The Anti-Joys Of Screen Sex With Julia Roberts

British actor Dominic West has made his biggest impression playing roguish Detective James McNulty on The Wire, but he's also find some success on the big screen: he played Renée Zellweger's lover in Chicago, and was soon after cast opposite Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile. In an interview in today's The Guardian, he recalls the illuminating, grueling, and sometimes extremely annoying experience of working with Hollywood's highest-paid actresses:

"I learned a lot from working with [Renée]," he said. "She was so tough. I would hear the director say, 'Cut' and then wait for instructions; she would demand another 15 takes until she was absolutely happy with the scene. These leading ladies have it tough: they have to be girly enough to remain attractive but retain a steeliness to get their own way too. Plus, they seem to starve themselves all day to stay in shape."

Josh Hartnett Latest In Long List Of Celebs To Make Ill-Fated Decision To Dabble In Theater

Blind Item Guessing Game: Banging Groupies Officially Less Cool Than Being Totally Gay!

The good news about this blind item in today’s NY Daily News? So many clues! Details and hints abound, from gender to marital status to what the estranged stars claim they “do” for a living. The bad news? Even when a blind item seems so specific and easy to see through, the gossip itself just doesn’t make sense. Case in point:

”Which singing ex-husband of an A-list actress would rather have people think he's gay than admit that he cheated on her with a groupie?”

Okay, so coming up with three prime suspects is the first hurdle, but trying to imagine any of these guys meriting actual groupies? Who are these women? See what we mean after the jump.

Embattled 'Women' Director Will Keep Chick Flicks Going, Warner Bros Be Damned

Before They Had Stylists: A Look Back At Stars' First Time On A Red Carpet

Like the heady mix of pride and elation that fills you as you witness your own flesh-and-blood pulling themselves up by their lonesomes to take their first wobbly steps across the living room floor, witnessing some of your favorite stars' first times on the red carpet—as compiled in this Us Weekly gallery—is an experience worth savoring. Pictured above, writer's room taskmistress Katherine Heigl presents herself to the world at the 2000 premiere for The Beach in an ensemble that makes several endearing first-timer mistakes: 1. At this early point in your career, showing anything more than 3/4 inch of leg runs the risk of making you look trampy. 2. Flashbulbs' x-ray effect often reveal more about your foundation garments than you'd like to the world to know. Always match your bra to your dark-chocolate turtleneck, lest you want the world to mistakenly assume you're a Mormon. 3. The movie's about a tropical Eden in Thailand, not what happens when your trying-to-be-hip mom is convinced by a Barneys saleswoman that "Fall is all about the Annie Oakley look." Dress theme-appropriately.

More red carpet toddlers after the jump!

Frosty Box Julia Roberts Refuses To Indulge Letterman In Stroller-Pushing Small Talk

Katherine Heigl Seeks Escape From Doomed 'Grey's' In Search Of Big-Screen Stardom

The Clooney Charm May Have Met Its Match

Julia Roberts Can't Open! (And Other Crises Setting a Shattered Hollywood on Edge)

You Know, I Was The Katherine Heigl Of My Day

Imagining The Top Five Films In Eliot Spitzer's Netflix Queue

Just How Big Will 'The Chosen Two' Make Angelina Jolie, Anyway?

It's been nearly two months since we first heard about The Chosen Two's impending arrival, but judging from the size of Angelina Jolie's widening waistline, we suspect Brad's super sperm went into baby-making action a bit earlier than that. Seen yesterday shopping for books in Austin, Texas, Angelina's belly seems to be expanding at an exponential rate not yet seen in celebrity pregnancies. Which got us thinking, what if we saddled Jolie up next to J. Lo and Julia Roberts just before they burst? That way, we can begin to suss out just what size muumuu to FedEx to Casa Brangelina come spring.

Not Every 'Hot On-Set Hookup' Turns Out Like Brangelina, You Know

Top 10 Best Dressed Oscar Girls Of Yore

Celebrating Oscar's Most Memorable 'Fuck You' Moments

Apparently, network partner ABC is succumbing to the same "Which show are we going to put on?" panic as the Academy, as this promo teasing a "Oscar's Best 'Fuck You' Moments" montage that would run during a clip-heavy, strike-crippled telecast has surfaced on the YouTubes. We hope it's testing well; even if the WGA contract dispute is resolved in time to save the program, the normal awards ceremony could definitely be livened up by revisiting the infamous "It's about fucking time, it's been ten goddamn years since Pretty Woman, you ignorant shit-for-brains voters!" tirade Julia Roberts unleashed following her 2001 Best Actress win for Erin Brockovich.

• Oscars Promo [YouTube]

Oscar Nominee Cotillard Cashing In With Depp/Bale Gangster Flick

· La Vie en Rose Oscar nominee Marion Cotillard tries to parlay some of her awards-season heat into a role alongside Christian Bale and Johnny Depp in Michael Mann's Public Enemies, playing gangster John Dillinger's "torch singer girlfriend." [Variety]
· Meanwhile, (rightly) Academy-ignored Charlie Wilson's War star Julia Roberts hunts for her next chance at awards glory, attaching herself to star in and produce an adaptation of soon-to-be published novel Hothouse Flowers, about a recently divorced NY ad exec who throws it all away to embark on a fabulous post-break-up adventure. [THR]
[After the jump: NBC sues Dick Wolf!; Oscar nominations translate to bigger weekend grosses; the fate of Mary-Kate and Ben Kingsley's Sundance film.]

George Clooney's Toe-Tapping Tribute To Julia Roberts

· George Clooney is sincerely sorry that he couldn't appear in person for the American Cinematheque's tribute to Ocean's 12 co-star Julia Roberts; additionally, he's sorry to be stuck in a bathroom doing stale Larry Craig jokes, even if his toe-tapping, prospective stall-sex partner is partner-in-crime Brad Pitt.
· Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Tweety Bird are ordered to testify in a counterfeiting case by an Italian court, a summons Disney's local bureau denied on the grounds that the characters are not real.
· Mr. Tumnus denies that he's been tapped to play Kurt Cobain.
· CostCo's casket-and-urn aisle has always been our favorite, though we find the card tables where employees offer free cremains samples to be a little off-putting. [via Boing Boing]

All Hail Reese Witherspoon, Hollywood's Highest-Paid Non-Male Performer

Today, all the world will bow before the awesome earning power of 2007's Most Expensive Female Movie Star: pointy-chinned romantic comedy juggernaut Reese Witherspoon, whose ability to command in excess of $15 million per picture can't even be compromised by ill-advised on-screen dalliances with her lower-grossing, dreamy-eyed, alleged in-flight soulmate. The Reporter has just released the list of Hollywood's best-compensated actresses, its annual reshuffling of the names of the only 10 ladies who get offered roles more satisfying than "allegedly homely best friend" or "youngish mother of a sassy teenager":