  Eugene Levy,William Shatner and Martin Short. (WENN.COM file photos) |
LOS ANGELES -- The Canadian contingent at a performance of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor arrived together in a crammed Prius driven by none other than Captain Canadian Thespian himself, William Shatner.
In the passenger seat was Martin Short and in the back, hanging close to Shatner's ear and telling him where he might find parking, was Eugene Levy, says a witness to the arrivals.
The three Canadian actors were part of the 21st annual "Simply Shakespeare" show at UCLA's Royce Hall earlier this month.
Although no journalists were allowed inside while the actors -- including Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Kenneth Branagh -- performed for the paying public, Hanks came out from time to time to tell those waiting outside how the show was going.
"It's a comedy of errors," laughed Hanks, not referring to the other Shakespeare play, but to the impromptu production, which was supposed to be played strictly for laughs.
The show raised thousands of dollars to benefit the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles.
While the event is staged by UCLA every year, Hanks says the most reliable actors in the repertoire have tended to be Shatner and Short.
"For most actors worth their salt, Shakespeare is a touchstone," Ben Donenberg, the centre's founding artistic director, told the L.A. Times. "It's in their DNA.
"I think we had more fun than the audience."
SUNNY SIDE: Canadian fans of Matthew Perry, whose new sitcom, Mr. Sunshine, was cancelled after one season, may want to look at the bright side of why the 41-year-old Ottawa-raised actor is checking back into a rehab this month for a one-month stay.
Admitting he needs help also means Perry is human and is able to admit to an alcohol and prescription drug problem that has plagued him ever since he moved to Hollywood from Canada to play in the popular sit-com Friends. He wants to get better. In true comedic style, Perry injected a little humour into the statement about his rehab plans: "Please enjoy making fun of me on the World Wide Web! But join me, instead, in saying, 'May you emerge from rehab even better, and with a new, killer idea for another sitcom.' "
NEW HOUSE UP IN THE AIR: Montreal-born director Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You for Smoking, Up in the Air) is selling his contemporary Beverly Hills home located near the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, for $1.595 million. The director gave no reason why he is selling the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home or where he might be moving to next.
Meanwhile, Reitman is filming a drama called Young Adult, starring Patrick Wilson and Charlize Theron. Young Adult, due out later this year, is about a fiction writer who returns to her small Minnesota home town soon after her divorce looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend, who is now married with kids.
Linda Massarella, a Canadian writer in Los Angeles, writes every Sunday about notable Canadians living in L.A.
