This is just a brief interview with Halle Berry following the Oscars. Apparently Extra named her one of the best dressed (she actually was) and was asked for her thoughts on the show, the paparazzi and her upcoming roles. Halle is also promoting that B-movie thriller she’s starring in that I keep seeing commercials for, The Call. It’s out next week and looks pretty bad. When Mario Lopez asked Halle if she was offended by the “we saw your boobs” opening skit at the Academy Awards she said she wasn’t, because people always say bad things about her basically and she’s developed thick skin. Here’s more:

“Extra’s” Mario Lopez sat down with Halle Berry and the superstar opened up about the Oscars, about life with daughter Nahla, and her new movie, “The Call.”

Mario, did not have a chance to interview Halle Berry on the red carpet of the Academy Awards, but told the star she made “Extra’s” best dressed list and asked her how she thought host Seth Macfarlane did. Mario, “What did you make of his performance?” Halle, “I think hosting that is one of the scariest things a comedian can.” She went on to say, “He did what he wanted to do. That’s his brand of comedy and people will love it and they will hate it, I thoroughly enjoyed the show…It takes so much to offend me these days after all the things that have been said about me, to me, so I didn’t feel offended by that boob song.”

What does offend, Halle, paparazzi and the pursuit of her and her daughter Nahla. Mario, “Does she ever think like it’s normal when photographers take pictures of you?” Halle, “No, it’s totally abnormal, it’s weird for her and she’s at that age where she’s questioning why and she wants to be left alone and it’s bothersome it’s scary for her.”

Halle’s new movie “The Call”, also scary, Halle plays a 911 operator desperately trying to save a kidnapped victim played by Abigail Breslin. Halle said she trained with 911 operators and listened to live calls to prepare, she also shot her own stunts. Shooting some of the movie scenes so intense that Halle ended up in the emergency room. Halle, “I get hurt almost every movie, I always want to do my own stunts, I got a little hurt, but that’s ok.”

One of the next possible roles up for Halle, reprising her role as Storm in the upcoming “X-Men: Days of Future Past, Halle, “It looks like that’s gonna happen. I love that character and people love Storm too so it will be good to be back.”

[From Extra TV]

I like what Halle said about how that’s MacFarlane’s brand of humor and what we should expect, that’s pretty much what I said about it too. Note that she then turned it around to how she’s a victim and people are always talking smack about her. She was just one actress mentioned in that skit, but it’s all about her and how she feels, not the larger context.

One actress included in that bit who was offended, and whose opinion I respect a great deal more, was Jamie Lee Curtis. She wrote a whole editorial on it for The Huffington Post if you’re interested. It wasn’t just about Jamie Lee, she thought the Oscars should be classier and that they shouldn’t be reduced to “roast” type adolescent humor. I won’t get into all that, we covered it last week, but her opinion is interesting to me in contrast to Halle’s “they always talk about me” sentiment.

In terms of the rest of Halle’s interview, it’s typical from her. She definitely hates the paparazzi and she’ll tell you about it. She used it as a premise for her bid to move to France, which has either stalled or been shot down at this point. But she’s not above calling some friendly paps when she wants us to see her on the beach with her fiance and daughter. Or at least she plays nice for them occasionally, it’s hard to tell.

Last week Kaiser mentioned that Halle’s man Olivier didn’t accompany her to the premiere of The Call in Chicago, which was strange. It’s possible they’re having trouble, especially considering who we’re talking about. There was a photo of Halle and Olivier at a My Little Pony event together with Halle’s daughter Nahla on February 9. (That’s the last photo I can find of them together.) Olivier looked pissed off, but he was a grown man at a My Little Pony show, so that may not mean much. We haven’t seen them together in a while though and they’ve been traveling separately recently.

Halle Berry is shown at the premiere of The Call on 2-28-13 and at the Oscars on 2-24-13. Credit: FameFlynet

Here’s a story that makes me want to give Melanie Griffith a hug. Melanie was asked about how she looks so great while at an event to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. FYI – Melanie and her husband, Antonio Banderas, donated over $100,000 to the Children’s Hospital of LA earlier this year, in addition to gifting them with medical equipment. They did this rather quietly and without much fanfare. Anyway, at this event, Melanie told US Weekly that “Most people are telling me I look horrible” and that “The tweets I get are really nasty.” Noooo! Twitter has a lot of positive aspects, but it can really be a haven for trolls. Here’s more of what she told US Weekly:

Posing for photographs at the Oct. 20 Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles Gala: Noche de Ninos, the Oscar-nominated star looked slim and sexy in a strapless, curve-hugging floral gown by Dolce & Gabbana, with Miu Miu platform sandals, red lips, and a tousled up-do.

But it seems not everyone thinks the 55-year-old blonde is aging well. Us Weekly caught up with Griffith on the red carpet, where she revealed that folks on Twitter have had some not-so-nice things to say about her appearance of late.

“Most people are telling me I look horrible,” the Working Girl actress told Us. “The tweets I get are really nasty.”

Still, the star — whose daughter Dakota Johnson stars in the new Fox sitcom Ben & Kate — appeared to be in good spirits all night. She worked the room like a pro, smiling and laughing as she chatted with husband Antonio Banderas, pal Jamie Lee Curtis, and supermodel Heidi Klum, who received a “Courage to Care” award from the hospital.

So what’s the secret to Griffith’s composure in the face of criticism? Modesty. And exercise.

“I don’t know if I look that great,” she demurred. “[But] I work out a lot. I have a trainer that I [work with] four times a week, and I do hot yoga.”

[From US Weekly]

That’s awful! Melanie is in great shape, she’s been looking very thin and toned lately. She has gone a little too far with the plastic surgery, but it’s settling for her and she looks good. I find her really pretty. It makes me feel for her to hear her say most people say she looks horrible. It’s like she can’t take a compliment and it sounds like she’s taking the criticism to heart. There are so many nasty people on Twitter. I wish she wouldn’t pay it any mind.

Getting back to Melanie and her husband of 16 years, Antonio Banderas, I’m so glad to see them together at this event! We’ve heard that they’re having problems, maybe related to Banderas’ rumored cheating, and it’s nice to see them on the red carpet together. They also posed with Heidi Klum and Jamie Lee Curtis. I love these pics of Jamie Lee kissing Melanie. As for Melanie’s tight busy dress, the print looks like 80s curtains and it’s not a good look on her. The skirt part around the bottom is particularly fug. Maybe that’s why she was feeling insecure that night.

Photo credit: News Pictures/WENN.com

I thought that SNL parody of Jamie Lee Curtis eating Activia and talking about how she couldn’t stop pooping was a total put on, but it turns out it’s not. In a new interview with Starpulse, Curtis admits that’s what the yogurt is for. She also takes a lot of pride in the fact that she’s helped so many people have regular bowel movements by endorsing the brand. I’m not a fan of Activia and designer yogurts because just about any no-name probiotic or active yogurt will do the trick (and you can easily make your own kefir with a culture) but whatever floats your uh, boat. (Dropping kids off at the pool whatever.) Eating more fiber and fruits and vegetables helps too, as does a cup of coffee. Here’s what Curtis says:

As the spokesperson for Activia Yogurt, Jamie Lee Curtis more famous than ever. Now people don’t just recognize her, they share their personal stories with her. Curtis loves all the attention Activia brings her.

“I have a job where I advertise yogurt that makes you poop and that people love and people tell me about their bowel movements every day,” Curtis said. “I do something where people come up to me anywhere I am in the world and they go, ‘Thank you. Thank you for Activia. It has changed my life.’ I know what they’re telling me. They’re telling me that the product that I endorse has helped them.”

Curtis even recorded testimonials on her phone. She played recordings from people all over the country stopping her to thank her for bringing Activia to their attention. “Now, I’m not a doctor but I actually feel the way a doctor gets thanked by a patient and I get it all the time. All I can tell you is I’ve been in a lot of movies, I’m the daughter of very famous people, I’m married to a very famous guy, I do a lot of things. Nothing else in my life, nothing else gets people coming up to me saying, ‘You’ve changed my life. Because of you and that product, it is off the charts, my life is different.’ I’m telling you. Now if you told me three years ago when I started doing advertisements for them that that was going to be the reality of my life, that I would be in airports and people would come up, hold my hand and thank me… You just have to wake up in the morning and know that something is going to happen.”

A lot of celebrities do product endorsement. Curtis just stumbled into the big one. “I never in my life thought when I first was asked by this company, Activia, Dannon, to be their representative, I really don’t think it was just like, ‘Oh, it’s going to be a check, I’m going to do it.’ I really thought, ‘Okay, wait a minute. I’m going to go out and talk about bowel movements and about how people’s digestive tracts work. Some work better than others and why and blah blah blah and that this will help.’ I really thought, ‘Okay, is that going to be weird? I mean, is that going to be weird? You’re an actor, you’re a writer. Is that going to just be a weird thing.’ It has turned out to be the most fun thing.”

[From Starpulse]

I guess if you’re going to do a product endorsement you may as well believe in it and be proud that you’re helping people. Who is coming up to Jamie Lee Curtis in airports and holding her hand like she’s some kind of messiah? I guess old people are. Can you imagine? “Thank you, Jamie Lee Curtis. Thank you for convincing me to eat yogurt so I can poop regularly.” I can see her patting their hands and looking at them with a steady understanding gaze. Jamie Lee Curtis, the goddess of regularity. She’s kind of awesome in my book.

Also – after I published this I read Curtis’ remarks again and am wondering – when she says that “You just have to wake up in the morning and know that something is going to happen,” does she mean do you know that you’re going to poop or that she knows that someone is going to tell her about the fact that they pooped?

SNL Parody

Activia yogurt commercial

Have you ever wanted to know what Justin “The Mac Guy” Long looked like as a little kid? What’s that? Not really? Too bad, because apparently Justin made love to Jamie Lee Curtis 14 years ago, and she gave birth to his identical spawn. That’s the only explanation I have for these pictures, taken of Jamie and her two kids, Annie, 23, and Thomas, 13 at last night’s Avatar premiere in Los Angeles. When I wasn’t paying attention and I first saw these photos, I honestly thought “Damn, Jamie is towering over poor Justin Long!”

Annie is working it for the cameras, yes? HuffPo says that she just graduated from college, and my guess is that she has her heart set on some kind of film career. She’s totally playing for cameras! She’s very pretty, but she looks very tall too – six feet tall would be my guess, even making concessions for her heels. She looks a little like one of Meryl Streep’s daughters.

I just can’t get over Thomas/Mini-Justin Long, though. This kid is killing me. He could make a career out of being the Mini-Mac Guy. Maybe Apple will hire Thomas for ads!

Jamie Lee Curtis and her kids at the ‘Avatar’ premiere on December 16, 2009. Credit: WENN.

Apparently when Wilmer Valderrama decided to attend the star packed 15th Annual Dream Halloween Fundraiser for Children with AIDS he decided he would go as a jackass and just dressed in his everyday clothes. At a Halloween costume fundraiser, where plenty of stars and their children got into the fun of dressing up, Wilmer came in his trademark stocking cap and badly fit jeans.

Valderrama needed to take a cue from Jada Pinkett Smith. Jada came in Supergirl gear and brought daughter, Willow, in her Spider Princess costume. Willow looked like she costume coordinated with CSI:NY’s Melina Kanakaredes, also dressed in black tulle, with a black, feathered witch’s hat.

Jason Priestly and his family went for patriotic, as did Jamie Lee Curtis. Jason, a Canadian by birth, dressed as a Canadian Mountie, wife Naomi Lowde showed her British pride with her Beefeater costume, and their little American baby, Ava was in all her Yankee Doodle glory. Jamie Lee Curtis could have grabbed her and had a little doppleganger as they were wearing matching outfits. They both topped it off with an Uncle Sam hat but Jamie Lee was better about keeping hers on.

Angela Bassett also did a family theme. Angela was a zoo keeper and her twins, Slater and Bronwyn, were a giraffe and flamingo. So adorable!

Other young people in costume were teen actors Shelbie and Robby Bruce, who came as Cleopatra and Caesar, Disney actress Sammie Hanratty as a scarecrow, and child actress Ryan Simpkins as Harpo Marx. Something tells me Miss Simpkins didn’t come up with that one on her own, but she looks fantastic!

Halloween rocks! Finding an inspired idea for a costume and dressing up is a highlight of the season, second only to seeing what all the kids coming to the door are dressed as. Costumes have improved so much since I was a kid, too. I remember dressing in what amounted to a decorated plastic bag and trying to breathe through the hard plastic mask with tiny holes at the nose and a one inch slit at the mouth! Your breath would cause condensation all inside the mask and it would be dripping out the sides if you left it on too long. But it was worth it because we got to wear our costumes to school, they don’t let kids do that anymore. I’m so glad I got to sweat half to death in plastic and wear my Princess Leia costume to school.

In the upcoming issue of More magazine, actress Jamie Lee Curtis admits that she battled a prescription drug addiction nearly fifteen years ago. She says it started after she had some cosmetic surgery on her eyes and was given a prescription pain killer. Pretty soon she was taking the pills to get high and drinking heavily and combat the loneliness she felt.

The glamorous actress, who became Lady Haden-Guest when her husband inherited his title in 1996, initially hid her dependency from her family. ‘No one knew. Chris didn’t have a clue,’ she says.

The star, whose father was infamous for drug-taking, recalls how her sister Kelly was staying at her mansion while recovering from a broken bone and Jamie Lee began pilfering her pills. Finally, she wrote Kelly a heart-breaking letter which she never sent.
Still stunning: Jamie-Lee Curtis at the Academy 2004

Still stunning: Jamie Lee Curtis arriving at the Oscars in 2004

It said: ‘I’ve been harbouring a bad secret. I have found and taken many of your painkillers. I’ve betrayed you, and I know that you’re angry, and you have every right to be. I am lonely. I take them at night to ease the pain. I was so afraid to tell you.’

[From the Daily Mail]

According to Jamie Lee part of the problem was her low self-esteem that caused her to get plastic surgery in the first place. A camera man had told her she was getting bags under her eyes. And in Hollywood, that’s a big deal. She also claims she drank because she felt ugly to her husband and the world in general.

She has said: ‘I attempted various types of plastic surgery, minutely but enough to stave off this encroaching middle-aged body. And every time I did, something went wrong. I felt misshapen, just not natural any more. I think it was a big stimulator of my drug abuse.’

In the new interview, which apppears in More, a leading US women’s magazine, Jamie Lee says that as part of her recovery she decided to let her hair go grey and stopped wearing high heels. But she admits she has found it difficult striking the right balance.

For a time she ‘got so caught up in not caring about body image’ that she was becoming unfit. ‘So I made a change and lost some weight,’ she says.

[From the Daily Mail]

Larry King’s wife Shawn Southwick King is currently in rehab for a prescription painkiller addiction. Everyone has their own way of dealing with self-esteem issues and feeling unattractive. Certainly drugs and alcohol aren’t uncommon, along with over and under eating. It sounds like Jamie Lee has finally found a balance that works for her – something that can take a lifetime. She also remembers what she’s gone through, and says that she keeps the letter she wrote to her sister as a constant reminder.

Here’s Jamie Lee Curtis being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on June 11th. Images thanks to WENN.

Plastic surgery is, for most Hollywood actresses, a career requirement as they age. So it’s interesting to hear a few opinions on the whole idea.

Jamie Lee Curtis

The 49-year-old actress has revealed she underwent surgery on her lower eyes when she was 35 after a cameraman told her she was too “puffy” for him to shoot, and she has had work done since.

But now Curtis is urging all women to grow old gracefully because it’s rare that people really do feel better about themselves after they go under the knife.

She tells Oprah Winfrey, “I did it all but, you know what, it didn’t work. The fraud is it doesn’t work; it doesn’t work because there are complications, and I got them all.

“It doesn’t work because you still look in the mirror and you see the fraud of what you were trying to do.”

San Francisco Chronicle

Sally Field

The Places In The Heart star admits her ego has started to get the better of her – and she’s not happy about looking older.

She tells Ladies Home Journal magazine, “I think about it all the time because I see friends who’ve done it and they look great and younger. I have an ego but it’s an actor’s ego more than a woman’s ego. It’s about roles.”

Contact Music

Madonna

As her 50th birthday approaches in August, Madonna says she doesn’t plan to be defined by her age.

“I’m not going to slow down, get off this ride, stay home and get fat. No way!”

She won’t talk about any surgery she may have had, saying “I’m not against plastic surgery, I’m just against discussing it.”

Fox News

Jamie Lee has an interesting opinion on this, in that she says it doesn’t work, because you know it’s a fraud. However, getting your hair colored, a facial, wearing make up and doing your nails are all a fraud too. Except, these things do tend to make women feel good.

How much of that ego boost is from the pampering aspect of a haircut (oh, two hours without my screaming kids!) and how much of it is from your improved appearance I’m not sure. You wouldn’t get the pampering effect from surgery – you’d just get a painful recovery period.

What is the definition of cosmetic surgery? Is botox surgery? Is dermabrasion? Is a facial? Does it count if you only use a local anesthetic?

I think if you are looking to improve your appearance, surgically or otherwise, you need to be realistic. A nose job will not change your life. Changing your appearance won’t make you a better person. It just makes you look better, after the swelling goes down.

And be careful, or you might wind up looking like the infamous Cat Lady, Jocelyn Wildenstein.

In case you were wondering, Sally Field is 61, Madonna and Jamie Lee are about to turn 50. I think all of them look great.

Jamie Lee Curtis is shown on 1/11/07, thanks to WENN. Sally Field is shown on 9/16/07 at the Primetime Emmy Awards and Maddona is shown on 2/6/08 at her Raising Kabbalah benefit with her daughter Lourdes on 2/6/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

Actress/author Jamie Lee Curtis, who turns 50 this year, is one of the few Hollywood stars who isn’t chock foll o’ Botox and silicone- and now she’s going public with how she feels about aging and beauty. Curtis appears on this month’s cover of AARP magazine topless, with little makeup and zero airbrushing. You know, like normal people.

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis has once again decided to bare her soul – and body – to convince women that they will be their most beautiful if they take care of their bodies and age naturally.

The star, whose curves turned heads in such early films as Trading Places and Perfect, will help celebrate her 50th birthday in November by posing gray-haired and topless on the cover of the May-June issue of “AARP The Magazine“, available March 24.

She made a similar splash in More Magazine in 2002 when she appeared makeup-free and unretouched in a sports bra and briefs, drawing attention at the time to her “fatty little tummy” and other flaws. The point, Curtis tells PEOPLE, is that glam isn’t real, but good health is.

Curtis Drops 20 Pounds on a Simple Diet
After learning her cholesterol and blood pressure were too high about a year and a half ago, she dropped 20 pounds by giving up “fattening” foods that most Americans would consider relatively healthy – like crackers, bread and granola, which have white flour and sugar and are surprisingly high in fat. She hopes American women will learn from her example.

She also gave away her uncomfortable shoes and most of her jewelry. For one, she doesn’t wear them (save for her wedding band, a necklace with a charm for her daughters, diamond earrings and a watch), and also because she wants to lighten her load off the scale. “I’ve had the experience of going into people’s homes after they’ve died, and I’m amazed at the number of things people amass and never look at again. And I’m just not that person,” Curtis says.

“I’m like the Terminator, that’s what I am,” she adds. “I should have a TV show where I go into people’s houses and terminate their possessions.”

[From People]

There is something to be said for taking care of yourself and feeling confident in the body you were born with–regardless of age. It’s sexy as hell! I think Helen Mirren is another great example of this – she looked amazing at the Oscars last month. Compare photos of Jamie to other celebs who are fighting the natural process of aging– such as Nicole Kidman and Janice Dickinson– and she blows them away. I wish more actresses would follow Jamie’s example.

Note by Celebitchy: I love how Jamie Lee Curtis has never been afraid to show her body. She is making an important statement about how normal women shouldn’t feel bad when confronted by the Hollywood ideal, which is unnatural for older women in particular. Here’s a quote from her 2002 More Magazine interview where she posed in just bike shorts and a bra with no makeup:

“There’s a reality to the way I look without my clothes on,” she says. “I don’t have great thighs. I have very big breasts and a soft, fatty little tummy. And I’ve got back fat. People assume that I’m walking around in little spaghetti-strap dresses. It’s insidious — Glam Jamie, the Perfect Jamie, the great figure, blah, blah, blah. And I don’t want the unsuspecting 40-year-old women of the world to think that I’ve got it going on. It’s such a fraud. And I’m the one perpetuating it.”

[More Magazine via Ladies Home Journal]

Jamie Lee Curtis is shown on 10/4/07 at the Visionary Ball, thanks to PRPhotos.

The California wildfires have caused massive devastation throughout much of Southern California. The blazes have led to the evacuation of over half a million people, the largest in California’s history. In San Diego County alone, officials estimate the damage will come to at least $1 billion just for the homes. There are currently over 10,000 firefighters on the fire lines, and 585 square miles are currently burning. A lot of celebrity and expensive homes are in danger of burning to the ground – but thousands of regular people’s homes are in danger too, including a lot of people who don’t have insurance and can’t afford to “start from scratch” like some can. So while this affects our dearly beloved celebrity community, it resonates on a far deeper level, as it can do severe damage to people from every economic class.

George Carlin was on “The View” today and talked about his belief that the fires are the result of man-made problems.

Comedian George Carlin and actress Jamie Lee Curtis this week both suggested that the devastating wildfires raging in Southern California should not come as a surprise to a population that ravages the environment. Offering his provocative opinion on “The View” Wednesday morning, Carlin paraphrased an old comedy rant of his, and characterized the fires as cosmic payback from a planet stretched to its breaking point. “People are selfish,” he said. “These people with the fires and the floods and everything, they overbuild and they put nature to the test, and they get what’s coming to them, that’s what I say.”

Joy Behar replied, “That’s a little harsh, George.” But the 70-year-old comic continued: “People think nature is outside of them. They don’t take into [themselves] the idea that nature is a part of them.” Pointing to his chest, he said, “Nature is in here, and if you’re in tune with it, like the Indians – the balance of life, the harmony of nature – if you understand that, you don’t overbuild, you don’t do all this moron stuff.”

[From People]

I have heard a lot of experts saying the land and the air is the driest it has ever been in California. Though people have different view on why this is, most (but not all) chalk it up to global warming brought on by humans. Jamie Lee Curtis voiced an opinion similar to Carlin’s on “Entertainment Tonight.”

Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Jamie Lee Curtis gave a similarly grim assessment of the situation, suggesting people are in “ultimate denial” about what they’re doing to the environment. “Global warming, combined with people building houses in places they shouldn’t, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera,” she said. “It just compounds to become, as they call it, a perfect storm experience here. It’s not by accident. This isn’t an act of God. This is an act of man.”

[From People]

I wasn’t much of an active environmentalist until a few years ago. I was one in theory but didn’t put any actions behind my words. I think that a lot of people (myself very much included) are starting to really understand the impact of our actions, and hopefully the tide is turning. Let’s cross our fingers that it’s not too late.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s an image of the California Wildfires from NASA. Header image of George Carlin at the “Jersey Girl” premiere. Image thanks to PR Photos.