Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony at Picturehouse's Sho West party to celebrate 'El Cantante.' (photo: Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com)

The Beat of a Different Drummer

Some choice tidbits were left on the cutting room floor when Peter Biskind interviewed David Chase (creator of 'The Sopranos') for the mag's current cover story. For instance, Chase revealed the real source of his drive to succeed: a failed drumming career. Having hit the sticks all through high school, it wasn't until post graduation that he finally made the band: "We never played anywhere — we were too good for that. So we played in the basement of the garage. We had all the personality conflicts that the Beatles or the Stones had, without the talent or the drive."

The band's strictly underground gigs lasted a couple of years until things dissolved, with Chase heading to film school and the talented member, Peter, assumed to be the one who was going to hit it big. During a farewell hang, Peter told Chase: " 'Well, you can [go to film school], but I frankly don't think you'll be anything but a drummer in my band.' " Notes Chase, "It was the great motivator of my life." (photo: Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com)

[VanityFair.com]

Matriarch Redux

Polly Walker is taking on another powerful clan. The actress who plays the ruthless Atia of the Julli on 'Rome' is moving on to a new role in an untitled pilot about three generations of a powerful rum-producing Latin American family (Los Duques). Walker will head up the rival family (the Samuels).

[Backstage]

It's Pouring Rainn

Rainn Wilson is enjoying a run of success post-'Six Feet Under.' In addition to his turn on 'The Office,' he's been shooting film roles, including his new movie 'The Last Mimzy.' And all of this has lead to some opportunities to face some fears — like the challenges of live TV with recent appearances on 'Real Time with Bill Maher' and as guest host on 'SNL.' "It's terrifying, man. It's unbelievable. Those lights pop on, on the cameras, and you know that what you say is being heard, that second, by millions of people....When I did 'Bill Maher'....that was even scarier because I was talking about politics, in which I'm not really that adept. But, it was a great experience. I feel like now I can do anything. You feel like, once you've done that, you can do anything. You really do." (photo: Randall Michelson/WireImage.com)

[MoviesOnline]

Drea de Matteo at a GQ Magazine party in Hollywood. (photo: Michael Tran/FilmMagic.com)

Wife Swap

Parker's key party

Molly Parker is trading the wild west for the swinging suburbs. The actress, last seen as Alma Garret on 'Deadwood,' has joined the cast of the new CBS show 'Swingtown,' about spouse swapping in the suburbs of the 70s. Parker, who gave birth to her first child in October, will play a housewife with teenagers. (photo: Todd Williamson/FilmMagic.com)

[Zap2it.com]

Ray's Resurrection

When Rome wraps up its final season, Ray Stevenson (Titus Pullo) will be heading to Babylon — 'Babylon Fields,' a new CBS show. According to one of his fan sites, the show is "a sardonic, apocalyptic comedic drama in which the dead are resurrected and try to resume their former lives. As a result, lives are regained, families restored and old wounds are reopened." Stevenson plays the town's chief detective, whose wife is one of those raised from the dead. (photo: Jason Merritt/FilmMagic.com)

[Ray-Stevenson.com]

For Real

Finding the perfect 'Entourage'

'Entourage' creator Doug Ellin was convinced that the most important thing for his show's success was the casting. In a recent interview with Backstage, Ellin (pictured here with two members of his 'Entourage') explained that in looking for Vince, they started out looking for someone more like exec producer Mark Wahlberg (the show is inspired by his early Hollywood experiences). But nothing was clicking until Ellin's manager convinced him to see another of his clients, Adrian Grenier. "Adrian is so subtle, and he can get overlooked because people think he's playing himself and he's not," Ellin says. "He's making extremely strong choices. Adrian is carrying himself in a way that there's only a handful of people, including Leo [DiCaprio], who can pull it off."

Ellin was also pleased to land Kevin Connolly and Jerry Ferrara for E and Turtle, then-unknowns who had an authenticity he liked. And Kevin Dillon had him at hello: "Kevin simply came in for an audition, and the first time he opened his mouth, it was over," Ellin says.

Keeping the casting real is an ongoing priority as the show continues: "Like everything, we look for a realness — the simpler the better. We try to write the characters as strong as possible, and then, hopefully, people bring something real to it. We really try not to exaggerate anything." (photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com)

[Backstage]

George Lopez and Sandra Bullock at the LA premiere of 'Premonition.' (photo: Chris Polk/Variety via FilmMagic.com)

Surrogate Sis

Lauren Ambrose may be having Parker Posey's baby. The actress has signed on to play Posey's younger sister in 'The Return of Jezebel James.' In the Fox pilot, from 'Gilmore Girls' creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, Posey is a successful children's book editor who can't get pregnant, so has to turn to her estranged sister (Ambrose) for a very big favor. (In real life, Ambrose recently gave birth to her first child, son Orson Handel.)

Meanwhile, at the SXSW film festival, Ambrose is garnering praise for her flirting in the indie film 'Diggers' ("'Mystic Pizza' for boys" writes one reviewer). (photo: Jim Spellman/WireImage.com)

[Zap2it.com]

[Cinematical.com]

Del Toro's Labyrinth

Guillermo del Toro had lots of material to pull from for his nightmarish fairytale 'Pan's Labyrinth.' "I have witnessed an inordinate amount of violence in my life," he told the NY Times. He volunteered at a mental hospital next door to a morgue when he was a teenager, and his father was kidnapped and held hostage ten years ago.

He also has a complicated relationship with religion, which he attributes to his strict upbringing by his grandmother who placed upside-down bottlecaps in his shoes in an effort to heighten his spiritual awareness. "I consider myself a lapsed Catholic," he said, not surprisingly. "But I try to take all that's beautiful about religion — free will, virtue, nobility — and apply it to life. Ultimately, my films are about characters trying to access some kind of spiritual realm on earth." Next up? 'Hellboy II.' (photo: Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com)

[NY Times]

[SF Gate]

Big Love, Texas Style

Bill Paxton got some big love from The Austin Film Society last week when he was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame, alongside director Richard Linklater and actress Ann-Margret. "This is where my dreams of going to Hollywood started as a boy and to come back... it's special," said Paxton, who was raised in Fort Worth.

The next day, Paxton regaled an audience with his storytelling during a panel discussion. Choice tidbits include his supportive father's commentary on his chosen profession ("you picked a really f**ked business") and the film he always watches prior to a directing gig because every shot continues the story ('Home Alone'). (photo: Eric Charbonneau/WireImage.com)

[KVUE News]

[Premiere.com]

Jamie-Lynn Sigler and guests at the 6th Annual Children's Day Artrageous Benefit Carnival in New York City. (photo: Shawn Ehlers/WireImage.com)

On Your Mark

Wahlberg on the fast track

According to the LA Daily News, Mark Wahlberg's following is growing and some of the Oscar®-nominated star's biggest fans appear to be his Hollywood co-workers from 'Shooter.' "Mark is moving up and is going to replace stars like Denzel Washington in the big action roles," promised director Antoine Fuqua. And he seems to have co-star Kate Mara's motor running too, "Mark's so sexy, emotional and cool that he'll replace '24' 's Jack Bauer/Kiefer Sutherland as the great American heartthrob."

But as thrilled as his entourage is over his success, over the weekend Wahlberg found himself getting goose bumps at NASCAR's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 in Las Vegas. "I just came from the Super Bowl, and it wasn't as exciting as this." The actor famous for being in the Hollywood fast lane added, "I'd really like to get in one of these cars." (photo: Michael Hickey/WireImage.com)

[Sportingnews.com]

[Daily News]

De-Bunked

Wendell Pierce spent his hiatus from 'The Wire' (where he plays Det. William "Bunk" Moreland) filming the HBO Film 'Life Support' opposite Queen Latifah. "Unlike a lot of the folks flipping over from music to become actors, she's really working on her acting," he told the Detroit News. "She actually cleans my clock in a couple of scenes. She's good, and that's what I really appreciated. She's an actress."

That's not the only de-bunking going on. Pierce explains that there's a real "Bunk," whom his character is based on. He met his doppelganger once, but decided to keep his distance, due to his fear of playing people he knows. "But once, when we were filming, I saw him looking at me like, 'What are you doing to my name?' " (photo: Jim Spellman/Variety via WireImage.com)

[Detnews.com]

Strip Tease

Sigourney and ?? to topline 'Gypsy and Me'

Sigourney Weaver has signed on for the title role in the HBO telefilm 'Gypsy and Me,' about Gypsy Rose Lee. The film about the life of the famous stripper will be adapted from her son Erik Lee Preminger's memoir, 'My G-String Mother: At Home With Gypsy Rose Lee." No word yet on who will be co-starring — or who will be directing Ms. Weaver in Ms. Lee's signature moves. (photo: Lorenzo Santini/FilmMagic.com)

[Theatre Mania]

Kate Mara and Mark Wahlberg at the Los Angeles premiere of 'Shooter.' (photo: Eric Charbonneau/WireImage.com)

Enthusiasm Uncurbed

'Curb' builds its fan base

Sometimes being funny just isn't enough to secure fans. Sometimes you've gotta help a guy off a murder rap. Los Angeles' Juan Catalan spent nearly 5 months in jail after police fingered him for the slaying of 16 year-old Martha Puebla. From the beginning Catalan proclaimed his innocence testifying that he was at a Dodger's game, but a thorough study of the crowd shots from the footage of the televised game came up empty. Then his defense lawyer learned Larry David and a camera crew were at the same game shooting a scene for 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.' "There he was in the outtakes," with his kids and girlfriend — around the same time the murder was taking place some twenty miles away.

With the Curb footage and some phone records, lawyers convinced a judge to release Catalan who recently reached a $320K settlement with LA County for police misconduct. According to the Associated Press story, Catalan was not a fan of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' before his ordeal but his lawyer says, "He is now." (photo: George Pimentel/WireImage.com)

[azcentral.com]

Nicks Time

Rachel Nicks is getting recognized for her first film role, playing the elder daughter to Queen Latifah on HBO's 'Life Support.' As Stanley Crouch wrote in an OpEd on the blog Booker Rising: "Rachel Nicks is startlingly fresh as Latifah's oldest daughter, skittish and extremely intelligent, raised by her grandmother and is afraid to get too close to her mother, who has become an AIDS activist." And she was invited as a guest on 'Tyra' by the eponymous host herself, who said she was "mesmerized" by her performance.

The recent Julliard grad (pictured here with 'Life Support' producer Jamie Foxx) was pleased to be able to work with fellow alum Wendell Pierce, as she told the Buzz. "On the set, everyone tried to make fun of us because we went to Juilliard, and we would laugh. We call it the YARD....We reminisced about teachers and vocal exercises. He made me feel extremely comfortable on set because we have a similar background and process. He was great support for me."

Watch for her next guesting on 'Crossing Jordan' on April 15th, and in 'A Good Man Is Hard To Find' which she's currently filming in Baton Rouge. (photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Variety via WireImage.com)

[Booker Rising]