Scarlett Johansson stars as a head zookepper in We Bought A Zoo.
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox
By: Romeo San Vicente*/Special for TRT–
The Fosters: J. Lo’s moms are all right
That ABC Family drama executive produced by Jennifer Lopez just got itself some lesbians. Well, not actual lesbians – at least not that we know of – but a pair of ladies to play them; how’s that? Sherri Saum (from In Treatment) and Teri Polo (Meet The Parents) are coming soon as The Fosters, a mixed-race couple raising a Cheaper By The Dozen -amount of children, both biological and adopted, who become foster (get it?) parents to a young girl. Wrinkle: the kid’s disruptive influence in the family threatens to turn the happy home into the kind you see getting intervened upon by Dr. Phil. Of course, this being ABC Family, you can probably expect something a little more in line with the adorable Bunheads than, say, Shameless, and a built-in audience of lesbian parent households who’ll be eager to see this first-of-its-kind series. Good luck, Fosters!
Scarlett On A Hot Tin Roof
The scandalous allure of Tennessee Williams never dies. His sexually frustrated characters keep on teasing new generations with that winning combination of lust and despair. And now the Williams classic Cat On A Hot Tin Roof is set to enjoy a Broadway revival with the no-brainer casting of Tony-winning actress Scarlett Johansson as Maggie “The Cat.” She’s in good company, too, joined by Broadway heavy-hitters Ciaran Hinds as Big Daddy and Debra Monk (Tony-winner for Redwood Curtain and a recurring presence on Glee) as Big Mama. Johansson will conduct a smoldering contest opposite up-and-comer Benjamin Walker as Brick, a man no doubt happy to return to non-historical roles after taking on two presidents – on Broadway as a rock ‘n’ roll version of our country’s most disturbing leader in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and in multiplexes as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama begins previews in December and opens officially in January. Rev up those credit cards, ticket hunters.
Cheyenne Jackson’s next big move is porn
And he’s doing it with Fonzie in a kind of musical-comedy Boogie Nights. OK, sorry, backing up: 30 Rock regular Cheyenne Jackson is headed back to Broadway to star in The Performers, a romantic comedy about porn stars, one in which “sex, love and Barry Manilow intersect.” (We’re sure the details are someone less strange than whatever’s going on in your imagination right now.) Jackson will star as porn actor “Mandrew,” opposite Henry Winkler (’70s icon Fonzie on the hugely successful sitcom Happy Days). Winkler’s character – an adult industry veteran named “Chuck Wood” –gives Jackson some advice on life and love when the pair wind up in Las Vegas at the Adult Film Awards. The publicity pics working their way around the Internet show Jackson looking ripped and muscular in a gladiator costume, but that’s probably as much daring stage nudity as you’re going to get from the handsome star, and way more than Winkler will be expected to demonstrate. Or so we hear. See for yourself when previews begin late in October.
The Quiet Passion of Cynthia Nixon
What do you know about Emily Dickinson besides her inability to “stop for death?” Not much, right? Well, that’s what movies are for, to teach you a lot of speculative history about the celebrities of olden times. And Cynthia Nixon is here to help. The woman whose serious acting cred will only ever be in question if she agrees to return to the Sex and the City well for another fat paycheck (and even then we might not hold it against her) will play Dickinson for acclaimed, gay, British director Terence Davies (The Deep Blue Sea, The House of Mirth, The Long Day Closes). At the moment the film is known as A Quiet Passion, which sums up Davies ongoing career tone of hushed melancholy and Dickinson’s real, reclusive life quite nicely, a pairing of sensitive filmmaker and literary subject matter made in chocolate-and-peanut-butter heaven. That means arthouse audiences are in for a rollicking, miserable time sometime in the next year or so. Roll those cameras and let’s get sad.
*Romeo San Vicente creates loud passion according to his disgruntled neighbors. He can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com.
