YOU’VE got to admit, there’s something about Betty White. At 88, she’s at an age when getting out of bed must be murder, but there she is getting tackled to the ground in an ad for Snickers.

And that’s not all. Far from it. In the past few weeks, White has sat on late-night talk show couches, given Saturday Night Live a boost as guest host and provided US TV its highest-rated program with her new sitcom, Hot in Cleveland.

The White factor officially went into overdrive when rumours of nude photos of the former Golden Girl with her late husband began to surface. How could we turn away? With her tangle of laugh lines, marshmallow cheeks and soft helmet of silver hair, White is about as provocative as a Persian cat. What’s more, she seems to be spearheading something of a renaissance of the over-60s in Hollywood.

While the ever-hapless Lindsay Lohan tries to shake off her ”box-office poison” tag (and that alcohol monitoring anklet), and Amanda Bynes twitters her retirement from show business at the ripe old age of 24, the well-preserved but doggedly natural Meryl Streep continues to defy stereotypes at 61 with bona fide hits such as Mamma Mia and It’s Complicated.

Meanwhile, Streep’s contemporary, the delightfully dour Diane Keaton, is being courted by TV moguls, and offered a tidy sum, to play the lead in an upcoming television series, despite (or in spite of) her 64 years. Julie Christie, Dame Judy Dench and Helen Mirren have long held their own, and held their heads high, in a notoriously fickle industry.

Add to this the peculiar rise of the blue rinse among a trendy young set (think Kelly Osbourne, Pixie Geldof and 13-year-old fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson), and it’s little wonder that whispers of an age-beauty rethink have been getting louder.

According to a recent New York Times article, the Botoxed-to-the-max brigade is experiencing something of a backlash in La-La Land. ”Filmmakers and casting executives are beginning to re-examine Hollywood’s attitude towards … Botox, collagen-injected lips and all manner of plastic surgery,” writes columnist Laura Holson with barely disguised glee.

This is no hyperbole. Climbing on board is one of Hollywood’s biggest names. Walt Disney did what only recently would have been unthinkable when it put the kibosh on female extras with fake breasts during casting calls for the next instalment of the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Of course, reinstating realism and reviving the dying art of expressing emotion on the big screen are both long overdue, but what else can be read from such a shift? Is Hollywood simply running out of ideas? Or can it be that its love affair with the real mature-aged woman is a true reflection of society’s changing attitudes?

There’s little doubt that we are an ageing population, but why are mature-aged women, in particular, now within Hollywood’s line of sight?

Online trend tracker brandchannel.com reports that this year the largest demographic in the US will be women aged between 40 and 64. We’re talking here of educated, cashed-up women, many of whom enjoy time-out from their busy lives going to the movies. A new Motion Picture Association of America report found that women bought the majority (55 per cent) of movie tickets in 2009. This spanned all age brackets, including the twilight years.

See how swapping the overly gorgeous and youthful ingenue for a more comely older version suddenly starts looking like the business decision of the year?

In courting the almighty dollar, the media, advertising and Hollywood have long kept women in a perpetual state of self-dissatisfaction. Yes, they provided role models we could emulate, but only after we submitted to a fair bit of remodelling ourselves.

Is it any great surprise, then, that women of a certain age and disposable income are now demanding leading ladies with lives, experiences and crow’s feet that reflect their own?

Thanks to the likes of White, Streep and Keaton, the dark cloud of ageism does have a silver lining, after all. Recycled or not, White’s success certainly makes her one savvy operator. Having endured relative obscurity in her more than 60-year career, here’s hoping she lives long enough to enjoy a little overexposure. Those nude pics notwithstanding.

Thanks The Age.

[Ask] [Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Google] [Mister Wong] [MySpace] [Netvouz] [Newsvine] [OnlyWire] [Propeller] [Shoutwire] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!]

The husband of Brittany Murphy was found dead at his Los Angeles home late Sunday, five months after the Hollywood actress died, police said.

The preliminary cause of the death of British screenwriter Simon Monjack is natural causes, police spokesman Sgt. Louie Lozano told The Associated Press.

“We concluded there no signs of foul play or any criminal activity involved,” said Sgt. Alex Ortiz, another police spokesman.

Firefighters responding to an emergency call from a woman at 9:40 p.m. found the 39-year-old Monjack dead at the Hollywood Hills residence, police spokesman Sgt. Louie Lozano said. Ortiz said he didn’t know who called. Monjack and Murphy had shared their home with Murphy’s mother, Sharon.

Ortiz said that the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office was taking over the investigation because criminal activity had been ruled out, and would provide more details later on the death and circumstances surrounding it.

At his wife’s funeral in December, a visibly emotional Monjack talked about their relationship and called her his best friend and soul mate. The two married in 2007.

He had said that they had been planning a family and contemplating a move to New York.

Murphy, best known for her major roles in “Clueless,” “Girl Interrupted,” and “8 Mile” in 2002, died Dec. 20, at age 32 after collapsing in her home. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office concluded Murphy’s death was accidental, but likely preventable.

The coroner’s report said that the medications found in her system were consistent with treatment of a cold or respiratory infection. Monjack and Murphy’s mother had reported the actress was ill with flulike symptoms in the days before her death.

An autopsy found no evidence that Murphy abused drugs. Investigators had found numerous prescription medications in her home.

Thanks Breitbart.

[Ask] [Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Google] [Mister Wong] [MySpace] [Netvouz] [Newsvine] [OnlyWire] [Propeller] [Shoutwire] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!]

On the showbiz gossip scene, nothing has been whispered about more in recent months than the news that HBO is preparing to launch “Tilda.” It’s a comedy series cooked up by Bill Condon (“Dreamgirls”) and Cynthia Mort (HBO’s “Tell Me You Love Me”) that’s about an all-powerful, much-feared and loathed Hollywood blogger who never leaves her house — in other words, it could just possibly be based a teeny bit on the online escapades of Deadline’s own not-always-so-easy-to-adore-but-hard-to-ignore Nikki Finke.

Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello is now reporting that Diane Keaton is “circling” the role, which would, if nothing else, score HBO a top acting name for its new series. No one at HBO is confirming the possible casting coup. If it turns out that Keaton doesn’t take the gig, I’m still hopeful that my first choice — Glenn Close — would get some serious consideration, since she seems so right for the part, having always been talked about as the perfect Norma Desmond for the long-rumored Hollywood remake of “Sunset Boulevard.” Close already played her in the musical version of the movie so you know she has the pipes to holler out TOLDJA! in perfect harmony.

Other names come to mind who could class up the part: Annette Bening would probably be a nice choice too. And there’s always Betty White (OK, just kidding). But if anyone has some shrewd casting ideas, please share them with us. This is a show that, for oh so many reasons, we can’t wait to see. 

Thanks LA Times.

[Ask] [Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Google] [Mister Wong] [MySpace] [Netvouz] [Newsvine] [OnlyWire] [Propeller] [Shoutwire] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!]
Tagged with:
 

Zac Efron to Play Falsh Gordon!

Lets hope this is true! Zac Efron is a talented and gorgeous young actor who hit Hollywood fame stardom after appearing in Disney’s High School Musical movies. He has appeared in a few hit movies like ‘Hair Spray’ and ‘Seventeen Again’ and his new movie ‘Me and Orson Welles’ should be out in movie theaters soon.

There is also talk now that Zac Efron is being considered for the role of ‘Flash Gordon’. Disneydreaming says Zac is one of the frontrunners to play Flash and he’s making no secret of the fact that he would love the role. Spider-Man has been done and he doesn’t want to follow someone like Tobey Maguire. Flash would be all Zac and a chance for him to make a mark with his own franchise. He’s very excited about the possibility.”

[Ask] [Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Google] [Mister Wong] [MySpace] [Netvouz] [Newsvine] [OnlyWire] [Propeller] [Shoutwire] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!]

If looks could kill, as they saying goes, then it’s fair to say oblivious Victoria Beckham wouldn’t have fared well in this exchange.

Doyenne of the silver screen Shirley MacLaine looks down her nose as Posh waltzes out of a pre-Oscars party to her car.

The celebrity showdown was captured last week outside Coldwater Canyon Park in Beverly Hills – although it’s not known what events led up to it.

One thing is for sure, MacLaine – the Hollywood veteran – doesn’t look like she would have offered Mrs Beckham a Term Of Endearment.

La Becks was heading with son Brooklyn for the car, but doesn’t appear to have stopped for a polite chat with Warren Beatty’s elder sister.

Perhaps she didn’t recognise the 75-year-old who had made 28 films before she was even born. Well, she is new in town.

The singer turned WAG turned successful fashion designer could possibly to do with brushing-up on who’s who in Hollywood.

Victoria was with by her eldest son Brooklyn, 11, and was dressed in jeans, heels and what appeared to be a fur coat.

The picture was taken last Saturday, before this week’s tragic news that Victoria’s ex-boyfriend, Lost Boys star Corey Haim, died of a suspected overdose aged 38.

The pair briefly dated in 1995 before the Spice Girls hit the big-time the following year.

Although they hadn’t had any contact for a number of years, she was still shocked to learn of his sudden death, according to a report.

Thanks Daily Mail.

[Ask] [Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Google] [Mister Wong] [MySpace] [Netvouz] [Newsvine] [OnlyWire] [Propeller] [Shoutwire] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!]

The Tories are in talks with foreign educational groups – including one run by Hollywood actress Goldie Hawn – to set up state schools in England.

Shadow Children’s Secretary Michael Gove says he is talking to the French government and a Swedish schools chain.

And he told The Sunday Times his team had also spoken to Ms Hawn’s charity, which promotes Buddhist values.

Schools Minister Vernon Coaker questioned how the plan could be funded without “cuts to existing schools”.

The Tories want parents, charities and companies to take over failing schools or set up new ones if they win power.

‘Creationism’

Mr Gove told BBC One’s Andrew Marr show he wanted to give state schools the same “freedom” as fee-paying schools to set their own curriculums, which he claimed would boost the chances of pupils from poorer backgrounds reaching top universities.

“What we want to do, for example, is to allow organisations like a Swedish company, the International English School, the chance to come here to teach the sort of rigorous academic curriculum which too many students, particularly students in poorer parts of the country, are denied.”

He said an independent body would scrutinise anyone that wants to set up a school “to make sure that extremist organisations, or people who have a dark agenda, are prevented from doing so. The other thing that we will make sure is that schools are inspected rigorously”.

And he stressed that he did not want to see schools teaching “creationism”, which rejects scientific explanations for life on earth in favour of religious beliefs.

“To my mind you cannot have a school which teaches creationism and one thing that we will make absolutely clear is that you cannot have schools which are set up, which teach people things which are clearly at variance with what we know to be scientific fact.”

But if schools are properly inspected and regulated “anyone who teaches in a way which undermines our democratic values can be brought to light, challenged and if necessary, closed down”.

He said “hundreds” of parents and groups of teachers had been in touch with the Conservatives to express an interest in the plans.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mr Gove said he wanted Sweden’s International English School to take over failing schools if the Conservatives win the election and his team had held talks with the French government about establishing state schools based on the Lycée Français in South Kensington, London.

Breathing exercises

The Lycée Français is a private institution which provides a French education for French expatriates and British parents who want their children to grow up bilingual.

“Under our plans you could have UK citizens sending their children to the Lycée at no cost because it would be fully integrated into the state sector,” he told the Sunday Times.

Mr Gove said his team had also recently met actress Goldie Hawn, whose Hawn Foundation charity runs schools in America and Canada and is said to be keen to open a school in the UK.

The Hawn Foundation teaches the Buddhist technique of Mindfulness training, which emphasises social and emotional progress over academic testing and the use of simple breathing exercises to boost learning power.

Mr Gove told The Sunday Times he could not see any serious barrier to her setting up a school within the English state system.

“We are going to have another meeting to discuss how she might be able to help and influence education here.”

‘Extra running costs’

He added: “Some parents would want a rigorous traditional academic education for their children with desks neatly marshalled and traditional football. Others will want something that is more flexible, more imaginative.”

But Schools Minister Vernon Coaker said: “For the first time, Michael Gove has admitted that the Swedish schools he wants to open with 220,000 additional surplus places would involve extra running costs.”

He challenged Mr Gove to “explain to parents where the estimated £1.8bn costs of these new surplus places would come from without big cuts to existing schools”.

Mr Coaker said: “Michael Gove’s claim that these reforms raised standards has been undermined in the last week by the Swedish Ofsted and international studies which have shown a big drop in school standards in Sweden.

“Now his claim that there would be no extra costs has been blown apart by his own admission he would need to find money from elsewhere to fund them.”

Thanks BBC.

[Ask] [Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Google] [Mister Wong] [MySpace] [Netvouz] [Newsvine] [OnlyWire] [Propeller] [Shoutwire] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!]
Tagged with:
 

Not sure how gayer this can get!

The Actors Fund will present a one-night-only stage adaptation of the 1967 film sensation VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, on Monday, March 15, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. at the Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College (899 Tenth Ave.)

Based on Jacqueline Susann’s addictively entertaining, bestselling novel, this benefit performance of VALLEY OF THE DOLLS stars Charles Busch as Helen Lawson, Heidi Blickenstaff as Neely O’Hara, Tovah Feldshuh as Miriam Polar, Cheyenne Jackson as Tony Polar, Martha Plimpton as Anne Welles and Christopher Sieber as Ted Casablanca. Additional casting will be announced soon.

VALLEY OF THE DOLLS follows the lives of three women – naive New Englander Anne Welles, aspiring singer Neely O’Hara, and buxom beauty Jennifer North – as they attempt to achieve fame and fortune in show business.

As this legendary story unfolds, each starlet discovers that Hollywood is full of pitfalls and heartbreak. Instead of the happiness they seek, the trio descends into a dark world of sex, alcoholism, suicide and a chemical dependence on a variety of prescription “dolls.”

Will any of these ingénues survive their “trip” through Hollywood?

Directed by Carl Andress (Die Mommie Die!), tickets for VALLEY OF THE DOLLS are $75, $100 and $150 and are now available visiting www.actorsfund.org or by calling 212-221-7300 ext. 133. All proceeds will benefit The Actors Fund.

The Actors Fund is a national human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment. The Fund, which supports actors and performers and everyone behind the scenes who works in theatre, film, TV, music, dance, radio and opera, is a safety net, providing social services and emergency assistance, health services, employment and training programs and housing support for those who are in need, crisis or transition. Learn more about The Actors Fund at www.actorsfund.org.

The BroadwayWorld.com

[Ask] [Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Google] [Mister Wong] [MySpace] [Netvouz] [Newsvine] [OnlyWire] [Propeller] [Shoutwire] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!]

Too bad your mother is insane but anyhow! Our jaws dropped last Friday when Rosie O’Donnell, who is a good friend of Mia Farrow’s, posted a recent picture of Mia’s 22 year-old son, Ronan Farrow, on her blog. YOWZA! For someone who shares half of Woody Allen’s genes, Ronan is quite the dreamboat. Given his father’s comedic talent and his mother’s activism, though, we’re not surprised that Ronan’s more than just a pretty face. Here are a few more reasons why he’s our crush of the week (…or of all time):

He’s a genius: At age 11, Ronan became the youngest student ever enrolled in Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Massachusetts, which typically only accepts students who are above age 16. After completing his associate’s degree, he transferred to Bard College’s main campus in New York, where he studied biology and philosophy. At 16, he was admitted to Yale Law, but he deferred his enrollment until the fall of 2006 so that he could work with UNICEF. He graduated at age 21 last May. 5 Places To Find A Smart Guy

He’s a humanitarian: With his good looks and celebrity parentage, Ronan could have easily ended up on a CW teen drama, but since 2001, Ronan has worked as a spokesperson for AIDs prevention and treatment, as well as for the prevention of human genocide in Africa. At an age where most of his peers would be indoors playing video games, Ronan was in Kenya, Nigeria, and Angola working to improve the lives of others. While his credentials are too numerous to list out here, we’d also like to point out that Ronan’s writings have appeared in the Boston Herald, The Wall Street Journal, The International Herald Tribune, and The Los Angeles Times.

In 2009, New York Magazine named him their “New Activist Of The Year.” Rumor has it that the Obama administration has appointed him as the State Department’s Special Adviser on Humanitarian and NGO Affairs.

He has a sense of humor: In his interview with New York Magazine, Ronan admitted that he’s writing his first book, which will take a comedic look at America’s proxy armies. Is It Better For A Man To Be Funny Or Rich?

He’s mature: Sure, he’s Hollywood royalty, but we can’t imagine that Ronan’s a spoiled, sheltered kid after weathering his parents’ heavily-publicized custody dispute back in the early ’90′s. Despite the family scandals and Ronan’s consequent estrangement from his father, it seems like he’s grown up to be a well-rounded young man.

Thanks Your Tango.

[Ask] [Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Google] [Mister Wong] [MySpace] [Netvouz] [Newsvine] [OnlyWire] [Propeller] [Shoutwire] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!]

I can’t believe this show is still on the air. Does anyone really care? Learned exclusively that Liza Minnelli is joining the cast of “Ugly Betty” this season.

The Broadway and Hollywood icon begins work next week and will be appearing in multiple episodes later this season, say sources.

Our set insiders tell us Liza will be playing Lena Korvinka, a high school drama teacher at Justin’s (played by Mark Indelicato) school.

Liza has an intense filming schedule that begins in Brooklyn on January 28th and runs until February 12th, the sources say.

“There were massive rumors last year, then again in early January that Liza was being courted for the show, but Liza originally hadn’t planned to do the show. ‘Ugly Betty’ producers presented her with a great offer and a hilarious story and they kept coming back to her,” said our source. “She’s going to be playing an outrageous drama teacher and it is going to be fun! Liza is excited to be playing another off-the-wall character like Lucille 2 on ‘Arrested Development’.”

Liza was going to have knee replacement surgery at the end of January, but due to the ‘Ugly Betty’ schedule, it looks like she’s put that on hold. “She’s a professional and everyone is excited for her first day!” our insider said.

A spokesman for Liza Minnelli told Fox411.com that he had no knowledge of Minnelli’s involvement with the hit show and said she was not currently on board.

“Liza is a fan of ‘Ugly Betty’ but I am not aware of any current plans for her to join the cast,” said the rep.

Emails to ABC were not returned.

“Ugly Betty” went from a weak Friday time slot to a stronger place on ABC’s Wednesday night comedy schedule at 10PM this fall. So producers, including show star America Ferrera and Executive Producer Salma Hayek, are doing their best to bring in big names.

“Salma has her eye on the what’s happening at all times, and she’s an involved woman in the production process. I wouldn’t rule out a chance that she will be back on the show as well,” said our insider. “The cast, crew and writers of the show are working hard to regain their following after the Friday night graveyard time slot.”

Thanks Fox411.

[Ask] [Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Google] [Mister Wong] [MySpace] [Netvouz] [Newsvine] [OnlyWire] [Propeller] [Shoutwire] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!]
Tagged with:
 

When you think of Hollywood leading ladies you’ll be hard pressed to find one with a more diverse career than Kathleen Turner. She’s been on the silver screen for more than 30 years, starring in a roster of high-profile films, from “Prizzi’s Honor” to “The Accidental Tourist,” and “Peggy Sue Got Married”, which garnered Turner an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Turner has a real-life role as the National Chair of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) Board of Advocates that will bring her to Naples next week. She’s extremely passionate about the group, and she’s addressing its annual luncheon Jan. 22 to talk about that passion. (For information, see accompanying box.)

Back in California, Turner is on the Showtime series “Californication,” a no-holds-barred “dramedy” about a down-and-out writer played by David Duchovny. Turner plays Sue Collini, a fiery talent agent who has no qualms about speaking her mind about sex, drugs and everything in between.

“I had a ball playing Sue Collini!” Turner says of her role.

And it shows in her performance. It’s the type of role many would shy away from due to the raunchy subject matter, and Turner agrees.

“I had a woman come up to me the other day,” she said, “and tell me, ‘I love what you’re doing on the show!’ and I wanted to blush.”

Sue Collini isn’t Kathleen Turner, she emphasized with a chuckle: “Not my style, baby. I’m an old-fashioned woman.”

Turner hasn’t only played over-the-top types. She recalls the toughest role she ever had to play, that of Mrs. Lisbon for the 1999 drama, “The Virgin Suicides.” In it, she is an overprotective mother to five daughters, one of whom attempts suicide in the beginning of the film.

Turner’s own daughter was roughly the same age of her character’s daughter at the time, which made it more difficult to do her scenes: “It was like a knife in my stomach every day.”

While roles like Sue Collini and Mrs. Lisbon would seem to be high-profile roles any actor would want to sink their teeth into, that’s not what drew Turner to them.

“What appeals to me is contrast,” she says. Turner enjoys having the ability to explore different characters, to question why they say and do the things they do, from the rancorous wife in “War of the Roses,” which won her a Golden Globe nomination, to the voice behind Jessica in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”

Turner can soon be seen on the stage in Philadelphia in a one-woman play about feisty newspaper columnist and best-selling author Molly Ivins, entitled “Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins.”

Turner knew the late Texas-based political columnist personally

“I’ve never done anyone I actually knew before,” she admits. “I found it extremely hard. But I’ve got more understanding of it now and will be all right.”

Will she return to the new season of “Californication” later this year?

“I’m not sure yet, honestly. I like to see some of the scripts before I greet things,” Turner says.

Turner is serious about all her roles, and that includes her role with Planned Parenthood. She’s been the national chair for the organization since 1995, but considers herself to have been involved with them since she was 19 years old and first visited a Planned Parenthood office herself.

“There is no women’s health care service in this country of the same standards accessible to women without insurance,” she says of Planned Parenthood

Anti-abortion activist has targeted the group, but Turner says that only drives her harder to promote it and to explain what it does: “Planned Parenthood is about planning, not about becoming a parent or being a parent.”

Educating people about sexual reproductive help, and the options they have should they become pregnant, is what Turner says she’s trying to accomplish by working with the group.

Be it on the screen or in real life, Kathleen Turner loves what she does. The secret to maintaining a level head through it all, she says, is to simply have fun: “That’s the point!”

Thanks Naples News.

[Ask] [Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Google] [Mister Wong] [MySpace] [Netvouz] [Newsvine] [OnlyWire] [Propeller] [Shoutwire] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!]

Sharon Stone Having Sex Again on Screen

What do having sex with Sharon Stone, having sex with Carice Van Houten, and having sex for money have in common? I’ll give you a hint, and it’s not having sex: these two actresses will play the women a British gigolo is torn between in the newest indie drama, Satisfaction. The film will begin production in early 2010, and is to be directed by Anya Camilleri (Ny-Lon). Variety reports that John Evangelides (A Good Woman) and Cerise Hallam Larkin (I Could Never Be Your Woman) will produce, and Simon Burke (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Liverpool, Ny-Lon) is spearheading the script.

For an indie film, these are two hard-hitting leading ladies. Stone will play a cougar caught in a love triangle with her gigolo and his younger woman, played by Van Houten. Stone, who is 51 and single, doesn’t mind playing a cougar, but made it pretty clear at the Hamptons Film Festival that she doesn’t want to be one. (To which I say False. You’re Sharon Stone. You’re the definition of cougar.) An interesting tidbit from the New York Daily News describes Stone’s tenuous relationship with the term:

“I’ve been corresponding with Anya Camilleri [the director] and we’ve been looking at historical paintings where the concept ‘cougar’ was depicted to try and see where it came from,” Stone said to The News’ Debbie Tuma Sunday during a talk at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater as part of the Hamptons Film Festival. “I think “cougar” is a way to make it appear as women are looking at their men as prey, and gaining something from it. Like when men are enhancing their own virility by going out with younger women. Why,” Stone asked a tittering audience “is there not a term for older men with younger women?”

While the mother-of-three didn’t reference Demi or Madonna, she got a big laugh when she talked about Hollywood’s most iconic cougar: “I don’t think Mrs. Robinson was a cougar – I think she was a woman having a breakdown, and it was played wonderfully.”

Satisfaction begins shooting in the first quarter of 2010, in the UK.

[Ask] [Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Google] [Mister Wong] [MySpace] [Netvouz] [Newsvine] [OnlyWire] [Propeller] [Shoutwire] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!]