February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Ever since jettisoning his longtime publicist and hiring his sister (and fellow Scientologist) Lee Anne DeVette last year, the actor’s public image has undergone an incredible — and unfortunate – transformation, turning his name into the punch line of countless jokes.
In a statement released on Monday, Cruise-Wagner productions announced that Lee Anne had “stepped down” as her brother’s personal publicist, and would be replaced by veteran flack Paul Bloch. Variety reports that Bloch’s roster of clients includes David and Victoria Beckham, Sylvester Stallone and John Travolta. Lee Anne will stay on the payroll, overseeing the daily operations of his charitable foundation.
Tom’s carefully crafted public image started to fray after his sudden, and acrimonious, split from actress Nicole Kidman in 2001. After a high-profile romance with Penelope Cruz, Tom canned his powerful, and notoriously protective publicist, Pat Kingsley and hired Lee Anne to take her place. Finding himself off the leash, as it were, the actor soon wound up starring in a succession of media blunders: a war of words with Brooke Shields, a nasty exchange with Matt Lauer on the “Today Show,” a weird, whirlwind romance with Katie Holmes, and the Oprah couch incident, to name a few.
His sibling tried to spin these as positive events, but neither the press not the public were buying it. In addition, his obsession with Scientology seemed to alienate fans, who stayed away – in droves – from his most recent movie, “War of the Worlds.” Meaning that they were even less interested in watching him battle Martians than in hearing about his battle with Thetans – or Brooke Shields.
In more Tom news, the actor is apparently putting the fear of L. Ron Hubbard into producers and crew of his new movie, “MI:3.” It seems that the actor is insisting on doing his own stunts – and the more dangerous, the better.
The film’s stunt coordinator told Total Film magazine that Cruise was “amazing” on the set.
“He did a 70-foot fall for us last week,” he marveled. “[It] absolutely terrifies me . . . I can see the headlines! What a way to finish a career.”
Briefings
Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones has some advice for singer and aspiring actress Charlotte Church: lose the Cardiff accent or forget making it to the top in Hollywood.
CZJ, who shot to fame playing a swashbuckling senorita in “The Mask of Zorro,” told the operatic teen that there aren’t many Welsh characters in the movies, so she should develop a more mainstream accent.
Catherine told Ireland Online that the last time he husband, actor Michael Douglas, heard her speaking on the phone with her mother in Swansea, he remarked, “That’s a beautiful language. You should speak Welsh more often.” The actress rather huffily pointed out that she had actually been speaking in English the entire time.
Most college-bound seniors choose a university based on criteria like academic reputation, student life and extracurricular activities. But for Hollywood starlets like Lindsay Lohan, some things carry a bit more weight. Things like airline schedules.
Lindsay recently told the New York Daily News that she was considering enrolling at New York University in the fall. Forget the city-as-campus pitch, the rigorous academics and the wealth of cultural experience to be found in the Big Apple: LL’s preference is based on familiarity and convenience.
“I’m a New York girl,” she confided. “And it’s easy to get to London and L.A. from here.”
The reconciliation of Denise Richards and her bad-boy husband Charlie Sheen is complete – according to the “Two and a Half Men” star. In an appearance on “The Late Late Show,” Charlie flashed his wedding band at host Craig Ferguson, saying, “Things are really good.”
Corrs honored by the Queen
Quick: what do Daniel O’Donnell, Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson and The Corrs have in common. Yes, I mean beside their Irish heritage, their good looks and their raw talent? Well, if you guessed that they all have medals denoting their status as Members of the British Empire (MBEs), then you’d be correct. Or rather, you’d be partly correct: only the Ballymena-born Neeson can lay claim to an actual MBE – for people born in the Republic, the honor is, well, honorary. But that doesn’t make it any less thrilling for the Dundalk siblings.
“It [was] very surprising,” Sharon Corr told Ireland Online. “When we were called, we were given no hint what the call was about.”
Pierce-ing observations
Now that Pierce Brosnan has escaped the bonds of “Bond,” he’s wasting no time airing his views on what he considers an increasingly “wussed down” character.
The actor, who played the most dashing member of Her Majesty’s Secret Service in the last four installments of the series, said that one of the problems with the franchise is the P.C. mentality that has robbed Bond of any real bite.
“It would have been great to light up and smoke cigarettes, for instance,” he told iol.com. “It would have been great to have the killing more real and not wussed down. It’s all rather bland.”
The one thing that Pierce will miss are the clinches with glamorous co-stars, though in the end, even those were a bit disappointing.
“I remember doing a [romantic] scene with Halle Berry,” he said. “And there was director Lee Tamahori right under the sheets with us . . . I was almost like the old days in Hollywood – kissing the girl but still having your feet on the floor.”
In more somber Brosnan news, the actor has revealed that he has been forced to take a tough love approach to his relationship with his troubled son, Christopher.
Christopher, the son of Pierce’s late wife Cassandra, was adopted by the actor in the 1980s. In recent years, the younger man has suffered from drug addiction and has been arrested for heroin possession. Pierce, who has bailed him out in the past, says that it’s time for Christopher to stand on his own and take control of his life.
“I can only have strong faith and believe he will recover,” said the actor, who has four other children. “He has tested everybody in this family but none more so than himself.”
Pierce realized that his son’s fate is in his own hands.
“I have cut Christopher off,” he said sadly. “I had to say, ‘Go, get busy living or get busy dying . . .’ He has my prayers.”
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George: It’s all about the Benjamins
Those of us who’ve been swooning over George Clooney ever since he slipped into those green scrubs on “ER” might as well stop mailing him those marriage proposals. The 44-year-old star of “Good Night and Good Luck” says that if he remains single and childless for the next six years, he’ll wind up $40,000 richer.
The actor revealed that his marital status has inspired a running bet with pals (and co-stars) Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman – and that, having passed the first hurdle, he’s determined to ace the second.
“They each bet $10,000 that I’d be a dad before I was 40,” the actor told ananova.com. “But I sent both of them back their checks and said, ‘Let’s go double or nothing until I’m 50.'”
Unfortunately, this could put a crimp in the actor’s social life until 2011.
“I’ll have to be careful with the ladies for the next six years,” he laughed. “No wedding or kids.”
Sheridan resigned to poster flap
Irish director Jim Sheridan says that he was “surprised” at the controversy over billboard ads for his new film, “Get Rich or Die Tryin,'” but he’s taking a philosophical view of the situation.
The posters, which have been placed prominently in inner-city neighborhoods, feature the film’s star, rapper 50 Cent, holding a microphone in one hand and a gun in the other. The image prompted a flood of angry calls to the offices of Paramount Pictures, who agreed to take down the ads. Sheridan says that he understands the anger, but finds the whole thing a bit perplexing.
“People were complaining about a gun when nearly every American film is promoted with guns,” he told Ireland online. “It feels crazy to be talking about cardboard guns when there are so many real ones.”
But Sheridan, a former New Yorker who has lived in his share of tough neighborhoods, says that he can see the protesters’ point.
“I’m conscious of why people are worried,” he said. “We don’t want to be promoting the idea that you just get a gun and that solves your life. The film kind of says the opposite.”