Jonathan Rhys is back in rehab. By most estimates, this is the third time that Jonathan has seriously tried to deal with his alcohol (and drug?) problems by checking into some kind of formal facility, this time in England. Irish Independent was the first paper to announce Meyers’ rehab stay – it’s his hometown paper, and they seem to use the guy’s biography as a way to explain the multiple rehab visits. It’s interesting though.

Irish Independent claims that Meyers’ first rehab stint was in America, years ago. Then came a second, brief two-week stay in England. Last year, Meyers was arrested at an airport for a “drunken outburst”, but it was later explained that his mother had just died, so most people gave the guy a break. In most of his public appearance in the last year, Meyers has been looking coked out of his mind. Although, that could just be the way his eyes are. Irish Independent has more details:

It’s an all-too-familiar tale: a star goes off the rails with a bang and has to hit rock bottom before he or she can finally help themselves…some celebrities have found that their biggest battle is with their own demons.

Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers is now a fully paid-up member of the club. The “The Tudors” star is reported to have recently checked into rehab in the UK in a bid to deal with a drink problem.

Suspicions arose when the Cork-reared actor failed to show at the IFTAs in Dublin earlier this month, where his acclaimed TV series The Tudors won 10 awards. The day before, he was allegedly spotted buying spirits in London. He also missed the Oscar Wilde Awards in LA, the annual celebration of the Irish in Hollywood, which is staged just before the Oscars.

Before filming the last series of The Tudors, producers insisted that he steer clear of alcohol, with his behaviour monitored by minders.

“He is one of the nicest guys in the world, he’s a pleasure to work with,” revealed a Tudors insider. “He has his demons all right, and he’s trying to cope with them as best he can. I couldn’t have coped with even 2pc of what’s being written about him. He is also great with children. If any kids ever come on the set he’s really nice to them. He gets down and talks to them face to face and makes sure they get autographs and whatever they want. He’s brilliant that way.”

The next series of The Tudors won’t start filming here until June, which should give him a chance to get back on track. His natural father John O‘Keeffe, who lives in Spain and separated from Jonathan’s mum when he was a child, has appealed to Jonathan to sort out his problems. Part of the problem may be his upbringing. John left Jonathan’s mum Geraldine when the boy was just three. He moved to England, taking two of their four boys with him, leaving Geraldine to raise Jonathan and another brother.

He had a troubled childhood, spending time in an orphanage and being expelled from school. His mother, who he loved dearly, drank a lot and didn’t seem to be able to cope with him properly.

[His] career took off but problems soon surfaced. A friend said: “Jonny had always been on the brink of going off the rails. He had a difficult childhood and he’s screwed up and wild.” He later spent time in rehab in both the United States and the UK.

“I didn’t start drinking until I was 25. Since then I’ve been drunk maybe a dozen and a half times. When I do I’m like Bambi. I’m all over the place, hopeless, like a 16-year-old kid. People notice,” said Jonathan.

And they did indeed notice when he turned up in Dublin in November 2007, after apparently enjoying an all-night session. He was arrested by Gardai and charged with being drunk and in breach of the peace.

In London the next day he was pictured with an early morning can of cider in his hand. Then came the news that his mother had died in Cork County, aged just 50. Heartbroken Jonathan flew back for the funeral, where he was comforted by, among others, his old acting pal Colin Farrell.

Jonathan has also been linked to a long series of beauties from socialite and model Cha Cha Seigne, who friends say remains the love of his life, to actress Toni Collette and an on/off affair with heiress Reena Hammer.

He is also a huge gay icon, and has no trouble playing gay roles. He said: “I’d actually love to do more gay parts. I want to play people like Rock Hudson and Montgomery Clift.”

From Irish Independent

I hope this visit takes, but something tells me it won’t. I really believe that as far as drug and alcohol addiction goes, the addict truly has to hit rock bottom before they really take their addiction, rehabilitation and life-long struggle seriously. I’ve always thought that was one of the biggest problems successful actors have with their addictions – they are often trying to battle while still having a job, getting good press, making money. It’s hard to hit rock bottom when you’ve got everyone supporting you and doing for you. Just my take – and I hope I’m wrong. Meyers is a gifted actor, and I hope we can enjoy his work for years to come.

Note by MSat: If you’ve watched “The Tudors,” you know how great Meyers is as Henry. He absolutely loses himself in the role. Not to mention, he’s totally hot. Hopefully, he will get the help he needs while in rehab and find better ways to cope with his loss. By the way, does anyone who gets treatment at Promises Malibu EVER stay sober? Didn’t Ben Affleck, Matthew Perry, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears make their first tries at rehab in that place – and wasn’t it the place that Chris Farley actually broke out of shortly before he overdosed? Not such a great track record.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers is shown on 1/30/09 at Macys in NY launching the new fragrance by Hugo Boss: Boss Elements for Men. Credit: WENN.com

Despite the bad rumors about Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ alleged drug and alcohol abuse, I still really like him. He’s extremely talented and beautiful in that strange too-pretty way some men are. I also think he was utterly robbed of an Oscar nomination a few years ago for that Woody Allen film Match Point.

After a pretty distinguished career in film, Jonathan is a television boy now. He’s on his third season of the Showtime series “The Tudors”, where he plays King Henry VIII, from a young, charismatic king to the bloated glutton that Henry is usually thought of today. The third season sounds pretty good – in this season, I think King Henry meets Anne of Cleves! Jonathan’s out there on promotional duty for “The Tudors“ and for his cologne contract with HUGO, but he’s not giving any comfort to his legions of female fans. Jonathan admitted that he’s not a romantic to People:

He plays a royal with very sensual tastes in the Showtime hit The Tudors, but don’t expect Jonathan Rhys Meyers to emulate Henry VIII’s romantic prowess in real life.

“I’m not a romantic guy at all,” says Rhys Meyers, 31.

But it’s not all bad news for the Irish actor’s female fans.

“It’s not that I don’t believe in romance,” the actor said Friday while promoting the new cologne HUGO Element at Macy’s in New York City. “It’s that I don’t believe in dinner for two by the ocean, walking down the beach holding hands – that version of romance.

“I think I’m probably romantic, but I’m not outwardly romantic. I’m not a player.”

In fact, Rhys Meyers is quick to point out that the British royal wasn’t much of a player either.

“Well, Henry was actually quite a prude,” he says, “I don’t think he’d be remembered as sexy in history.”

But the series is all about “putting a modern-day take on” history, he adds.

In fact, the third season, which premieres April 15, “is better than seasons one and two put together,” says Rhys Meyers. “I go through three wives this season!”

From People Magazine

This might be off-topic, but the History Channel ran a really great documentary series on Henry VIII’s rule and his wives which was just fascinating. I had no idea King Henry stayed married so long to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. I also didn’t realize that Anne Boleyn was so ahead of her time – she was a woman of education and substance who had very serious ideas about the Catholic Church and the proper way to rule a country. The point of the documentary series was the same as “The Tudors” – Henry was once a young, charismatic leader, back in the day, and that the era of his buffoonery came very late in his life.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers is shown launching Hugo Boss: Boss Elements for Men cologne at Macys in NY on 1/30/09. Credit: WENN

John Travolta, 54, was sporting a new look on the set of his film “From Paris With Love,” which was filming in Paris on Sunday. Damnit if the weave-wearing cult member doesn’t look ten times better with a bald head and a goatee. There’s still something moderately creepy and off about him, but the guy should just ditch the weave and the Ronco GLH hair system and stay bald once the film wraps.

See this photo of Jonathan Rhys Meyers checking out Travolta as if he gained respect for him once he transformed into the character? It’s as if Rhys can’t help but change his opinion of his co-star.

From Paris with Love is an action thriller. The plot is described as “A young embassy worker and an American secret agent cross paths while working on a high-risk mission in Paris.” It is directed and written by Pierre Morel and was co-written by Luc Besson, the director of La Femme Nikita and The Fifth Element.

Travolta plays the voice of the lead canine character in the upcoming Disney animated film Bolt, out later this month. He recorded a song with Miley Cyrus for the soundtrack to the movie. It’s called “I Thought I Lost You,” and the video is below. The movie looks very cute:

Photo credit: Bauergriffinonline

NY Magazine has a new interview with “The Tudors” star Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and the sexy androgynous actor is matter-of-fact about the steamy scenes in his Showtime series portraying life in Henry VIII’s court. He says that all that sex was common among 16th century aristocrats because there wasn’t much else to do, but that it’s not that much different from the modern celebrity lifestyle.

[Henry VIII] Did seem awfully fickle with his women.
It’s not just a case of him being fickle. You read magazines on supermarket stalls, and some movie star is dating this person and then that person and then that person, and people are like, “Why do they hop from one to another?” Because they can! It’s that simple.

Do you feel like the show is over the top with all the steamy sex?
Oh, come on. Sex is sex. These people didn’t have TVs, they didn’t have cars, they didn’t have iPods. They had sex. What else do you think they did?

Got drunk?
Well, what do you do today? Drink and have sex. You live in New York City. You go out Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. But also remember that in that time, sex was very, very important. Sex changed nations.

Why do you think Henry had so many affairs, knowing the stakes?
[Sigh.] Because men are men.

That’s it? Can you think of another reason? Just another instance of wielding his power because he could.
You’re confusing wielding his power with wielding his dick.

[From NYMag.com via The Huffington Post]

When asked for his thoughts about Governor Spitzer’s fall from grace, the Scottish Irish-born Rhys Meyers says that Spitzer having to resign after that scandal broke borders “a little on the puritanical”

Speaking of the intersection of sex and power and politics, I assume you’ve heard over there in London about our governor’s fall from grace?
Yeah, for having sex! Doesn’t that border a little on the puritanical? If I know the story right, he had sex with a $15,000-a-night hooker.

I think their last liaison cost him $4,300.
Oh, so he was having sex with a cheap hooker.

God, I hope that’s not what’s considered cheap.
I don’t know. I don’t patronize hookers. But what I’m saying is, come on, look. Did your president not almost lose his presidency over a blow job? That would never have happened in Henry’s time. Unless it was Henry’s wife, giving a blow job to somebody else.

Kate Beckinsale said something similar on “The Late Show” last week. She told David Letterman that Spitzer’s hooker affair wouldn’t have been big news in England unless there was a diaper involved.

There is something to be said for the constant media persecution of Spitzer that happened after he was caught. You do understand how salacious a story it is and how anyone would jump on it. Investigative journalist Greg Palast points out that Senator David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, did have a scandal where he was caught paying prostitutes to put him in diapers. Vitters is still in power and not much was made of his involvement when the Feds busted the prostitution ring that supplied him, but Spitzer, an outspoken opponent of you-know-who, had a very public downfall. Prostitution is still illegal, and politicians should be called out when they commit even minor crimes, but it doesn’t seem quite fair that one guy took a fall while another one got a pass.

“The Tudors” season two premieres Sunday March 30th at 9pm on Showtime. You can watch the full first episode online now on the Showtime website. [No one has paid or contacted us for this promotion.]

Photos are stills from The Tudors, thanks to Showtime.com

Lindsay Lohan hasn’t wasted any time getting involved with whomever happens to be in her immediate vicinity, gender and social status be damned. During a long weekend in Italy this January she was photographed looking cosy with three different guys, one of whom spent the night at her hotel and another sold the story of their lovemaking to a British tabloid.

Since then, Lohan has been linked with some model guy, Brody Jenner, and a billionaire Australian art dealer. I’m sure there are more, and you can throw some women in there – she had a falling out with her live-in girlfriend who moved out of their shared apartment, but there’s only so much research I can do for this post.

Now Lohan was seen making out with another rehab graduate, Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Like most of Lindsay’s other men, I’m sure this is the last we’ll hear of this. Only the unknowns sell their stories to News of The World:

Lindsay Lohan has struck again, and this time her target was recently rehabbed actor Jonathan Rhys Myers. According to witnesses at Villa in West Hollywood on February 2, Lindsay, 21, and Jonathan were getting cozy in a corner of the hotspot just after midnight. The duo was seen partying and were overheard making plans to meet up later at Lindsay’s house, although his rep denies they hooked up.

“Lindsay made a beeline for Jonathan, and before long they were making out,” an eyewitness reveals. “They didn’t seem to be hiding it.”

[From In Touch, print edition, February 18, 2008]

I thought Rhys Meyers has a girlfriend he lives with, but I read that they broke up in early December, but were spotted having dinner together afterwards so no one is really sure.

In Touch has another story in that same issue about how Lindsay and Paris might be friends again after a long-running fight over ownership of Stavros Niarchos. Supposedly Lindsay and Paris were laughing and talking that same night at Villa. Their reconciliation seems to have been short-lived, since they were said to have been arguing at a pre-Grammy party as they each vied for the attention of producer Timbaland.

Lohan is still talking crap about how her life has changed since rehab. She told Glamour that “The biggest misconception is probably that I don’t have my head in the right place. That, and probably that I’m not a good person. That makes me sad, because actually I am.” And to Harper’s Bazaar she said “I’ve learned so much, though, like learning to live my life a different way.”

Last night Lohan was seen leaving S Bar in Hollywood.

Lohan is shown with that lovely spray-on tan shopping on 2/11/08. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is shown at the Rome Film Festival on 10/20/07.

On Monday we reported that Jonathan Rhys Meyers was arrested after drunkenly yelling at an airline employee at Dublin Airport. Meyers has a long history of alcohol abuse and has been in rehab twice in the last few years. However it seems Meyers may have been drinking for a reason and perhaps we should cut him a little slack – his mother passed away yesterday morning. The cause of death of Geraldine Meyers O’Keeffe, 50, hasn’t been disclosed; only that she died after a “short illness.”

Jonathan Rhys Meyers was photographed drinking a can of hard cider at 10 in the morning yesterday – just a few hours after his mother died.

Pictures of the 30-year-old drinking in North London were taken hours after the death of his mother at a hospital in Cork. Geri Meyers O’Keeffe, 50, who was known to have been in poor health, died at 7am at the Mercy Hospital soon after being admitted. She leaves three other sons, Jamie, Alan and Paul. The cause of death was not known last night.

Last night, members of his family at Mrs Meyers O’Keeffe’s neat bungalow in the Cork suburb of Glanmire were too distressed to talk. She had celebrated her 50th birthday last January when friends in her local pub The Riverstown Inn threw a surprise party for her. Last night regulars in the bar were stunned by the suddenness of her death. One said: “I saw her last week and she was in great form. “I know she was ill in February but she pulled through that. We just cannot believe she is gone. She was a lovely woman.

“She was extremely proud of Jonathan. She used to tell us she knew from the time he was born that he was destined for great things.” Last night Meridith O’Sullivan, Jonathan’s LA based publicist confirmed that his mother had died. She stated “I can confirm she passed away, but there are no more details tonight.”

[From the Daily Mail]

Geri Meyers-O’Keeffe was a former charity worker. She’s expected to be buried near her home in Cork on Friday. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is on “The View” right now as I’m writing this. TV Guide has it listed as new, but it must be pre-taped. Our thoughts are with him and his family.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Jonathan and Reena Hammer at MTV’s TRL on November 12, 2007. Image thanks to PR Photos. Header image of Jonathan drinking in London yesterday. Image thanks to the Daily Mail.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers was arrested yesterday afternoon at Dublin Airport after a drunkenly yelling at a female worker. She told him he couldn’t get on the flight as he was clearly too inebriated, which angered him and resulted in his shouting, “I will get on this flight no matter what” over and over again. Rhys Meyers has been to rehab twice in the last few years – this last time in April – which he left after only two weeks. Rehab is boring after all, I’m sure it’s fine to leave because you want your freedom and to be able to go out and have lunch with your friends. How could sobriety possibly compare to that?

Match Point actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers has been arrested after an alleged drunken row with airline staff. The Irish actor reportedly launched an angry tirade of abuse at one female worker when she told him he was “unfit to travel” at Ireland’s Dublin Airport at around 2.30pm on Sunday.

The 30-year-old star – who was trying to board a British Midland flight to London after appearing on Irish TV show Tubridy Tonight on Saturday – repeatedly told staff: “I will get on this flight no matter what.” One source said: “After being told he couldn’t fly he flew into a temper and started screaming at this woman. She seemed to be very upset by the whole ordeal.” Police arrested the star at the airport and took him to the nearby Whitehall Garda station where he was charged under the Public Order Act with being drunk and disorderly and a breach of the peace.

Speaking outside the station after being released on bail, a disheveled Rhys Meyers said: “I said the wrong thing to the wrong woman at the wrong time.”

[From News.com.au]

It occurs to me that the problem isn’t that he said those things to the wrong woman, the problem is that he said the wrong things at all. It’s not like there’s a right person Rhys Meyers could have screamed at. He’s one of those actors who’s very face has always annoyed me. He just has this “I think I’m the greatest thing ever” air about him, and it makes me want to smack the cockiness right off his face.

Rhys Meyers is on the cover of this month’s Details. There’s a very bizarre interview with him in which he mentions his alcoholism (and how he never touches the stuff anymore) along with screaming out “PUSSY! I want pussy!” through the streets of Dublin for no apparent reason, and then burning the fake hair off his jacket sleeves with a lighter in a café during the interview. His reasoning being that it’s something to do. Alright, totally normal.

Rhys Meyers himself no longer goes to those sorts of mobbed, cacophonous venues. A notorious partier, he’s recently sworn off alcohol. “I didn’t drink until I was 25, and I never drank every day, but when I did, it was bad. It would be a couple of days that just wouldn’t work out for me, waking up with a hangover. Drink doesn’t fit into the groove of where my life is going.”

Rhys Meyers, now 30, has been in rehab twice. “I want to do really good things with my life,” he says. “And drinking is not synonymous with that. The [Richard] Burton days, the [Peter] O’Toole days, they are gone.”

[From Details]

I guess not so much. Sometimes you can just tell when people are “functional” alcoholics who will probably remain that way for life because they don’t suffer any severe consequences for it (though everyone around them often does). Rhys Meyers strikes me as one of those guys.

The Irish actor doesn’t exactly ooze confidence when it comes to being an actor. He seems to have a constant sneer on his face that conveys arrogance, but it doesn’t apply to any real talent according to Jonathan. In fact the lure of Hollywood isn’t the money, but the fame and power that goes with being a successful actor that makes him feel manly and assured.

“You know why I stay out of the limelight? I always think there will be that time that people will find out that I’m crap at what I do. “I think they will figure out I’m crap. Doesn’t everybody have that feeling?”

[PR-Inside]

In Details magazine he goes on to admit that he got to where he is at based on his looks. He believes that one must have the mug for acting and not just the talent.

“Let’s not kid ourselves—this business is about being good-looking. Look, Brad Pitt is an incredible actor, but do you think he’d be a famous movie star if he didn’t look like that? Come on! Some mornings, some days, you just don’t have that physical confidence. That’s a horrible feeling. A lot of my success is because of what I look like. I know that.”

In the same interview Rhys Meyers describes himself as terribly insecure. He admits to constantly seeking approval on days he doesn’t feel like his normal pretty self. Despite his humble background he seems to lack the humble views on power. He further stated that he would trade places with Leonardo DiCaprio for his power and status in the filming industry… not his for his acting skills.

Currently he portrays Henry VIII in “The Tudors.” The role gives him a boost of the masculinity that he craves. He appreciates the “alpha male, real, muscular, testosterone, up-on-a-wire action hero” demand the role gives him.

Note by Celebitchy: Details also notes that Rhys Meyers screams out on the street “PUSSY! I want pussy!” but supposedly he was “doing his impersonation of a man trying to have a conversation in a crowded nightclub.” Mmmm hmmm. Thanks to Men.style.com for these photos.