  Alec Baldwin, who received his second Emmy for the show 30 Rock, is starring in the romantic comedy It's Complicated. |
HOLLYWOOD -- We're delighted that Alec Baldwin received his second Emmy in as many years for his terrific turn as Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock's cool but controlling network exec.
It's a terrific role, and one which has enabled the versatile actor to really show off his funny side.
But there's apparently another side Baldwin's not so keen on showing off to his many fans -- at least not on the much more imposing big screen.
This Christmas Baldwin will be seen starring opposite on-a-roll Meryl Streep and Steve Martin in It's Complicated, a romantic comedy directed by Nancy (What Women Want) Meyers.
Having absolutely nothing to do (thankfully) with the Denise Richards reality show of the same name, the movie finds Streep having an affair with ex-husband Baldwin while attending their son's college graduation.
Sounds promising, but what caught our eye was a little casting notice that went out last week searching for "a mostly nude body double" for one of the lead actors in the movie.
Given the clothing-size breakdowns, it wasn't too hard to eliminate Martin and the film's other male lead, John Krazinski, leaving "a larger gentleman that has chest/body hair" with a 40-inch waist and a 32-inch inseam.
The successful applicant was also required to wear a flesh-coloured thong.
There was once a time when Baldwin likely used to wear his own flesh-coloured thongs -- we're thinking back in the late '80s-early '90s, circa Miami Blues.
But things are different when you're a heavyweight with a pair of Emmys in your back pocket, or wherever you prefer to keep them.
Not so Precious
We're also happy for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, the film with the unwieldy title but the life-affirming message that took home this year's People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The drama, which also was the big audience-pleaser at Sundance earlier this year, back when it was known as the less-precious Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, is now generating talk as an Academy Award race shoo-in, but there's something that you don't hear folks talking about.
That's the fact that the film's director, Lee Daniels, was previously at TIFF in 2005 with his very first behind-the-camera effort, Shadowboxer.
An excruciatingly over-the-top mess starring the highly respected Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding, Jr. --as paid assassins who also happened to be stepmother and stepson who also happened to be lovers -- the film was regarded by many (including Hollywood South) to be among the very worst screened at the festival that year.
So, essentially, Daniels, who first earned a reputation in Hollywood as the producer of the Oscar-winning Monster's Ball, went from worst to first in his second directorial outing.
Now that's got to be some kind of a TIFF record.
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