to do with the box office. It’s about peer recognition and critical acclaim, even on a small level. I mean, I’m not trying to take Cate Blanchett down. I just want to improve.”

From The Press Association Hosted by Google

So will Megan Fox improve as an actress? She might. She’s still young, she’s getting more notice and better work, and she’s one of the few young actresses who has managed to keep the interest of the fickle fanboys for several years. Unlike, say, a Jessica Alba. In addition to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Megan got the lead role in Jennifer’s Body, Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody’s follow-up to Juno. Megan’s also got another four or five films in development, so we’ll be seeing the Anti-Blanchett a lot more in the years ahead.

Megan Fox is shown outside her hotel on 4/27/09. Credit: PacificCoastNews.com

Remember how Sienna Miller was “too young”, “too thin” and “too beautiful” to be starring as Maid Marian to Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood in Ridley Scott’s Nottingham? All of that was according to Sienna’s strategic leaks in the on-going debate over was-she-fired or did-she-jump? Some sources (Sienna’s) claimed that Russell Crowe was bloated and overweight, and they just didn’t compliment each other physically. Some say (me) Sienna was just fired and had to say something to save face.

So the Nottingham film production was in desperate need of a new Maid Marian. Allegedly, the first actress that was asked was Kate Winslet. Coming after the revelations that Sienna was too “young and thin”, some saw Winslet’s name being mentioned as a possible replacement as a bit of an insult, as if Winslet was “old” and “not thin”.

Cate Blanchett’s name was also mentioned as a replacement, but the initial word was that Cate had no interest in doing another big-studio picture after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Plus, Cate has obligations in Australia now with her theatre work. But word is coming out that Blanchett will be the replacement Maid Marian. Good. They should have gone to Blanchett first and not even messed around with Sienna. The Telegraph has details, including a bitchy back-handed insult from one of the actors about Sienna Miller. Hurray!

Cate Blanchett looks more and more of a certainty for the role of Maid Marian in Sir Ridley Scott’s forthcoming film Nottingham after Sienna Miller was apparently deemed too slim and youthful for the part. “I think Cate Blanchett is set to take the Maid Marian part,” says Mark Strong, who has already been signed up to play Sir Guy of Gisbourne, at the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards, at the Grosvenor House hotel, in Park Lane. “She is a wonderful actress and it would make it a much classier film if she was in it.”

From The Telegraph

Haha, “classier”. Everything is classier with Blanchett, but methinks that comment was about Sienna Miller. After being ejected from Nottingham, Miller is in talks to do a Broadway play, which I guess means that all of the married men in New York better watch themselves. Sienna Miller is still doing the on-off thing with Balthazar Getty, so who knows?

Sienna Miller is shown on 11/7/08 at the launch of Hollywood Domino in London. Cate Blanchett is shown on 12/10/08 at the Benjamin Button premiere in Sydney with her husband, Andrew Upton. Credit: Frame

Cate and Brad in a still from Benjamin Button

More grist for the mill, but here goes. Cate Blanchett sat down for an interview with Britain’s Telegraph to talk motherhood, marriage, Brad Pitt and Benjamin Button. In the interview, she slyly references Brad and Angelina’s relationship, which she witnessed first hand while filming Benjamin Button in 2007. She jokingly calls Brad’s love for Angelina “disgusting” and, with tongue firmly in cheek, she alludes to never wanting to work with Brad again because it’s annoying how much in love he is with Angelina.

Of all the challenges presented by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – the near three-hour running time, the unusual story structure, the copious amount of make-up – Cate Blanchett found that her biggest problem came courtesy of her leading man, Brad Pitt.

“Honestly,” she smiles, “to see how in love with Angelina he is, it was really quite disgusting. Awful in fact. It’s in my contract now: I won’t ever work with him again.” She is joking of course.

They were excellent in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2006 drama Babel and here they shine once again, playing lovers in director David Fincher’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1922 short story about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards.

“We talked a lot about moisturiser,” laughs Blanchett, “because there were so many prosthetics involved for both of us. I really shouldn’t complain, though, because Brad really went through the wringer with make-up and special effects. You work until 10 o’clock at night and then you are maybe up at 4am the next morning because it takes six hours to get the make-up on.”

The film is a love story, of course, although with the director of Seven, Fight Club and Zodiac at the helm, it does not feel overly mawkish.

“When one deals with an epic romance, a film like this could have easily gone into the sentimental, but given that we have got David Fincher, who is the world’s greatest cynic at the helm, we were safe.”

“Also I grew up with my grandmother, so having three generations in one household also makes you more aware of things like [mortality]. I guess that was one of the major challenges. That, and avoiding sentimentality.” She smiles.

“Plus, of course, Brad being annoyingly in love and the fact that we were so tired. We shot in New Orleans and the kids were always waking up in the middle of the night. So we weren’t getting much sleep.”

…In spite of her claims, it seems unlikely that Blanchett will retire any time soon; she has four potential projects on the horizon. Is there anything that might tip her over the edge? “Oh, that’s easy,” she chuckles, “having to work with Brad again!”

From The Telegraph

I’m sure there will be some people who will claim that Blanchett was not, in fact, joking. But from watching Brad and Cate together in a few interviews (like that charming Oprah interview a few months ago), I really do think they have a silly, fun, brother-sister type relationship where they can joke around with each other, even about the personal stuff. And I really enjoyed the part of the interview where Cate discusses how she and Brad talk about skin care – that really rings true, considering I’ve always thought of Brad as pretty high maintenance when it comes to his beauty treatments.

Here are stills of Cate and Brad in Benjamin Button, thanks to