Owen Wilson, who in the weeks since his reported late August suicide attempt has communicated updates about his health to the public only through paparazzi photos, friends intimating that he's "doing great," and the occasional
lawn mower ride, has granted his first interview to buddy/creative collaborator Wes Anderson. The catch: It's being posted to MySpace at midnight tonight, so you'll probably have to cancel your drinking plans (at least the out-of-home ones) to see if the duo actually address the suicide question or whether they spent they entire session plugging
The Darjeeling Limited, knowing that gawkers will be hanging on their every word. [
USA Today]
The weeklies continue to be quite generous about keeping everyone up to date on every inch of John Deere-assisted progress Owen Wilson is making on the path back to health, assuring the world that his recovery is proceeding slowly, steadily, and one lawn mower ride at a time. [
People]
Like a butterscotch foal taking his initial, wobbly steps outside of the womb, Owen Wilson turned up at last night's
The Darjeeling Limited premiere last night, putting in one of his first public appearances since, you know, the
situation. We'll have our Stallion back soon, it seems. [
CNN.com]
Things Owen Wilson displayed on a recent trip to Venice Beach that was exhaustively documented by paparazzi: a toned body, a "tired and dishellved...but peaceful" appearance, and the possible first visible evidence of a recent suicide attempt. [
Daily Mail UK]
owenwatch
At the height of Owen Wilson's very public personal crisis, Courtney Love uncharacteristically offered up her own, highly opinionated views on the topic—suicide and hard drugs being two subjects that run, pun only partially intended, deeply in her veins. Suspecting she knew exactly who and what led Wilson to his act of desperation, the singer told Us magazine that the culprit was Steve Coogan: A far bigger star in the U.K. than in the U.S., Coogan gained fame overseas for his TV portrayal of dim-bulbed newsman Alan Partridge. (In this clip, he fittingly admits he has no idea who Kurt Cobain is, and is baffled over why he might have taken his own life.) Coogan and Love had a brief affair, which was rumored to have caused a pregnancy, but that thankfully produced no illegitimate children—between Love's body dysmorphia and Coogan's English dental genes, the kid never stood a chance.
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owenwatch
If there's one bright spot to the massive, black thundercloud hanging over Hollywood this week, it comes in the form of an outpouring of love and genuine sympathy for Owen Wilson—not just from his fans, but from fellow celebrities, who know first hand of the inner turmoil that can accompany being permanently strapped into the fame machine, and who would go to great lengths to inform Entertainment Tonight's cameras of how much they are pulling for him in his time of need:
"I don't know what happened," JANE SEYMOUR says of OWEN WILSON's reported suicide attempt, "but I know he's a great guy and this too shall pass...He has a great family and people who love him," she says. "He'll be okay."
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owenwatch
It's typical that a shared traumatic event will be followed by a glut of articles seeking advice from mental health professionals; MSNBC, for example, spoke with suicide researcher Loren L. Coleman on a variety of topics concerning Owen Wilson's "very bad day," including the threat of irresponsible blogging (apparently we throw around words like "failed" and "succeeded" without thinking about the implications of such goal-oriented terminology), and the inevitable copycat question:
What about the copycat effect?
What concerns me is how celebrity suicides are copied by other individuals. The classic is Marilyn Monroe. After she died by suicide, there was a 12-percent increase in the suicide rate in the United States for a month.
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owenwatch
Hypothesizing about what might have led Owen Wilson so far astray—and ultimately towards Sunday's blindsiding whinny for help—is no simple matter. As details emerge, the story only seems to grow darker; certainly having Courtney Love go on the glossy record about her concern over your heavy drug use does not bode well. Adding to the tragic circumstances was today's announcement that Wilson would be pulling out of Tropic Thunder, denying him a chance to once again play cocksure counterpoint to another tightly wound Ben Stiller comic creation. But before we start conjuring nightmarish scenarios in which Wilson permanently retreats from the public eye and into his shell, or worse, becomes a regular fixture on Tyra, let us turn to the comforting words of the only two men who can help us see the light at the end of this tunnel of despair—famed John Belushi-wrangler Bernie "Never Saw A Celebrity Tragedy I Couldn't Weigh In On In A Deadline-Friendly 25 Words Or Less" Brillstein, and Tom "Who the Fuck Cares What Tom Arnold Thinks About This?" Arnold:
Many Hollywood insiders believe Wilson's setback will be short-lived and that he will continue to enjoy big-screen success.
"He's loved," Bernie Brillstein, a veteran Hollywood manager who worked with John Belushi and Chris Farley, said Tuesday.
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owenwatch
You didn't actually think you'd be able to start your day without one of those depressing Owen Wilson: After the Attempt round-ups, did you? No—we didn't think so.
· This is "Kate's Nightmare," declares Us magazine's cover in 450-point type, all but dwarfing the pink box above it reminding readers of Wilson's tangential involvement. They report that "inner circle members" insist Hudson was forced to abandon Wilson because he was abusing both cocaine and heroin, a potentially lethal combination more commonly known on the streets as "dynamite." (At least as recently as 1977.) [Us]
· How could the shaggy, suspiciously mellow Daily Show guest have gotten mixed up in the hard stuff? By hanging out with the wrong kind of people, of course, such as Courtney Love's ex—British actor/comedian Steve Coogan. Says Love: "I went through it with Steve, "I was just out of rehab, and he was right there with the drugs. I tried to warn Owen. I tried to warn his friends. I hope from the bottom of my heart that Owen stays the hell away from that guy." [NY Post An Us Exclusive!]
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owenwatch
We've now had two nights to fully absorb the catastrophic news that gifted actor, talented screenwriter, and inspiration to legions of aspiring Polaroid Beach House A-list party guests the world over Owen "The Butterscotch Stallion" Wilson attempted suicide at his Santa Monica home on Sunday; while the shock subsides, only questions remain. A round-up of the latest developments:
· 911 call records reveal the Santa Monica Police were indeed responding to an "attempted suicide." [Extra]
· Wilson slit his left wrist and swallowed an indeterminate number of pills after a "vicious quarrel" with an unidentified friend, whom until further notice we'll refer to as Mr. Feeling Seriously Guilty Right About Now. [NY Post]
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owenwatch
As we vowed this morning, we are committed to bringing you every minor and major development in the ongoing Owen Wilson existential/medical crisis. (Did that actually happen? It still hasn't quite sunk in that one of the world's most powerful poonanny-magnets just inexplicably attempted to off himself.) While we await the inevitable Access Hollywood report alerting the world that, "Owen is now resting more comfortably than he was before, because our Tony Potts smuggled him in some bourbon," we bring you this Extra update, in which much of the same information, plus a tiny bit of new, is rearranged into an Extra! Suicide! Exclusive!
DETAILS SURROUNDING OWEN WILSON 'S RUMORED SUICIDE ATTEMPT
(Los Angeles - August 27, 2007) - "Extra" has learned from a source close to Owen Wilson that the actor did indeed attempt suicide over the weekend.
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A paparazzi concern published photos on their website of Sam Jackson reportedly paying Owen a visit today at his Cedars-Sinai hospital room. We look to our celebrities for guidance in times of crisis, and the
1408 star seems to be telling us that comfortable, loose-fitting clothing is your best bet for a bedside visit to a friend in need. [
Splash]
owenwatch
We had hoped by now we would have more to tell you about yesterday's thoroughly disheartening news that lovable Hollywood gadabout and top-earning movie star Owen Wilson had, quite shockingly, been hospitalized for what Star and The National Enquirer were reporting was a suicide attempt. It's by all measures a tragic turn of events for the actor we affectionately refer to around here as The Butterscotch Stallion, and star of some of our all-time favorite films, from Bottle Rocket to The Royal Tenenbaums (which, if you can stomach it, contains an eerie, premonitory scene featuring brother Luke). Wilson has been transferred from Saint John's in Santa Monica to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where their publicist (in L.A., hospitals have publicists, not spokespeople) tells Extra that he is in "good condition," leaving us hopeful that the actor will fully recover, shed of whatever demons led him to think a life making 8-figures per picture and having one's pick of L.A.'s most nubile aspiring actresses was one not worth living.
UPDATE: Owen Speaks! The actor just released this statement requesting some unlikely privacy from the media in the coming weeks:
"I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time."
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