Thursday, December 07, 2006

Sorry about not having photos but it is tough when there are not really specific themes or people.


JACKASS v KINDNESS

For those of you who did not read the first of these, it basically is something where I tell you about a jackass thing a celebrity did and then an act of kindness a celebrity did.

So I called my friend because I knew he had the phone number I needed and we started talking about what is going to be the kindness part of the post. We then got into a big discussion about sports which led somehow to publicists and bad behavior by celebrities and then he reminded me of something that had happened on his show which I had forgotten about.

For the most part, television actors are much less divaesque and are much more down to earth than an actor who only does films. This is caused by a number of factors such as the life of a television show which may be brief to the fact that television actors are paid much less than their film counterparts, to the fact that they work generally half the year with the same group of actors and crew and often commute to and from work just like any other person. What is odd about this, is that television actors are generally much more known by the general public than film stars. If a movie grosses $100M and the average ticket costs $8.00, then approximately 12 million tickets were sold. Contrast that with say Grey’s Anatomy which last week had 24 million viewers and does every week and you can see how television actors are generally more recognized and well known. What makes film stars more divaesque is the fact they are paid an incredible sum of money and that studios may have $100M invested in that star’s ability to bring in an audience to recoup their money. Because there are few stars that are capable of doing that, their demands become greater and also more outrageous and they become divas.

That is the background -

JACKASS -

In this show there was an actor who was about fourth billed at most, but had a very big head about his role on the show and how he thought viewers were tuning into the show to see him and that he was the star. If he felt he was not getting enough lines in a particular episode, he would act is if everything was fine and then right before taping would "lose his voice" or have some other ailment which would cause producers, writers and the director to scramble around and try and save the show. Other times he would improvise new lines as the taping was going on and refuse to do the lines that were written because he felt he was a better writer than the show’s writers and knew what the audience wanted. If the writers just had him being in one scene with no dialogue which happens sometimes, he would just not show up for the taping. He trashed his dressing room more than once because he was not satisfied with its appearance. He would park sideways in the lot taking up three spaces, and even tried the "you cannot talk to him directly thing."

Now you have to remember this guy is way down the list of people on the show. His other problem was his agent who did not really have many clients and so was devoting a great deal of time to this particular client and making the head even more swollen. The agent did not want to lose this money ticket and so kept telling our misguided actor how wonderful he was and how he would get his own show soon, and movies, etc..This actor just did not realize that nature of his appeal which was limited and his acting skills which were even more limited. He really had no range except in his mind. He just could not get over himself and when his contract was running out, he thought he was going to get a big raise, and instead he got written out of the last ten or so episodes of the year and his contract was not renewed. Thought he was bigger than the show. The reality is in television, you are rarely bigger than the show.

KINDNESS -

Why is it that it is the women who are always the subject of the kindness part? A list model/actress more model than actress has been in and out of the office lately because she is coming out with a new product and there are some details to be worked out. Because she has been in so frequently, she learned that one of the people in the office had both of her parents die in a car accident during the summer and had really been devastated by this. She had been in the car with her parents and did not even get a scratch and so was feeling really guilty and really depressed.

Our model overheard the secretary discussing Dancing With The Stars and how it was the one bright spot of the week for her where she really just could let her troubles go. Without letting anyone know, model arranged for Secretary to attend the final episode of the season and to go backstage and meet the finalists. She also arranged for a makeover and new clothes and a limo to the show. There were no cameras there to record this and no publicity. This was just one person who overheard someone who was in pain and used their celebrity for good with nothing in return. Model called in a bunch of favors just because she is that kind of person. No one asked her to do it, and no one knew she was doing it until she sprung the surprise. You should have seen the look on Secretary’s face when Model told her what she had done and the excitement the day after the final show when Secretary could not stop talking and sharing and you could see the sparkle back in her eyes. It has been a few weeks now, and she is just 1,000% percent better from what she was and you can see she is starting to live again.

50 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's such a sweet thing that slashie (model/actress) did. Warms the cockles, etc

Anonymous said...

Not sure what "warms the cockles" means, but it sounds pleasant. :)

BTW, that was truly a good deed by the model/actress... I wonder if she's a member of SSSSH?

http://home.hiram.edu/hal/index.htm

Anonymous said...

That model story was really sweet, my guess is someone from dancing with the stars.

Anonymous said...

That was heartwearming.

Made me forget about Viagra, ice buckets and old men.

Dano.

Anonymous said...

Jackass: David Spade? Mischa Barton?

Kindness: Rebecca Romain (Stamos)?

Anonymous said...

Jackass: Matt LeBlanc

Sweetie: Rebecca Romijn

Anonymous said...

Oh, and I actually feel sorry for the Jackass. He's doing everything he can to get some attention, just hoping people will notice him because he doesn't have any friends to tell him that they care about him. So sad...I'd be curious to see if he learned his lesson after what must have been a rather humbling experience, to say the least, and if so, did he pull off a complete turnabout.

I also have to wonder...was A-list Actor talking about himself, or was it really another co-worker? If it is a co-worker, are they sharing this story in spite at the other person's expense, or do they feel badly for someone who displays such arrogance?

Dano.

Anonymous said...

Ent's friend who relayed the story? Matthew Perry. He's on TV, would have Matt Leblanc stories, is pretty self-deprecating in real life.

Anonymous said...

I thought that David Spade was an excellent guess, but alas he was in every episode of Just Shoot Me.

I am confused about Matt Leblanc because he was in every episode of Friends when I checked and that would be very obvious if one of the 6 wasn't there was 10 episodes. What upsets me is that when I looked up Matt, I found that he was born in Newton, MA, which is a very rich Boston suburb, right next to the one that I grew up in. Now I hate him.

GGA

Anonymous said...

That is such a cute story about the model. Thank you for sharing! I feel so horrible for the girl who lost her parents.

I wish we knew who these "do gooders" where.

Anonymous said...

GGA- While LeBlanc wasn't written out Friends, remember in the show how he was supposed to be in LA the last few episodes, doing a movie or something, setting up the plot for his short-lived offshoot, "Joey"? He was barely in that last season of the show.

Remember: (if this blogger is real) Ent's gotta cover his/her tracks so s/he might have to fudge a bit on minor details about these items.

Anonymous said...

Thank you anonymous for helping me sort that out. I never watched Friends, I just researched that he was in every episode.

I found a suitable guess finally - Rob Lowe on West Wing. This is from his profile in IMDB:

August 2002 - has quit the series "The West Wing" (1999). Reports vary as to why exactly, but it seems to have been a combination of salary dispute and screen-time dispute (the character he plays is getting less focus on the show in more recent episodes). He will appear in the first 16 episodes of the next season, though.

Anonymous said...

The Jackass was screech from saved by the bell. That's my guess.

Anonymous said...

Jackass- ?

Kindness- Rebecca Romijn or (longshot) Heidi Klum?

Anonymous said...

GGA - Long live Brookline!

Hey, this is slow, but I'm wondering if W from the tragic HIV/divorce tale could be Maura Tierney--I haven't really looked into it, but she came to mind for some reason and lo and behold, she was divorced this summer.

Anonymous said...

I think the model is Tyra.

Anonymous said...

One more guess for Kindness- Gisele Bündchen? She's "acted" in The Devil Wears Prada and, according to Wikipedia, has her own line of footwear.

Anonymous said...

Rob Lowe....Great guess!!!!

Anonymous said...

So much for being anonymous when some other anonymous guessed that I grew up in Brookline, which I did.

GGA

Anonymous said...

Only problem with Rob Lowe is that he was "top" billed--his character was not the "main" character by any means (WW was an ensemble drama anyway)--but he reportedly demanded (and received) top billing in the credits. If you watch Season 1-4, you'll notice that Lowe is first, then the rest of the cast is listed alphabetically, except Martin Sheen, who was originally only supposed to be a recurring character.

Makes me sad. Sam was such a great character.

Anonymous said...

Yep, I totally believe Ent's friend is Matt Perry (who is now on Studio 60 with one of my faves, Bradley Whitford, who used to be on West Wing with... of course, ROB LOWE, who got the bum's rush in the last season). Also, Rebecca Romijn came in the vintage store where I was working when she was filming X3 and she was an absolute doll of a person. She just made you want to hug her.

The fact that Ent posts this stuff in the first place warms my cockles, I tell ya.

Mmm, baby... here's to hot cockles!

Anonymous said...

Rob Lowe again:

I think he quit TWW, and Ent. Lawyer's post made it seem like they wrote him out without telling him. This detail could have been fudged, though.

Someone should dig up the interview he did when he left. It's hysterical, in a completely unintentional, aaron-sorkin-is-being-mean-to-me way.

Anonymous said...

Please tell more "kind" stories. So sick of the asshole stories that we can read everywhere.

Anonymous said...

The West Wing was not taped in front of an audience .. this has to be a studio sit-com environment ... unless I'm reading the post wrong.

Anonymous said...

From the Matt L. guesser...

Yes I would love to hear more nice stories too...keep em up!

Anonymous said...

For model/actress I'd say Cindy Crawford

Anonymous said...

David Caruso?

Anonymous said...

Jackass- guy from Desperate Housewives/John Tucker must die.

Kindness- Rebecca Romijn (heard she was really down to earth and kind)

Love to hear that the model/actress did something so sweet and kind for someone she didn't even know.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh...Jesse Metcalfe. Good, but I doubt it's him.

I remember reading about him trying to get into a club and he was like "but I'm on a hit TV show and I'm loaded with chicks!" He's such a massive prick, and if it was him, well...I have no sympathy. He was just born for nothing. Just a mean, angry guy.

Dano.

Anonymous said...

Opps!

I forgot--the only way that it could be Jesse Metcalfe would be if Ent Lawyer's friend is Felicity Huffman. There just isn't any person on Desperate that qualifies as A-list besides her.

That actually works into the blind item, but I just don't see it. It is a good guess though.

Dano.

Anonymous said...

Could the jackass be Robert Downey Jr.? He was written out of the end of Ally McBeal... right?

Anonymous said...

Wonder if it's somebody from ER... lots of those actors come and go. Are there any A-Listers there?

Anonymous said...

Downey is actually a really great guy--weird guy but a great guy. He was written out of Allie McBeal because of the drug problems he was having at that time compounded with yet another arrest.

Anonymous said...

The kind model is soo yra backs!!
she is a sweet heart.
With a big ol forehead!!
Love you bitch!!

Anonymous said...

I say kindness is Molly Sims from Las Vegas. She is definitely more known for being a model than an actress and she always came across as being a sweetheart in interviews.

FrancesDanger said...

I vote Mischa Barton for the Jackass, and as for the kindness Brooke Shields (she 'acted' in Suddenly Susan, but is really more of a model) and seems very gracious, especially in accepting Tom Cruise's apology.

Amber said...

Okay.. I think the Jackass is Adwale Akinnuoye-Agbaje from Lost. I've heard lots of negative things about him and how he's got himself the hugest ego. The only thing is that I do believe he is talented and a good actor. But everything seems to match up. It's got to be him.

Celebrity Blog said...

Rob Lowe keeps getting jobs where he is top billed. Can't be him.

Celebrity Blog said...

Molly Sims is more of an actress now.

Tyra, maybe.

I like Mischa for the jackass--that would be great. There is just something about her that bothers me.

Anonymous said...

Okay, let's see: the jackass can't be Matt LeBlanc because not only did he NOT get written out of Friends, he also got a shot at his own show afterwards. Robe Lowe doesn't sound like someone who is "way down the list of people on the show" as Ent Lawyer put it, so I'd have to say no too. ambersumiko said it was Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje but Lost is on right now (well, not right now because it's on hiatus but you know what I mean) and after reading the post I get the impression that the show this person was in is not on anymore, or at least the season that character was written off of is over.

I just love the blind items, it's like playing detectives ;)

As for the kindness, I have no idea who it could be but I am SO glad to hear there are people like that in Hollywood as well... I hope that girl really is feeling better now.

Anonymous said...

Is the Jackass Jeremy Piven from Entourage?


I think Kindness is CINDY CRAWFORD bc she did appear in a movie or two, but is definitely more a model AND she is coming out with a new cosmetics line for mature women......

Anonymous said...

How about Michael Richards from Seinfeld? Doesn't he have a 'jerk' reputation?

What about Petra Nemkova for the model? She seems nice, went through a lot and could be very sympathetic to others pain....has the ability to call in favors too.

MissBlue said...

pamela anderson

Anonymous said...

I worked as a PA on The West Wing for 2 seasons while they filmed on the east coast, and this is after Rob Lowe had already left the show but Matthew Perry was one of the guest stars when I was there, and I HIGHLY doubt he is the person that Ent. is referring to as his friend that he called. Esp. if you consider that you only heard about this person in the news when they wanted you to hear about them and they have no publicist...Perry NEEDS to have one for as often as he has been in and out of rehab.

Anonymous said...

Better late then never, but I say Jackass is David Hasselhoff

Anonymous said...

How about Michael Vartan from Alias?

Anonymous said...

How about the two women from Lost? They both seemed to have some "issues."

Anonymous said...

How about the two women from Lost? They both seemed to have some "issues."

Anonymous said...

Written out - Kim Delaney on CSI. She didn't last long and was written out after 10 episodes

Anonymous said...

The jack-ass sounds a lot like the actor who played 'Tony' on 24 (Carlos something?). The cast and crew were DELIGHTED when the character was written out.

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