Adrian Grenier attends the after party for the Cinema Society and Details screening of 'Milk' in New York City. (photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com)

Merely Mortal?

It's hardly news that women across the country started looking slyly at their therapists after Garbriel Byrne showed up on 'In Treatment.' But it appears that the good doctor is facing some competition from within the HBO universe: Alexander Skarsgård of 'True Blood' was named alongside Byrne as one of Salon's Sexiest Men Living. "Skarsgård's Eric is suave and delectable enough to make even a bloodthirsty ghoul go weak in the knees," gushes the online mag. "His penetrating gaze tells us that he's better than we are, plain and simple. We shouldn't relish this irresistible whiff of disapproval, or find his arrogance so appealing — but we do anyway, in spite of ourselves." (photo: Mark Sullivan/WireImage.com)

[Salon.com]

Dana Delany, Kyle MacLachlan and Heidi Klum attend the Allure Magazine Cover Party for Eva Longoria in Hollywood. (photo: Donato Sardella/WireImage.com)

Patch Work

Just like the minutiae of any job, driving stakes into vampires and unleashing buckets of blood can turn into a blip on one's daily radar. Some details, however, never become routine. Ryan Kwanten, who plays oft-in-the-buff Jason Stackhouse on 'True Blood,' explains: "It's still somewhat of a shock walking into the wardrobe trailer every day. I'm used to seeing an array of clothes hanging up for me to choose from and just seeing a modesty patch on the coat hanger is something you never get used to. But I am putting myself in Mr. Ball's careful hands so it's never just nudity for nudity's sake — it always comes from a strong story point." (photo: George Pimentel/WireImage.com)

[NY Post]

Little Paulie for Mayor

Carl Capotorto landed his gig as Little Paulie on 'The Sopranos,' after a lengthy audition process for the role of Ralphie (which ultimately went to Joe Pantoliani). The acting thing is just a sideline, as he tells it; Capotorto began his career as a playwright and writer and has a new book out, 'Twisted Head,' about growing up in the Bronx. "Let me summarize it this way," he says, "Only in the Bronx of those years could a kid grow up in a place called Cappi's Pizza & Sangweech Shoppe, survive the Son of Sam, and work at a McDonald's managed by Curtis Sliwa." But as a man with many opinions about his hometown, Capotorto could give Mayor Bloomberg a run for his money. His improvement plan for the Big Apple? "I'd tousle its hair, loosen its collar, get it tipsy again." (photo: Hal Horowitz/WireImage.com)

[Gothamist.com]

Keri Russell and Cheryl Hines attend the 2nd Annual Adrienne Shelly Foundation Fundraising Gala in New York City. (photo: Jemal Countess/WireImage.com)

One Last Shot

Jamie-Lynn Sigler became a household name while playing Meadow on 'The Sopranos,' but her audition for the role just as easily could have marked the end of her career. "The Sopranos audition was the last [one] I was going to do — I intended to go to summer camp instead and give up acting," she says. "I went into the audition with sheet music because I thought it sounded like a singing show." Even after she made it onto the producers' radar, they told her she looked too tan, which isn't exactly a quick fix for a girl with Cuban and Jewish parents. "My mother kept me away from windows and I wore jeans and sweaters in the middle of June. I loofahed like a madwoman. When I finally got the part, I swear I was a different color." (photo: Jordan Strauss/WireImage.com)

[NY Post]

Mean Streak

Who says it doesn't pay to be mean? In some sort of karmic boomerang effect, comedienne Lisa Lampenelli is riding high off of her insults. She's filming her first HBO Comedy special this week, working on a TV pilot with Jim Carrey and writing a book, 'The World According to Lisa: The Queen of Mean's Guide to the Universe.' When asked why she was writing her memoir at the tender age of 47, Lampanelli explained: "It's closer to the end than you think....Actually, it's called a big, huge advance, and you go, 'Wow, I could spend that money on a lot of purses and maybe two more Toyota Camrys.' You know how I roll." (photo: Dan MacMedan/WireImage.com)

[BaltimoreSun.com]

Constance Zimmer and daughter Colette arrive at the 11th Anniversary Of P.S. Arts 'Express Yourself 2008' in Santa Monica, California. (photo: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)

Role Reversal

It's not very often your parents ask you what they're allowed to watch on TV. But of all the characters on 'True Blood,' no one spends as much time au naturale as Amy, Jason's new girlfriend, which has meant a few adjustments for actress Lizzy Caplan. "I've never done nudity before so it is kind of traumatic to do it, but after the first time it was like 'Oh, this is not bad at all,'" she says. "I guess the strange thing is my friends' fathers are watching this. That's gotta be weird. My father is adorable and he called me last night and was like, 'Is this an episode that I can watch?' and I was like, 'No, Dad, you do not want to watch this.' We kind of tiptoe around the issue." (photo: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic.com)

[Asylum.com]

Who You Callin' a Misogyny Hater?

'Entourage' may be based on Exec Producer Mark Wahlberg's early career trajectory, but don't believe everything you see — or read — about the actor-producer. If there's one thing the show gets right about Hollywood it's the rumor mill, and Wahlberg is constantly having to set the record straight: "[My friend Howard] started it, that I'm playing Gary Glitter in the biopic! There was something a couple of weeks ago that I was upset with the makers of 'Knocked Up' because it was misogynistic. I was like, 'Me?!'" (photo: George Napolitano/FilmMagic.com)

[digitalspy.co.uk]

Gina Gershon attends the Los Angeles premiere of 'MILK.' (photo: Eric Charbonneau/WireImage.com)

Give It Away Now

Showtime may have ripped off Anthony's Kiedis' song title for their show 'Californication,' but the Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman is having the last laugh on HBO, adapting his own drug-and-music-fueled life story into a new series. The show will focus on the musician's early years spent living with his dad, Spider, who dealt drugs to L.A. rock stars. "He introduced me to the arts, to a more culturally magnificent life," Kiedis says. "But some of it was this heavy, adult matter that I wasn't quite capable of digesting ... It was a very rich but challenging period of my life. I was thrust into this adult mentality by age 11." (photo: Mike Guastella/WireImage.com)

[Guardian.co.uk]