Back in the day, George Clooney worked on Rosanne Barr’s sitcom. He wasn’t quite so hot then – he had sort of a pillowy, Farrah Fawcett -esq hairdo going on – but he was still George Clooney, which means he could still make the ladies want to drop their panties. George has been doing some last-minute promotion for his box office failure Leatherheads, and gave a pretty funny interview to Rolling Stone where he talked about his early acting experiences.

Hand it to George Clooney: He’s sexy, he’s funny, and he’s not afraid to share embarrassing stories about how Roseanne Bar hit on him. The actor, who sat down with Rolling Stone movie critic Peter Travers Wednesday night at the Picture House Theater in Pelham, N.Y., following a screening of his latest movie Leatherheads, revealed secrets about his early days working for Barr on her sitcom Roseanne – as well as his thoughts on Paris Hilton and bombing at the box office (which, he readily acknowledges, Leatherheads did). Choice quotes below:

Travers: “I have this quote (from TIME magazine) to read aloud from your former boss Roseanne Barr. ‘He can drink too much and still while standing in a bar parking lot at 3 a.m. discuss the world with such passion and good sense that you actually stop imagining him nude.’”

Clooney: “Don’t you want Roseanne writing your obit? I worked on her first series, and when I met her she said, ‘You’re really good looking, why don’t you take me out behind the stage and make me stink.’ She was unbelievably kind to me at a time when no one was.”

[From People]

That’s… um… quite the quote. I don’t think there’s anything I could say about it that wouldn’t be wildly, wildly inappropriate. Not that that would generally stop me… but I think it’s raunchy enough that we don’t need to add anything to it. No word on if the Cloons actually took Rosanne out behind the Warner Brothers lot. But I’m guessing that if he’s sharing the story… and he got the job… he must have gone the way of the casting couch.

Here’s George Clooney leaving Dan Tanas restaurant in Los Angeles on April 25th. Images thanks to WENN.

Many an actor has made a failed – and generally embarrassing – attempt at a second career. The most notorious examples of this generally involve anyone putting out an album. But here and there you find a failed clothing line or a ridiculous attempt at dancing. But once in a while, an actor successfully crosses over the threshold into a successful second career. And for whatever reason, they seem to have the most luck in politics. Probably because their egos serve them well in the political arena. Alec Baldwin gave an interview to 20/20 which airs this Sunday night, and in it he says he’s considering running for public office.

Alec Baldwin says he’s ready to be Mr. Nice Guy - and he’s mulling a run for public office. The Massapequa, L.I., entertainer, eldest of the four Baldwin brothers turned actors, says in an interview airing Sunday that politics looks appealing now that he’s turned the corner on 50. “There’s other things I want to do,” besides acting, the left-leaning performer tells CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “There’s no age limit on running for office, to a degree.” It is “something I might do one day,” he said.

Discussing his public divorce from Kim Basinger and the custody battle that led to an angry voicemail to daughter Ireland Eliesse, calling her “a thoughtless little pig,” Baldwin said he is learning something about tact. “You can pretty much bet all you own that I would never leave another voicemail message for my daughter that wasn’t just like something out of a Rodgers and Hammerstein score,” said the “30 Rock” actor.

Over the years, Baldwin has done little to hide his brand of politics. He has called Dick Cheney a terrorist, then said the vice president wasn’t a terrorist but rather “a lying, thieving oil whore and murderer of the U.S. Constitution.”

[From the New York Daily News]

I came down pretty hard on Alec after the whole calling his daughter a pig fiasco. But that was before I ever watched 30 Rock. And now that I’ve seen it, I can say that I really am spineless enough to love Alec Baldwin no matter what the hell he does. He’s THAT good in it. Rarely do I admit I am wrong, but he can call any kid any name he wants, for all I care. And I’m pretty sure if I’d turn this quickly just because he’s a good actor, there’s a pretty decent chance I’d vote for him too. Sad.

Header of Alec Baldwin attending the opening night of ‘Top Girls’ at the Biltmore Theatre in New York City on May 7th. Images thanks to WENN.

I don’t know how it happened, but it seems that someone’s gotten to Tom Cruise – and I’m going to guess it’s someone in PR. Though it boggles my mind, Tom actually gave a reasonably normal and rational (at least for him) interview with Oprah – and from Us Weekly’s excerpts, it seems that the two got along well, though Oprah admitted to being a little hesitant at first.

Tom explains that he jumped on Oprah’s couch because he was just “so in love” with Katie Holmes, and he didn’t know how else to express it. As delusional as he can be, he seems to at least be able to understand that the results weren’t a great thing for his career.

Cruise tells Winfrey, “I just felt that way, and I feel that way about her. I can’t even articulate it, to be honest,” he adds. “That feeling, that connection. Just who she is and what she means to me.”

Of the negative response to his couch jumping, Cruise says, “It just kind of kept going. Those things I kind of go, ‘You just have to take in stride.’ It just kind of became a confluence of things.”

[From Us Magazine]

Tom even goes on to say that he’s relaxed his views about psychiatric medication a little bit. He had freaked out on Matt Lauer about the issue a few weeks following the Oprah couch jumping. Tom obviously still doesn’t support it, but is at least smart enough to say that it should be a parent’s decision.

Tom also says that he regretted criticizing Brooke Shields, who admitted to taking Paxil for post-partum depression. He doesn’t say he thinks she made a good decision, but says he regrets mentioning her in any way.

“I was feeling pressed in the interview with Matt Lauer,” Cruise says. “For me, my issue was really about child drugging. It’s not like it is today, like people are really kind of openly talking about this.”

(Cruise now says of medicating children, “I think the parent should be able to and should make that decision.”)

[From Us Magazine]

Tom glosses over some issues, like whether he thinks he’s targeted more for being a Scientologist, the reasons he and Katie waited so long to “debut” Suri, and the insinuation that his marriage to Katie Holmes is fake. But he actually does admit that he’s made some mistakes and could have done some things better.

It’s hard to tell if he really means it, but at least he’s got some better PR advice and knows to say it. In the past Tom has been so egocentric that he couldn’t seem to even understand how poorly he was coming across. It’ll be really interesting to see the interview in its entirety, which airs this afternoon.

Header photo of Tom and Katie at the LACMA’s Opening Celebration of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum in Los Angeles on February 2nd. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Both Celebitchy and I grew up watching “Family Ties” and were excited to see the cast have their first reunion in 18 years this morning with Matt Lauer on the “Today Show.” The actors were clearly happy to see each other and very much at ease, and it was interesting to hear the stories of how each was cast. I think I must have missed a lot of the premise of the show, which I guess is fair since I was 8 when it went off the air. I had no idea the parents were supposed to be really liberal with fairly conservative kids. To me they were just boring, regular adults. Though I did have a crazy crush on Alex P. Keaton. I think I had a thing for blazers with elbow patches for years as a result.

The cast reunited to help producer/creator Gary David Goldberg promote his new autobiography “Sit, Ubu, Sit: How I Went From Brooklyn To Hollywood With The Same Woman, The Same Dog, And A Lot Less Hair.” Goldberg was also the creator and producer of Michael J. Fox’s “Spin City,” and before that, one of my favorite shows that no one’s ever heard of “Brooklyn Bridge.” Fox and Goldberg discussed their strained relationship on “Spin City,” with Fox explaining that it was uncomfortable for him to go from the father-son type relationship they had on “Family Ties” to a relationship where they were equals, like on “Spin City.” He said he and Goldberg made the conscious decision to work through it because they were important part of each other’s lives, and hearing them describe it sounds like they really are talking about family.

Goldberg also noted that he didn’t want to cast Fox for “Family Ties” because he played the character a little too snaky in his first audition. His casting director insisted Goldberg let Fox audition one more time, and luckily the second time he was great. Goldberg also noted that the show was originally supposed to focus on the parents and the kids were supposed to be more ancillary figures. However after the fourth episode, it became clear to Goldberg that the audience really loved Fox, and the show’s focus shifted to the kids.

Matt Lauer didn’t touch on the rueful mistake of adding youngest son Andy Keaton to the cast. The kid went from a baby to a five year old in two years. I’d say that’s about when “Family Ties” jumped the shark. Brian Bonsall, the actor who played Andy, was arrested last year after he poured a drink on his girlfriend while she was sleeping, then put her in a chokehold. You can see why NBC chose not to mention him. They kept the interview light and heartwarming, and it was fun to watch the cast, who clearly enjoy each other.

Clay Aiken has been doing a TON of press for his recent starring role in “Spamalot” on Broadway. This is tolerable or terrible depending on your view of Clay Aiken. It’s definitely more tolerable if you only have to read it instead of hear him speak. Clay’s moved to the big city and at 29 years old is living alone for the first time in his life – and seems to feel rather panicky about the whole thing. He gave a surprisingly candid and friendly interview to New York magazine (let’s not forget his terse exchange with Newsweek recently). Clay’s still promoting his family-friendly, nerdy/geeky/dorky, pure-as-the-snow routine.

“Let’s not fool ourselves,” he says with his eyebrows up in his arch, queeny way. “The truth is? There are people like Justin Timberlake, males who are cool on radio right now, and then there’s me. If I heard myself in a dance club? If I went into a dance club—which I never do—and I heard Clay Aiken come on, I’d roll my eyes and get out. But you know what? I’m fine with being kind of vanilla! It’s oh-kye!” In his book, Aiken says that it’s not just clubs but also bars he dislikes: “The only reason people go to bars is to get drunk and have sex. To me, bars are what hell is like.”

[From New York Magazine]

Clay has long refused to talk about his sexual orientation, however he does talk about his personal life a bit – or lack thereof. Apparently Clay’s not interested in the men or the women – his only meaningful relationship is with his dogs.

He imagines his social life here will be “nonexistent, really. I’m not a nighttime person.” He does not plan on dating, and he is not involved with anyone. “Heck, no,” he says. “My dogs.” He has never had a romantic relationship with anyone, unless you count the girls he took to dances back in high school in Raleigh. “I just don’t have an interest in … any of that at all. I have got too much on my plate,” he says. “I’d rather focus on one thing and do that when I can devote time to it, and right now, I just don’t have any desire.”

But Aiken is 29 years old and he is also a human. Surely he must have needs. Urges. He contemplates this in silence for 20 or 30 seconds. “Ah think maybe I don’t! I mean, not really. I’ve just kind of shut it off, maybe. Is that bad?”

[From New York Magazine]

Given that interview, Clay Aiken strikes me as someone who could very well be asexual. I saw a story a while back on ABC News about people who say they’re asexual, and their whole motto was “sexless and proud.” Most of the people interviewed described themselves as asexual and said sex just had no appeal to them. Many claimed they had no inclination towards romantic relationships in general, and they had incredibly happy and fulfilling lives – they just have nothing to do with sex. It really sounds like that’s what Clay Aiken is describing. He’s been pestered by gay rumors for years – which he’s refused to discuss. It’s obviously possible Clay says the things he says as a way of sidestepping the issue. But it is also possible he’s got his own way of doing things and living his life, and he’s perfectly happy with that.

Clay’s been getting pretty good reviews for his Spamalot performance. Although New York magazine was definitely hard on him at several points in the article, they said he really fits into the role well – he even broke his “no cussing” policy. The article also speculates that living in New York may break Clay, and get him to loosen up a bit. Only time will tell.

Sarah Jessica Parker - who was recently voted Maxim’s least sexy woman in the world – seems to have a pretty good perspective on the whole situation. Parker says she’s been criticized for her looks since she was a teenager staring in plays, but instead of letting it get her down she’s learned not to think about the critiques. In an upcoming interview with Allure magazine, Parker notes that her looks are uncommon, but points out that most of the women we see in magazines, movies, and on television are extremely airbrushed. Instead of just pressuring women to look that way, Parker questions the taste of men who prefer such an unrealistic appearance.

Men who prefer an airbrushed woman to a real one are “common” according to Sarah Jessica Parker who tops Maxim’s Unsexiest Woman list. The actress, who won the title at the end of last year, is finally biting back saying: “My impression is that what they find sexy doesn’t make them interesting or unusual or special. That makes them common.”

Parker, 42, also says she is not offended by being told she is not sexy. When she first found out she had won the title the Sex and the City actress thought: “My God - I’m the unsexiest woman in the world.

“My instinct was that it felt personal. It was really about: ‘We don’t like her’. Who were the judges and critics? I would like to ask them: ‘What exactly is it that you personally find not sexy about me? Is it my figure? Is it my brain that bothers you?… That’s the beauty of this country - we can have different opinions and coexist and be amused by each other and hurt and offended.”

[From Showbiz Spy]

Clearly her unconventional (by Hollywood standards) looks haven’t hurt Parker – she’s dated a slew of attractive men, including JFK Jr. and Robert Downey Jr. Parker says she got used to playing the unattractive girl roles.

“For so long, I didn’t play the object of attention or affection. “It wasn’t until LA Story [in which she played one of Steve Martin’s love interests] that anyone cast me in a role that had my sexuality as a point of interest or focus or operation. I just wasn’t examined in the same way that a ‘pretty girl’ would be.”

Despite her early success, criticism about her looks was not uncommon in the industry. Parker says: “There were some not-terribly-veiled conversations.”

The star was encouraged to change her appearance. She says: “Anything from as silly as plucking my eyebrows to getting my nose fixed. Nothing that stayed in my brain for very long.”

[From Showbiz Spy]

I don’t think Sarah Jessica Parker is ugly or unsexy, she’s just got her own, unique look. If she hadn’t started playing the “object of affection” type roles, I doubt anyone would comment on her appearance. It seems like people didn’t make those comments until Sex and the City, when she was held up as a style icon. That focus makes people think in more superficial, appearance-based terms. Coupled with the show’s huge audience and the way it became such a pop culture icon, it provided a lot of opportunities for people to criticize. Clearly Sarah Jessica is incredibly smart, and the fact that she’s been able to examine the whole situation in such a rational fashion proves that. She’s currently filming the Sex and the City movie, which is scheduled to open in theaters on May 30th.

Picture note by Jaybird: Sarah Jessica Parker filming the Sex and the City movie at the New York City public library on November 28th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Every so often some interview will come out where a celebrity really over shared. Sometimes it’s their own personality quirk, and sometimes it’s because they had a very cunning interviewer. With singer Chris Brown, I’m going to have to say it was the former. The 18 year old gave a very revealing interview to Blender. And by revealing, I don’t mean insightful. I mean revealing too damn much. And seeing that I found it to be kind of odd and over personal, I’m going to share it with all of you too, in the hopes that you’re intrigued by people saying things they shouldn’t, just like I am.

The “Run It!” singer sat down with Blender and answered a series of questions. On the one hand, you have to blame the interviewer for asking in the first place. On the other hand… Chris answered.

What did your 10th-grade report card say?
A’s, A’s, A’s. Straight A’s, all through kindergarten, elementary school, middle school …

Have you ever been arrested?
Yeah, but it’s not on my record. I got arrested for fleeing from the police on a little minibike. When I was living in New York, my homeboys wanted to ride through the park. The police caught us, but all they did was take the bikes from us, so we didn’t get in trouble.

But you’re only 18. What vices do you have?
Basketball, my music and women.

What personal habit do you have that other people find annoying?
I like picking the nails off my toes.

What do you look like naked?
Pretty damn good.

What do you refuse to eat?
Chitlins. My grandma used to cook them, and she’d be like, “These are good, boy!” I never would eat them. They smelled like feces.

Underwear or commando?
Underwear. I wear a new pair of drawers every day. I won’t wash my drawers and put ’em back on. I just throw them away.

If we talked to an ex-girlfriend, what would she say about you?
That she fucked up!

[From Blender]

Yeah I was impressed too. Chris Brown strikes me as a very young 18 year old, in terms of emotional maturity. Or like he’s trying to answer in the way he thinks a guy in hip hop would/should. His responses are all a bit too stereotypical. Women/sex/sports. Though that could also be attributed to being 18. Chris elaborated on his underwear policy to Starpulse, noting, “He says, “I’m not a germophobe, but I don’t feel like washing them ‘cos I’m always moving, so I buy different packs. I buy like five or six packs… and I’m good for, like, a week and (then) I gotta get a whole lot of new drawers.” Alright. Well we all have our thing. That one might be particularly wasteful… I mean assuming Chris keeps up the underwear habit for… let’s say 10 years, before someone talks him out of it. That’s 3,650 pairs of underwear, more or less. You know how you hear those stories of wealthy musicians who blew all their millions and can’t seem to account for it? I think I just figured out where it’s really going.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Chris Brown is shown in various “aw shucks” poses at Movies Rock on 12/2/07, thanks to PRPhotos.

Who knew Will Smith was so boring? Though he’s generally considered a pretty nice, entertaining guy to be around, apparently one Japanese reporter doesn’t agree. He nodded off during Will’s press conference. To be fair, I’m told those things can go on for hours. And let’s be honest, while I love Will Smith, once you’ve seen about three of his movies, you’ve essentially seen them all. But TMZ never loses a chance to make a celeb sound bad – even a nice one.

Who needs bedtime stories when you have Will Smith?!

The Fresh Prince held a press conference in Japan today, where one sleep-deprived (or extremely bored) reporter was caught catching some zzzs while Smith rambled on about “I Am Legend.”

Surprisingly, the ever charming Will didn’t seem to mind. He must be used to it.

[From TMZ.com]

You can see the video here (you have to scroll down, TMZ doesn’t do permalinks). It is pretty funny– Will Smith really does seem like the nicest guy around. Somehow everyone’s attention is drawn to the sleeping reporter and he’s woken up. Will comments, “I appreciate that you fell asleep, and I want to have a picture with you.” And then the two pose, Smith slumping over on the reporter’s shoulder.

Will gave an interesting interview to “60 Minutes” on Sunday where he talked about growing up in Philadelphia and the early days of his success. He made a pretty good argument for why it’s good to work hard and have to wait and mature before you become financially successful – he blew six million dollars. Yeah turns out Will, who always seems to have it so together, wasn’t always good with finances.

Will Smith, one of Philadelphia’s most famous sons, talked about his sudden success while at Overbrook High on 60 Minutes last night. “You don’t want to have a hit record on the radio when you’re in high school,” he said.

It seemed so easy - until the IRS came knocking, asking for millions. “So, you went through five, six million dollars?” interviewer Steve Kroft asked.

“Probably, yeah,” said Smith.

[From Philly.com]

In a weird way, that actually makes me feel a bit better. Will Smith seems awesome, but way too perfect. I saw an interview with him about ten years ago on some local television station where the interviewer tried to find something about Smith that wasn’t perfect. He had Will go through a series of random tasks, like touching his toes, cooking a hotdog, and finally caught him being less-than-perfect when he asked Smith to brush his teeth. Turns out, Will doesn’t brush in a circular fashion like you’re supposed to. He just goes for the plain back and forth action. So really, when you combine the teeth with the blowing six million dollars and making a reporter fall asleep, I don’t feel all that intimidated anymore. So now I can totally have his babies. Oops.

Have you seen those commercials with Montel Williams? He drives around on a bus, doling out prescriptions (or I guess prescription assistance) to Americans who don’t have insurance, all the while assuring us that America’s drug companies really do care about our health. How calming and reassuring. It turns out Montel isn’t just the pretty face for their television ad campaign. He actually does go around doing publicity for the Partnership for Prescription Assistance. No word on if he actually does it in the big PPA bus though.

Montel was giving an interview in Savannah on Friday when Courtney Scott , a high school intern reporter, asked him, “Do you think pharmaceutical companies would be discouraged from research and development if their profits were restricted?” Seems like a fair and well thought out question. Apparently Montel didn’t agree. He very angrily responded, “I’m trying to figure out exactly why you are here and what the interview is about. I’m here as a patient advocate talking about the fact that medications available today are saving people’s lives, that’s what’s saving mine and after that, this interview is done.” Seems awkward and weird, but I doubt anyone would have made anything of it. Except that was just the beginning.

When the Savannah Morning-News reporters later returned to the hotel for an unrelated assignment, he approached one of them - high school student Courtney Scott, an intern at the newspaper. “As we were preparing to film, Montel walked up with his bodyguard and got in Courtney Scott’s face pointing his finger telling her ‘Don’t look at me like that. Do you know who I am? I’m a big star, and I can look you up, find where you live and blow you up,’” said Joseph Cosey, a web content producer for the newspaper. “At this time he was randomly pointing at all of us.”

Scott said she wasn’t sure how to interpret Williams’ comment. “I’m not sure if he meant ‘blow me up’ and ruin my career or really blow us up, but it was threatening,” Scott said.

Williams, a patient advocate since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, later issued a statement apologizing for the outburst. “I mistakenly thought the reporter and photographer in question were at the hotel to confront me about some earlier comments,” Williams said. “I was wrong, and I apologize for my overreaction.”

[From the Huffington Post]

Sounds like Montel might want to consider adding a few antipsychotics to his pill regimen. I’m guessing that’s the equivalent of swag with the PPA. From his apology, I don’t think Montel quite understands what he did wrong. The problem wasn’t that he threatened the reporters even though they weren’t there for him; the problem was that he threatened them at all. Even if they were there for him, it’s probably not a good idea to threaten to blow people up. Especially in a public setting. Oh, and especially with reporters. What with that great access to the press and all. Probably also not the greatest plan to threaten to harm a high school student. Again, that’s just me, but I’d at least aim my comments at the adults. But I’m old fashioned that way. When I threaten to blow someone up, I get a glance at their driver’s license first, just to be safe.

I can never decide if I love or hate Eva Longoria. I’ll come to a clear-cut decision, and then she’ll do something remarkably wonderful or remarkably annoying, and I’m back where I started. After reading an article about her in Parade, I’m again left stumped. In it, Eva talks about her respect and love for her sister Liza, who is mentally challenged. And I’m left in a bit of a pickle: do I like Eva more for talking about it, or is she using her sister’s mental illness to drum up publicity for herself? Because it’s Eva Longoria, I really could go either way.

Eva Longoria says she’s a naturally cheerful person, but her sense of optimism comes directly from her family. “I’ve learned there’s no better medicine than laughing,” says the Desperate Housewives star, who opens up about her family to Parade magazine. “(My sister) Liza is mentally challenged. She was my hero growing up,” she says. “It was a blessing to watch her overcome every obstacle – tying her shoes, putting on a shirt, getting out the front door. And yet she still had a job and would come home on the bus by herself and help with dinner. You could only imagine the hurdles she encountered every minute of the day.”

In fact she says her sister helped her career in some ways. “Liza was a role model to get me ready for life in Hollywood,” says Longoria. “You don’t take health for granted. You don’t take life for granted. It seems so insignificant to go, ‘Darn it, I didn’t get that movie role,’ or, ‘Darn it, so-and-so is wearing the same dress as me to the Emmys.’ ”

And having a supportive mother also helped Longoria learn to follow her heart. “My mother is the most non-judgmental person in the world. When I said, ‘I’m going to L.A. to be an actress,’ she told me, ‘All right. I hope that makes you happy.’ ” Longoria say’s she’s as happy as she’s ever been. “I love my husband with all my heart,” she says of Tony Parker. “I love my family. And I love my girlfriends. And I live my job. And I love my dogs. I love life, in general.”

[From People]

Yes? No? Do we like Eva Longoria more or less now? If nothing else I’m sure that I hate Parade magazine more. Is there anything else in the Sunday paper that serves less of a purpose? The auto auction announcements on page M12 have more relevance. And the cartoons just make me mad. A big dog holding a garden hose! Hysterical! F*#& off Parade.

Eva also touches on other deep topics, such as skincare.

“For me, as far as skin, I’m a big advocate of facials. And I moisturize. And I read my magazines. I listen to good advice from people who really know, and I try to watch what I eat. But it’s diet. It’s exercise. It’s maintenance. It’s checkups. It’s attitude. It’s a lot of things. And I think you just need to be aware of what’s going to work for you.”

[From Parade]

I’m not sure, but I don’t think reading magazines actually improves your skin. Probably doesn’t hurt it any, and maybe if you read something funny you might get a glow or something. There’s something so self-indulgent about Eva Longoria that even when she’s talking about something that carries some weight, like her sister, it still comes off as self-serving. But we shouldn’t complain: we’ve only got about 3 more new episodes of Desperate Housewives left, and then we’ll be begging for any Eva we can get.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Eva Longoria is shown at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show on 11/15/07 thanks to PRPhotos. Also, Eva may love her sister and all, but it’s not like she’s brought her out with her - anywhere. Have we ever seen a picture of Eva’s sister out with her to lunch, out shopping, or at an event? I’m not saying that she should be exposing her to the spotlight, just that it seems like we might have heard of her before if Eva spent any time with her. She might have, say, brought her to a Spurs game with her or something, but no, all we’ve seen is Eva.