Amanda Seyfried attends the 'Big Love' third season premiere in Los Angeles. (photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com)

Fan Base

Apparently Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement's alter egos on 'Flight of the Conchords' don't fall far from the tree. Recalling their early days of performing, the duo say there was a gig in Vancouver that was particularly memorable: There was one person in the audience. Still, the consummate professionals played a full set. As Clement explains: "When they turned the lights on, the person had left." That's a far cry from the 167,000 MySpace fans they now have. Or maybe not. "165,000 of those are me with aliases," admits McKenzie. (photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com)

[National Post]

Pretty Good Odds

Emmanuelle Chriqui plays the well-connected daughter of a film executive on 'Entourage,' but the actress's real life wasn't so charmed. She had to audition for the role just like everyone else. "It was an audition, three times and that was it," says Chriqui, who luckily found some chemistry with her onscreen love interest. "Kevin [Connolly] and I just instantly had a connection and it was great. It was just like a no-brainer."

Speaking of brains, the actress is also locked and loaded for her next project, '13,' which tells the story of a young man forced to play Russian Roulette as entertainment for a group of rich bettors. The remake of a French film attaches Chriqui to a colorful cast including Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, 50 Cent, Alex Skarsgard and others. (photo: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic.com)

[OK! magazine]

Dominic Chianese and Chris Noth attend the closing night of The Cutting Room in New York City. (photo: Mike Coppola/FilmMagic.com)

Boss of All Bosses

Washington's got a new leader coming to town, but there's still only one Boss. As part of a star-studded opening celebration to the inauguration, Bruce Springsteen will join a host of other musicians (Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Usher and Stevie Wonder, to name just a few). Broadcast live on Sunday afternoon with encores that night, the show will be available on HBO across America without a subscription. (photo: Bill McCay/WireImage.com)

[HBO.com]

Family Affair

Sometimes it pays to have a big family, even if it's a fake one. Douglas Smith, who plays eldest Henrickson son Ben on 'Big Love,' says his TV family is a huge support to his second career as a musician. When his band 'his Orchestra' has a big gig, Jeanne Tripplehorn (first mom Barb) makes sure he wraps shooting on time, Amanda Seyfried (sister Sarah) drives him to the club, Bill Paxton (dad Bill) plays his CD on his long drive to work. But it's Grace Zabriskie (grandma Lois) who wins the prize. Says Smith: "She comes to more of my rock shows than anybody... . She comes with her boyfriend. She's a cool old lady. She's given me a lot of Leonard Cohen and other music that's really shaped my musical tastes." (photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com)

[National Ledger]

['his Orchestra' on Myspace]

Bill Paxton, Chloë Sevigny, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ginnifer Goodwin pose during HBO's 2009 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour. (photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com)

Puddle Jumper

Even British theater thespians can be caught up in the glamour of Hollywood. Sure, in Tom Wilkinson's case, it all worked out amazingly well. His performances in 'Recount' and 'John Adams' got him nominated for two Golden Globes® — and he took one home for his portrayal of Benjamin Franklin (along with co-star Paul Giamatti). But the actor has hardly gotten comfortable on this side of the pond. "I saw too many of my friends going into movies, and I thought I could do that, too. The lure of working in the United States I found almost irresistible. ... I didn't really realize the extent of the gamble I was making, toying with one of the great icons of the U.S. and another one who is still alive. You just thought, 'Oh, what a great role,' without thinking, "This could go terribly wrong.'" (photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com)

[The Washington Post via sltrib.com]

Bully Pulpit

It may come as no surprise that Tony Soprano is appearing in something called 'God of Carnage,' but it's not what you think. The Broadway-bound play is actually a four-hander about two couples having it out over their children's playground fight. James Gandolfini will be joined onstage by Hope Davis (the upcoming season of 'In Treatment'), Jeff Daniels and Marcia Gay Harden starting February 28th. (photo: Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic.com)

[NYTimes.com]

Rutina Wesley, Stephen Moyer, Anna Paquin, Sam Trammell and Nelsan Ellis arrive at the official HBO Golden Globe® Awards afterparty in Beverly Hills. (photo: Michael Tran/FilmMagic.com)

Best Behavior

HBO shows fared well at the Golden Globes® on Sunday, with seven awards including six in the various best acting categories. Laura Linney (best actress in a miniseries or TV movie for her role as Abigail Adams) was happy with her seat. "I've been fortunate enough to come to the Golden Globes® before, and I've never been at the winning table. I've always been next to the winning table," she said. "So to be able to jump up and down and scream and yell, it's been a lot of fun." Co-star Paul Giamatti took home the best actor award in the mini-series or TV movie category, Tom Wilkinson won best supporting actor and the series won best mini-series or TV movie. Laura Dern won best supporting actress in a miniseries or TV movie for her portrayal of Katharine Harris in 'Recount,' and Anna Paquin, who took home the GG for her role in 'True Blood' was pleased to be able to fully celebrate her honor this time around. "I don't even remember [the Oscar® for 'The Piano'], it was very blurry and crazy," she said. "This is quite blurry and crazy, too, but at least I'm old enough to drink and stay out past 10 p.m." Rounding out the HBO acting kudos was Gabriel Byrne for his lead role 'In Treatment.' (photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com)

[Variety]

Job Hunt

Times have changed since Janeane Garofalo took a job as late-night support staff on 'The Larry Sanders Show.' And in this harsh economic environment, any government job is an alluring opportunity — even if it means yanking out a few terrorists' fingernails. "I got a call from ('24' co-creator Joel Surnow)," she says. "I was initially very reticent to do it, because I heard about the right-wing nature of Joel's politics and the torture-heavy scripts. And then I thought, 'I'm unemployed!'" (photo: Jason Merritt/FilmMagic.com)

[USA Today]

Constance Zimmer arrives to the 8th Annual Awards Season Diamond Fashion Show at The Beverly Hills Hotel. (photo: Michael Tran/FilmMagic.com)

Universal Truth

As prophet Roman Grant on 'Big Love,' Harry Dean Stanton has all kinds of cosmic convictions about religion and the afterlife. In reality, however, the 82-year-old actor adopts a more guarded stance. "Catholics. Jews. Christians. Protestants. Mormons. Muslims. Scientologists. They're all macrocosms of the ego," he told Esquire. "When man began to think he was a separate person with a separate soul, it created a violent situation. ... Everyone wants an answer. I think it was Gertrude Stein who wrote, 'There is no answer, there never was an answer, there'll never be an answer. That's the answer.' It's a hard sell, but that's the ultimate truth." (photo: Jason Merritt/FilmMagic.com)

[Esquire.com]