Styles & Scenes

It isn't easy being in the MTV Movie Awards "Green Room"

First off, Saturday night's MTV 2006 Movie Awards “Green Room” wasn’t green. It was amber – like show sponsor Neutrogena’s amber glycerin soap. Duh. Even the suede sofas were shaped and colored like Neutrogena bars.

Second, it wasn’t a traditional intimate backstage “Green Room” where the talent chills before and/or after going onstage. It was a huge sound stage party on the Sony Culver City lot with two bars and buffets tables and filled with – shudder – Unattractive People Who Are Not Famous At All.

No sign of Colin Farrell, Jake Gyllenhaal or Jim Carrey, probably in the actual show's nearby sound stage. No Christina Aguilera or Jessica Alba. I did see Owen Wilson walk by without even looking in. And Andy Dick wandered in for a while before the show. So did Golden Globe winner Steve Carrell ("The Office"), who (sorry, Steve) really is famous but just doesn’t look it and probably never will. Even though he ended up winning MTV’s Best Comedic Performance for "40-year-old Virgin" later on.

But it was Jessica and Ashlee’s sister act svengali/dad Joe Simpson who was the first person to hit the party. In fact, he was so early the party wasn’t even open so the guards made him wait outside, even though he pleaded with them that he just wanted to go in and get a drink. At 5:30, he was let into the empty party and ran to the bar for a whiskey n’ coke so he could sip and see the arrivals televised on plasma screens.

Cornered by a "I'm so desperate for quotes I will even interview this guy" reporter about Jess's upcoming album - ”And the Band Played On” - Joe went out on a limb and predicted that it "will NOT be what most people expect.”

So... I’m thinking he means it’s NOT the expected retort to her bitter ex Nick Lachey’s “What’s Left of Me” (“and My Bank Account?”), album, a musical whine about their nasty break-up and impending divorce.

Well, thank God someone in that family has some class.

When Joe got a jingle on his cell from Jess, who’d finished the blue carpet, he broke all land speed records. Boy, did he toss that drink and run so he could escort his money-maker, er, daughter into the show.

Kate Beckinsale also wandered into the party after doing the blue carpet press line.

But she was visibly POed when a security guard at the door made her sling a big ugly plastic credential around her neck, which so ruined the line of her black silk cropped pantsuit.

She quickly ripped off the offending cred when she was 2-steps inside the party. Then she blinked and assessed the scene – which was now wall-to-wall normal people - and wrinkled her perky nose (euuwww) like she’d just caught a whiff of a dirty cat litter box.

Turning on her stacked white heels, she trotted back out, making a quick louie to slip backstage and - whew- get to hang with the Very Important People, like her “Click” co-star Adam Sandler.

Dudette, that was a close call. You almost had to mingle with real people.

Photo Credits: Joe Simpson's Escort Service makes sure Jessica gets to her seat in the MTV 2006 Movie Awards. WireImage/Kevin Mazur
Photo Credits: Kate Beckinsale way prefers the photo-op company of famous Adam Sandler to non-famous strangers in the MTV Movie Awards Green Room.WireImage/Kevin Mazur

Vera Wang curries fashion favor at the Oscars

Now that the Oscar dust has settled, which designer was the most popular on the red carpet?

You could call it a tie. Dior dressed two big names: presenter Charlize Theron and the adorable first lady of the evening, best actress Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon.

Theron’s forest green silk gown with a benign tumor-sized shoulder bow didn’t win over most style seers. But Witherspoon’s honestly vintage 1955 beaded Dior frock was a major thumbs-up, despite criticism that the gown was "too much dress" for the petite actress.

But Vera Wang also dressed two important ladies — both best actress nominees — and both of her creations were wildly hailed. "Brokeback Mountain" nominee Michelle Williams wore a Wang curry-hued '30s-inspired chiffon gown. And "Pride & Prejudice" nominee Keira Knightley looked to-the-manor-born in Wang’s fishtail hem burgundy gown.

And here's a surprise: Versace, usually deemed a bit too racy for the Oscars, came in third, designing for three presenters: Jessica Alba's gold gown, Salma Hayek's blue wrapped gown and Hilary Swank's strapless black number.

Other fashion forces at the 2006 Oscars:

Photo: Michelle Williams won fashion favor at the Oscars for her curry-colored Vera Wang chiffon gown.
(Steve Granitz / WireImage)

Has Mischa finally met her match?

It's official.

According to the Daily Mirror, Mischa Barton was indeed wearing Marchesa at the London Orange British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards.

And yes, the stunning pink gown was designed by Harvey Weinstein's girlfriend Georgina Chapman.

And it sure sounds like Chapman's got an Oscar gown or three in the works.

She told the British paper, "We have a lot of work on at the moment but we love what we do."

Hmm.

And don't be too terribly surprised if you soon read that Barton has started to date "Brokeback Mountain" BAFTA best supporting actor winner Jake Gyllenhaal.

According to the Daily Mirror, the solo-flying "O.C." starlet was like, totally stoked to meet the hunky actor at the pre-awards dinner.

And why not, I say! Those two cuties would make the coolest couple next to Gyllenhaal's "Brokeback" costars Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams.

Oops. Hope her current long-haired rocker beau, Cisco Adler doesn't read Styles & Scenes.

Sorry, dude. The truth hurts.

Photo: Grrr. Bet Mischa Barton thinks, "Leave him alone, he's mine!" when she sees Charlize Theron in a royal blue Lanvin gown, getting all giggly with Jake Gyllenhaal in the backstage pressroom at the BAFTA Awards in London.
(Joe Furniss / WireImage)

Heath Ledger loosens up at SBIFF

Heath Ledger was unquestionably and embarrassingly nervous at the recent Screen Actors Guild Awards.

But he appeared to be much more at ease at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's Imperia Breakthrough Performance of the Year Award Wednesday evening.

Not that he's ever going to be a big-time public speaker, as he himself freely admits.

But the adorably fidgety Oscar nominee did seem to be enjoying his onstage chat with Pete Hammond at the Lobero Theatre.

Ledger explained about his "Brokeback Mountain" character, Ennis Del Mar, "Any form of expression had to be painful...clinched. For him, the sounds of life were too loud, the light of day too bright."

On the love scenes between he and Jake Gyllenhaal, Ledger joked, "We actually used stunt doubles."

There’s that Aussie sense of humor we love. I think Heath's ready to take this act on the road!

Photo: Heath Ledger gets used to the Oscar attention at the SBIFF Breakthrough of the Year Awards.
(Rebecca Sapp / WireImage)

Heath explains his SAG giggles

Heath Ledger is horrified that some people who watched him introduce a clip from “Brokeback Mountain” at the Screen Actors Guild Awards misinterpreted his stage fright as some kind of gay spoof.

Ledger, speaking from his cell phone, called to explain. Seems the jitters started when he was sitting at the table with the “Brokeback” cast and he wondered aloud who was going to introduce their cast.

“I leaned over and asked Jake [Gyllenhaal] and he said, ‘WE are! Didn’t you get the script?' I said, WHAT? I thought it was a script for the Directors Guild Awards a few nights earlier.”

He and Gyllenhaal raced backstage to read it and try to rehearse. But there was no time and they were told to go out onstage. Gulp.

“I’m nervous under any circumstances in front of crowds," says Ledger. "I am not a public speaker and never will be. I was so nervous before the DGA Awards backstage that my jaw was jittering and I could not get the words out. I’m just not one of those naturally funny relaxed actors who enjoy the spotlight and are so good at it. And this was really weird because we were basically introducing ourselves, like here’s this brilliant cast and guess what, it’s us.”

So he got the giggles. Who wouldn’t? “How can you say all that stuff — 'two brave cowboys' — with a straight face? It was just so surreal.”

As for his self-described “teacup hand” position. “I’ve stood like that since I was a kid. You can ask me mum. It's nerves I guess. I’m a very fidgety person, always moving, never able to sit or stand still.”

Ledger wanted to set the record straight before any harm was done. “I am so sorry and I apologize for my nervousness. I would be absolutely horrified if my stage fright was misinterpreted as a lack of respect for the film, the topic and for the amazing filmmakers.”

Ledger's strange SAG behavior

Some viewers were shocked at Heath Ledger’s apparent gay spoof at the Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday night.

At the podium with Jake Gyllenhaal to introduce a clip from "Brokeback Mountain," Ledger kept putting his hands on his cocked hip as he read the teleprompter, acting like he was auditioning for the role of Carmen Ghia, the flamboyantly gay choreographer in “The Producers.”

“It was insulting,” said one Hollywood insider after the show. “Heath lost a lot of support from the Hollywood gay community after that bizarre performance.”

No one can figure out what Ledger could have been thinking or why he behaved so bizarrely onstage.

Which makes it a real shame that the Directors Guild Awards, held the night before, weren’t televised. Then viewers would have seen Ledger’s heartfelt and sincere expression of gratitude to  director Ang Lee, who won the DGA’s top filmmaker award that night.

Paying tribute to Lee, Ledger thanked the director for “introducing us to these delicate characters. It took a delicate man to tell this story and that’s you.” To which, Lee then joked, “I don’t know about you, but that feels a little gay to me.”

Maybe Ledger’s frankly fey SAG performance simply followed Lee’s DGA gay joke lead? Maybe he thought he was being really funny?  Hey, it’s a theory. What's yours?

Photo Credit: Onstage at the SAG awards with Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger's bizarre gay-mocking performance gets no awards or laughs.

(Michael Caulfield/WireImage)

Filling Gyllenhaal's romantic boots?

"Brokeback Mountain" star Jake Gyllenhaal is, as the old saying goes, “sitting in the catbird seat.”

One Hollywood producer, fresh from high-level casting meetings this week, says that Gyllenhaal has reportedly stopped taking on new roles because he's waiting to get that big Oscar nomination, figuring, and rightly so, that once he gets an O nod he can raise his price, get better parts, etc. Right now, he's not even up for a Golden Globe, so his biz buzz is not as loud as say, Heath Ledger's.

But be forewarned, Jake. There is also the dreaded "Hilary Swank Oscar," a Hollywood term that translates to a huge award that brings none of the usual benefits — no better roles, no more moola, etc. And now comes Swank's sudden shockeroo split from Chad Lowe, a move that surprised even longtime Swank-Lowe watchers — the celeb-seasoned red carpet photographers, who were marveling about the seemingly devoted couple’s breakup backstage at the People’s Choice Awards. Hmmm. Maybe they should call it the Curse of the Swank Oscar.

Anyway, this big-time Hollywood producer theorizes that Gyllenhaal gets cast so darn much because basically there is nobody else around to cast as an under-40 romantic male lead.

Oh, c’mon. Surely there's more out there than Jake. Let’s see — Colin Farrell, but he’s kinda busy right now. Hayden Christensen? Nope. He played waaay too petulant in the last "Star Wars" saga. After Sharon Waxman's New York Times career-skewering piece on Orlando Bloom, he'll be lucky to get a meeting at any studio. Look, his name isn't even bold-faced anymore! Jeepers, that happens fast.

As for Ryan Phillippe? He's definitely a contender after his performance in "Crash." Then there's that old reliable, Leonardo DiCaprio, who's starting to look a little long in the tooth. Topher Grace's got a kind of goofy boy-next-door potential. And Wilmer Valderrama is definitely praying he can get on this short list. Then there’s “Vegas” hottie Josh Duhamel, who would make a great love interest for any actress.

Anybody got any other casting suggestions for the poor hunk-less producer?

Photo: Jake Gyllenhaal (Hollywood's Hottest Hunk?) at the Critics' Choice Awards
(Steve Granitz / WireImage)

Gyllenhaal's got the music in him

Things got pretty raucous at Saturday night's Palm Springs Film Festival gala awards when Peter Sarsgaard presented pal Jake Gyllenhaal with the Desert Palm Achievement-Actor award.

"First, I want to say some nice things about Jake," Sarsgaard said. “He's got great hair. An amazing head of hair. And the thing about "Jarhead" is that he shaved it all off! Also, Jake is a fantastic singer and I think it's only a matter of time before you get to hear him sing. And I will dance,” said Sarsgaard, doing some suave hustle steps. "So you gotta sing, Jake, if I dance. Let's get this party started!"

With that intro, Gyllenhaal, laughing so hard he could barely speak, came out on stage, stepped up to the mike and sang, in a falsetto voice, "Fever Night, Fever Night, Fe-vah! You know how to do it!”

“Wow! Okay, let’s get raucous!," said Gyllenhaal, when he finished. “Listen, I’ve already played a gay cowboy. If I do a musical number, people will really start to question me. So I’ll stay away from music for a while but don’t think that it's not beating deep, deep in my veins. Very deep.”

He explained that his love of storytelling is what keeps him acting. "If the story moves me, I will do anything to be in it. I’ll play any part, even craft services. But I prefer theatrical work. But I would do that. No, no actually, I wouldn’t.”

Winding up his acceptance speech, Gyllenhaal spoke of how “films take me to places I never thought I would get to, and over walls that I never thought I could get over. When I think about that it's just — I dunno — I forgot.”

As the audience roared, Gyllenhaal continued, “Let’s be real. I forgot. And I was almost there. It was really gonna be good.”

That’s okay, Jake. There’s still time to practice an Oscar speech. And maybe even a musical number.

Photo: Jake Gyllenhaal proves he's secretly a song and dance man at the PSIFF awards gala.
(Eric Neitzel / WireImage)

The award for Best Trailer goes to..

Before the 17th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala - honoring Charlize Theron, Felicity Huffman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Shirley MacLaine, David Cronenberg, Terrance Howard, Thomas Newman and Michael London -  got cranking Saturday night, the 1200-strong formally attired audience was inexplicably treated to …  trailers for a slate of upcoming 2006 tent pole studio films.

The evening's emcee Mary Hart, that ever-so effervescent “Entertainment Tonight” hostess, introduced “films that may just be contenders for next year's Oscars!"

Then the trailers started rolling for Johnny Depp’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible III,” and Tom Hanks’ “The Da Vinci Code.”

“Bet that (“Code”) will give Tom Cruise a real run for his money!,” quipped Hart.

Up next, Brad Pitt's “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “X-Men 3,” Jennifer Aniston’s new romantic comedy, “The Breakup,” Julia Roberts and Dakota Fanning in “Charlotte’s Web,” Superman Returns,” “Miami Vice” with Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, Daniel Craig as the new James Bond in “Casino Royale,” “Dreamgirls,” with Beyonce Knowles and finally, Oliver Stone’s untitled project about the World Trade Center bombing, breathlessly billed by Hart as “the first film about 9/11!”

What, no popcorn?

"Brokeback" clothing speaks louder than words

At the end of “Brokeback Mountain,” Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) goes to his closet and audiences see that he keeps Jack Twist’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) blood-stained shirt on a hanger, layered beneath one of his own shirts.

“That was the shirt Jack wore on their last day on the mountain,” says “Brokeback” costume designer Marit Allen. “The one he took from Jack’s parent's house.... That shirt symbolizes their entire relationship."

Throughout Ang Lee’s moving love story, based on Annie Proulx’s short story, the characters’ clothing telegraphs their emotions louder than any words.

“Proulx’s story is so pure, and tender that the costumes and wardrobe needed gentle handling,” says Allen. “Hopefully you don’t notice the clothing, but you feel the emotions that the clothes convey. In that sweeping landscape, those two figures and their clothing act as subliminal telegraphs.”

Allen, who worked with Lee on two previous films, including his Civil War movie, “Ride With the Devil,” was keenly aware of the film’s epic feel. But Lee also wanted to capture the reality of the time, the cowboys, ranchers and their economic situations. One invaluable tool for Allen was Richard Avedon’s book, “In the American West,” much of it shot during the late '70s.

But adhering to strict, often unspoken western-wear traditions proved to be a real challenge.

“Everything worn by cowboys and ranchers has a meaning and a cultural reference,” says Allen. “It would be very easy for an outsider unfamiliar with the code to make a mistake. For instance, cowboys wear Wrangler jeans [they’re much tighter] and ranchers wear looser Levi’s. Even the shape and heel height on a cowboy boot tells a tale. So does the height, color, brim and shape of a hat, which also varies from state to state. For instance, Jack’s broader Texas hat is different than the one Ennis wears in Wyoming. And all of this is unspoken but rigorously observed.”

The time period also had a distinct look.

Photo: Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal wear their hearts on their sleeves in "Brokeback Mountain."
(Kimberly French / Focus Features)