Anna Paquin at the Sixth Annual Tribeca Film Festival opening (photo: Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic.com)

Holding Down the Corner

When Floyd Mayweather dukes it out with Oscar De La Hoya on May 5, he'll be joined by a comrade who's taken a few slugs of his own. Hip-hop star 50 Cent will lead Mayweather to the ring and deliver a live performance of the new song 'Straight From the Bank' for the first time. "50 Cent is a great friend of mine, and it means a lot to me to have him walk me into the ring and debut his new song," Mayweather said. "With this fight being the Super Bowl of boxing, the fans and celebrities coming out to the fight and everyone watching around the world will see the greatest show ever." (photo: Maury Phillips/WireImage.com)

[East Side Boxing]

The Gambler

Cheryl Hines knows when to hold 'em and fold 'em. In Zak Penn's mockumentary 'The Grand,' opening today, she plays a real poker tournament as a fictional character who's not afraid to take down her brother (David Cross) and husband (Ray Romano). Hines is a celebrity-poker champ in real life, and she talked to New York Magazine about some of her tricks. "Whenever somebody folds, say, 'Good laydown,'" she advises novices. "It encourages them to fold on a later hand because it makes them feel like you had the best hand even if you were bluffing. It's an odd form of flattery that seems to work at the poker table."

It's not the money that gives Hines her gambling high: "Manipulating people is what's so fun about poker. I love that you can just look into someone's eyes and lie — and it's perfectly acceptable." When it's suggested that acting is another form of acceptable lying, Hines points out: "Yes, but when you're playing poker, you can drink beer while you do it." (photo: Michael Tran/FilmMagic.com)

[New York Magazine]

'Band' Plays On

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are reteaming with HBO Films to exec produce 'The Pacific,' their miniseries follow-up to 'Band of Brothers.' The new miniseries is based on true stories of three Marines and their experiences in the Pacific from the first battles with the Japanese in Guadalcanal to their return home after V-J Day. Filming starts in Melbourne this summer. (photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.com)

[The Hollywood Reporter]

Steve Schirripa, Jimmy Fallon and The Edge at the Food Bank of New York Can-Do Awards Dinner. (photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com)

Bringing Home the Bacon

HBO has inked Kevin Bacon for a rare small screen appearance in its upcoming film about the Iraq war, 'Taking Chance.' According to Variety, Bacon has signed on to play Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, "an officer who accompanies the body of fallen U.S. soldier Chance Phelps as it is returned home from Iraq for a burial in Wyoming." The film starts lensing this summer. (photo: Jeff Vespa/ WireImage.com)

[Variety]

Make Him Dance

Gugino unlocks the secret to making Ari squirm

How did Carla Gugino get so self-assured? In part from living in a teepee, according to the actress. Gugino landed the part of Amanda, Vince's new agent on 'Entourage,' largely because she has the confidence to "be a strong, smart, powerful woman, sometimes sexy, and someone who made the guys feel like little boys," according to show creator Doug Ellin. That's a quality she credits to her childhood divided between living with her orthodontist father in Florida and her bohemian mother in Northern California (hence the teepee).

She had to think about how to wield her power in her scenes with Jeremy Piven. As she told the New York Times, "My tendency as an actor is, when there's a certain energy, I feel a challenge to match it, to come up to that plate and play on the same level. What I realized with this is that this role wasn't about that; it was actually the opposite. I, as Amanda, had to watch Ari do all of his cartwheels and all of his everything, and then say, 'You're full of it.' " (photo: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com)

[New York Times]

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch ...

'Deadwood' has gone on hiatus while creator David Milch shoots 'John from Cincinnati,' but the set's hardly a ghost town. According to annual tradition, the Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio in Santa Clarita, CA has swung open its doors to the city's Cowboy Festival. Producing classics like 'The Lone Ranger' and 'Gunsmoke' since opening in 1922, the studio saw the spurs of Roy Rogers and John Wayne long before Calamity Jane came riding into town. The event kicks off Friday with 'Big Love' cast member Harry Dean Stanton's induction into Newhall's Walk of Western Stars, a sidewalk stamped with 67 frontier talents. (photo: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com)

[Cowboy Festival]

Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler celebrate the last season of 'The Sopranos' at PURE Nightclub. (photo: Chris Weeks/WireImage.com)

In Killer Shape

He's been reporting for duty at NBC's new show 'Raines' and in the indie film 'Trouble with Romance.' But 'Sex and the City' alum David Eigenberg is also testing himself on a new front. When his friend Marine Sgt. Stephen Thomas Ferguson, who's serving in Iraq, couldn't compete in the Camp Pendleton biathlon, Eigenberg stepped in to fill his jersey — literally. "Stephen laughed hysterically when he heard I was going to run in his name. He tried to get deployed immediately home to protect his honor," Eigenberg said. "It was a lot of fun, but somewhat disheartening to see so many men and women flying past me on their bicycles." Still, after 4 miles of running and 18 miles of biking, he finished 275th out of 400. (photo: Todd Williamson/WireImage.com)

[Orange County Register]

Sweet Talk

Aida Turturro speaks out about diabetes

Her role as Tony's difficult sister Janice is coming to an end, but Aida Turturro has another one lined up: spokesperson for diabetes. The actress, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2001, told Health Day News: "It's scary at first. And it's really a very, very hard disease, because it never ends. So, it can feel overwhelming. But it's not, once you get started dealing with it. And I just want people to know that it's your life, and dealing with it has got to be your priority."

Turturro admits she wasn't a star patient at first, but after some straight talk from her doctor, she accepted that she had to take care of herself. "I like speaking about it," said Turturro, "because it keeps me in line. It keeps me thinking. And balancing my blood sugar has changed my life. I didn't realize how ill I could feel. How tired, snappy, cranky and sick. But now," she added, "I'm back." (photo: Sylvain Gaboury/FilmMagic.com)

[HealthDay News via healthcentral.com]

After Hours Club

Dillon and Ferrara on their extracurriculars

In some ways they're like their 'Entourage' characters, and in other ways, not so much. Kevin Dillon (Drama) and Jerry Ferrara (Turtle) told Entertainment Weekly Online that they do hang out off-set but their recreational activities aren't always what fans would expect. Hitting golf balls is a new favorite pastime now that Ferrara has taken up the game (Dillon has an impressive 7.3 handicap). But as Dillon reports, taking hits isn't part of their game: "I've had people ask, ''Is Jerry really a big partyer? Does he smoke a lot of weed? He looks like such a stoner.'" This is where life diverges from art, according to Ferrara: "I think people get disappointed when they meet me, because everyone offers me a shot and I don't really drink, so I'm like, 'I can't do it.' They're like, 'You wanna smoke a joint?' And I don't smoke, so I'm like, 'I can't do it.' They're like, 'This ain't Turtle!' (photo: Sylvain Gaboury/FilmMagic.com)

[Entertainment Weekly]

Mena Suvari and Lubov Azria host the launch for H.E.L.P Malawi Foundation. (photo: Enos Solomon/FilmMagic.com)

Cooked

You win some, you lose some. Dane Cook (pictured here with Maria Menounos) took home the trophy for Hottest Breakout Performer at Movieline's Hollywood Life 9th Annual Young Hollywood Awards on Sunday. And that same evening, over at LA's Laugh Factory, he was losing his standing as the record holder for longest standup performance to Dave Chappelle. According to Variety, Chappelle kept them laughing for six hours and seven minutes. Cook had just broken the record on April 10th with a 3-hour fifty-minute marathon, toppling Richard Pryor's 1980 performance of 2 hours and 41 minutes. (photo: Todd Williamson/WireImage.com)

[Variety]

Bald Compliment

Larry David joined his wife — environmental activist and producer of 'An Inconveninet Truth' Laurie David — for the final concert of the two-week Stop Global Warming College tour that she hosted with Sheryl Crow. Culminating on Earth Day (Sunday) at George Washington University, David took the stage for a comedy segment of the concert (which featured Sheryl Crow, Carol King, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill). He took a moment to compliment his wife's efforts: "If the people that were working on a cure for baldness had the same passion and commitment as my wife has for global warming, I would have a full head of hair." (photo: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic.com)

[Daily Colonial]

Swell of Support

The inhabitants of Milch's latest set greet the spotlight

The cameras for HBO's new series 'John From Cincinnati' have splashed down in Imperial Beach, CA, and most of the town's 27,500 souls are into it — some literally. From a local fifth-grader landing a recurring role to a couple in their 70s working as extras, the show has soaked up plenty of neighborhood inspiration. "I prefer to work down here because I don't really plan the story in advance," said show creator David Milch. "I like to respond to what I see, and I see so much here." After meeting local Avon lady Rosa Adams, Milch also saw the opportunity to pick up $2,400 worth of makeup and eye cream — her biggest sale ever. (photo: Jason Merritt/FilmMagic.com)

[Sign on San Diego]

Christy Turlington Burns and Edward Burns at a benefit dinner for Hearst Corp. (photo: George Napolitano/FilmMagic.com)

Slice of Life

In the late-Adrienne Shelley's film 'Waitress,' Cheryl Hines serves up some special pies, alongside her fellow waitresses played by Kerri Russell and Shelley. The film tells the story of a woman (Russell) trapped in an abusive marriage, who sees a pie contest as her ticket out. According to the New York Times, some of her special creations include the: "I Hate My Husband Pie (bitter chocolate drowned in caramel), then Baby Screaming Its Head Off in the Middle of the Night and Ruining My Life Pie (cheesecake, brandied pecans, nutmeg), and finally Earl Murders Me Because I'm Having an Affair Pie (juicy crushed berries in a dark chocolate crust)." (photo: Mark Sullivan/WireImage.com)

[NY Times]

Home Court Advantage

Dom's visit from New York made it clear that a fifth wheel slows the Rolls on 'Entourage,' but without the City of Angels rounding out the cast, the ride would screech to a halt. "Since it's the story of four guys who have the keys to the kingdom — today's Hollywood — we had to locate the show in the spots where these folks would hang out," says show creator Doug Ellin. "We try to make it as real as possible." Thanks to the show's success, getting "real" shots no longer means skulking on elite clubs' sidewalks, but Ellin says filling the frame with L.A. still has its hurdles: "You can imagine the difficulty of five actors trying to do lines at a Lakers game." (photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com)

[U-Entertainment]

Smoke Enders

Curatola kicks the habit

Someone had to go first. But this boss succumbed to lung cancer, rather than a hail of gunfire. 'The Sopranos' ' Vincent Curatolo who played Johnny (Sack) Sacramoni kicked his own smoking habit nine months ago so maybe it's lucky that Sacramoni kicked the bucket. "I have people run up to me in the street and say, 'I love the way you smoke on camera,'" he says. "That cigarette was a character. He should have gotten a contract, that cigarette."

Curatola, who lost his mother and brother-in-law to lung cancer, tells of how cigarettes almost cost him his 'Sopranos' gig. He was late to his audition because he had to smoke a cigarette to calm his nerves, and almost missed the casting director. "I pinch myself to this day to think that that cigarette was more important than that appointment. I'd be on MTV in a bunny suit or something." (photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com)

[NY Daily News]