ben kingsley

EXCLUSIVE: Dennis Hopper Pleased With New Film, Not So Much With Career

2:30AM STV | For all the talk about Sir Ben Kingsley’s sex scenes with Penelope Cruz and Patricia Clarkson, the new film Elegy arguably features an even more up-front intimacy between the Oscar-winner and Dennis Hopper — Kingsley’s sidekick in academia who counsels him through an intense romantic relationship with an ex-student (played by Cruz). We won’t spoil it for you; let it suffice to say the role is Hopper’s latest in a marathon of work that has seen three films released this year and finds the 72-year-old halfway through shooting Starz’ adaptation of the Paul Haggis film Crash. We tracked Hopper down this week to run through Elegy, Crash and the 50-plus turbulent years that preceded them — all in five convenient questions (and a few surprisingly candid replies) after the jump. More »

Trade Roundup: Oscar Nominee Cotillard Cashing In With Depp/Bale Gangster Flick

7:30AM Mark | · La Vie en Rose Oscar nominee Marion Cotillard tries to parlay some of her awards-season heat into a role alongside Christian Bale and Johnny Depp in Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, playing gangster John Dillinger’s “torch singer girlfriend.” [Variety] · Meanwhile, (rightly) Academy-ignored Charlie Wilson’s War star Julia Roberts hunts for her next chance at awards glory, attaching herself to star in and produce an adaptation of soon-to-be published novel Hothouse Flowers, about a recently divorced NY ad exec who throws it all away to embark on a fabulous post-break-up adventure. [THR] [After the jump: NBC sues Dick Wolf!; Oscar nominations translate to bigger weekend grosses; the fate of Mary-Kate and Ben Kingsley's Sundance film.] More »

Sir Ben On How An Olsen Twin Brought ‘Huge Energy’ To Making Out With Him

8:30AM Defamer Hollywood | Ranking at the very top of a list we keep of Celebrity Pairs We Hope To Never See Making Out – and beating out such unholy couplings as Peter O’Toole/Nicole Richie and Elizabeth Taylor/Haley Joel Osment – has long been Sir Ben Kingsley and either of the Olsen Twins, the subjects of one our most troubling recurring dreams. (We will spare you the details, no matter how fiercely you beg us to share them. Just know that a messy chocolate souffle is involved. We’ve said too much!) But thanks to the upcoming indie film The Wackness, we’ll soon have the opportunity to see the much-unclamoured-for Kingsley/Mary-Kate osculation outside of our fragile, obviously very damaged subconscious. Worse still is the way in which Sir Ben describes his co-star to Access Hollywood: More »