February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Eileen Murphy
Brad Pitt may have been named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive for an unprecedented second time, but really, he’s kept a low profile these past few years (translation: four people saw "The Fight Club," which was two more than saw "Seven Years in Tibet"). Well, even though we’re still mad at him for marrying that wiffy little Rachel person on the rebound, we’ve still got Brad’s best interests at heart. And have we got a role for him!
We hear that Kevin O’Connor’s blockbuster book, "Sweetie," about the scandalous affair between Terry Keane and ex-Toaiseach Charles Haughey, is going to be turned into a movie. And though it’s all in the planning stages, we think Brad would be a perfect choice to play the charismatic, Charvet shirt-wearing politician.
OK, so he’s a foot taller than Charlie, and 40 years younger, and so much better looking, they probably don’t count as members of the same species. But when we heard that the film would include "steamy sex romps," including a torrid hot tub encounter between the Haughey and Keane characters, we just naturally thought of Brad.
Of course, "Sweetie" author and Sunday World journalist O’Connor has his own ideas when it comes to casting.
"I’d like to see someone like Anthony Hopkins or John Hurt playing the role of Haughey," he said. "And the actress Brenda Blethyn is a dead ringer for Terry Keane," he added. We’re sure Brenda will be thrilled to hear that.
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Of course, every writer has his own vision of who would play thim in a movie, and O’Connor is no different.
"Gabriel Byrne is made for the role [of the investigative journalist]," said O’Connor.
"Being Irish, he would know all about the Haughey era," he said. Right. And all journalists are tall, dark and hunky.
She’s too sexy for her shoes
You know, there’s a reason that ex-models don’t go on to practice brain surgery when their catwalk days are over. Oh, sure, you see some of them forge demanding careers as letter turners (we’d like to buy a vowel, Vanna) and beauty/fashion consultants ("No offense, [giggle giggle] but that makes you look fat"), but for the most part, they seem content to become actresses or date Rod Stewart.
Which is why we weren’t surprised by a model in distress story in last Friday’s Daily News. An Irish model, Pamela Brangan, is suing a Manhattan advertising agency and a shoe company because they made her jump on a trampoline in high heels. This caused her to sustain "personal injuries, pain and suffering, disability and lost earnings," according to papers filed in court.
Back in 1998. Brangan was hired to model ‘rosoles shoes. The company — or someone — had provided her with a pair of ill-fitting high-heeled shoes to wear for the shoot, so, naturally, they asked her to jump up and down on a trampoline. And since models are probably asked to do strange things all the time, Brangan dutifully climbed up on the apparatus and bounced her 5-foot-9-inch frame as ordered.
Of course, not even a supermodel can defy the laws of physics. Brangan landed on her — how can we put this delicately? — assets, and, from what we hear, she’s not about to take this sitting down. Brangan is suing the ad agency and ‘rosoles for a cool $2 million. Which should, at least, sooth her feelings, if not her injured . . . whatever.
Briefings
Irish actor Gabriel Byrne provided the narration for the Lifetime Channel’s "Intimate Portrait" of "Sex and the City" siren Kim Cattrall, although the two had never met. We hear that the actors bumped into one another at a spa opening last week and exchanged those immortal words, "Let’s work together sometime."
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Jean Butler, whose wonderful, if flawed, show, "Dancing on Dangerous Ground," is on indefinite hiatus (although we hear rumors that a video might still make it to market) is said to be happily dating an Irish designer, Cuan Hanley. According to the Sunday Independent, the couple have recently purchased a three-bedroom apartment in Dublin.
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We hear that Bono threw a karaoke birthday party for his father last week in Dublin. The U2 singer had even more reason to celebrate, since the band’s new album, "All That You Can’t Leave Behind," has hit number one on the Irish/UK charts and is at No. 3 in the U.S. charts, according to Billboard magazine.