Blog Stage - Acting in Film, TV, Theatre - Backstage

Membership First Marches On

   Membership First partisans and other SAG members, about 100 in all, demonstrated outside the L.A. outpost of the U.S. Justice Department yesterday, Variety reports. The group contends that AMPTP companies are violating anti-trust laws, because they create and distribute content in such a way that, in effect, lowers wages.

Casting News -- March 27, 2009

Queen Latifah will star in the romantic comedy Just Wright, a modern-day Cinderella tale about a female physical therapist who falls in love with a basketball player while helping him recover from a career-threatening injury. Latifah is also co-producing.

Wrestler-turned-actor "Stone Cold" Steve Austin will star in the action thriller The Stranger. The film begins shooting in Vancouver this summer, for a scheduled 2010 release.

A Survivor's Tale : Literal, And.

Boredom, tumultuous economy, a sudden undeniable bout of artistic inspiration... who knows. But Nelson George, writer/director of Sundance 2007's & HBO's Life Support and the 2009 Chris Rock co-production of Good Hair, isn't idling by. With a handful of months to go until his next big project, the native Brooklynite has returned to New York to do a series of shorts. His latest, A Survivor's Tale, is inspired by the life of George's cousin, who keeps a list of his deceased friends name's in his pocket.

-- Ashley Avis

A Survivor's Tale from Nelson George on Vimeo.

Cloris Leachman Tells All

82-year-old Academy and Emmy award-winning actress Cloris Leachman has written some steamy revelations for her new memoir, Cloris. In the autobiography, the New York Post reveals, Leachman recalls a one-night stand with Gene Hackman in the 1970s, who she had dinner with while both actors were shooting movies in San Francisco:

As we moved into the main course, it was as if a cosmic wind enveloped us. Some giant space magnet was pulling us together. We didn't finish the meal. We went upstairs, flew into bed and made love. It was epic. And the next morning, Gene went back to his film and I went back to mine. I haven't seen Gene since that night, but I remember well the feisty lad he was.

In addition to her fling with Hackman, Leachman discusses almost-affairs with the likes of Andy Williams (who she had known since childhood) and Ed Asner.

New York Auditions at a Glance – March 26-April 3

The following "Auditions at a Glance" calendar conveniently organizes projects by the date and day-of-the-week that the projects' auditions are taking place, to help you schedule your plans.

Click on any of the following links to see the casting and job notices related to the dates and project titles highlighted below.

California Auditions at a Glance – March 26-April 3

The following "Auditions at a Glance" calendar conveniently organizes projects by the date and day-of-the-week that the projects' auditions are taking place, to help you schedule your plans.

Click on any of the following links to see the casting and job notices related to the dates and project titles highlighted below.

Regional Auditions at a Glance – March 26-April 3

The following "Auditions at a Glance" calendar conveniently organizes projects by the date and day-of-the-week that the projects' auditions are taking place, to help you schedule your plans.

Click on any of the following links to see the casting and job notices related to the dates and project titles highlighted below.

East Coast Casting Highlights - 3/26/09

Every week Back Stage publishes hundreds of notices -- casting notices, entertainment-industry job notices, and calls for submissions to talent contests and film festivals. Back Stage is the premier resource for actors, dancers, singers, comedians, and all performing artists -- plus those talented individuals working behind-the-scenes, including writers and crew -- looking for quality opportunities.  BackStage.com's casting database includes all of the notices from  the  popular weekly Back Stage publications, plus hundreds of additional items.

EAST COAST:

Below are a few highlights from this week's East Coast notices, compiled by East Coast Assistant Casting Editor (ACE) Sri Gordon:

Casting News -- March 26, 2009

The Farrelly brothers are close to completing the cast of their upcoming The Three Stooges movie for MGM: Sean Penn is set to play Larry and Jim Carrey is in negotiations to play Curly; Benicio del Toro is being considered for the role of Moe. (Carrey plas to gain 40 pounds for his role.) Variety notes that "the film is not a biopic, but rather a comedy built around the antics of the three characters that Moe Howard, Larry Fine and [Jerome 'Curly'] Howard played in the Columbia Pictures shorts." Well that's a relief, since we doubt Penn has the acting chops to play a real historical figure, but we have absolutely no reservations about his skills as a physical comedian. Am I right?

Orlando Bloom is in negotiations and Andrew McCarthy has been cast in Main Street, the new and final screenplay by the late Horton Foote. The ensemble cast already includes Ellen Burstyn, Patricia Clarkson, and Colin Firth; the central role of a young girl has yet to be cast. The drama centers on a group of people in a small town in North Carolina whose lives are shaken up when a stranger arrives. Bloom will play a small-town policeman; McCarthy will play a lothario business manager.

The Gilla Roos Story

A little bit of self-referential treatment today: Gilla Roos, Ltd., a New York-based talent agency that shuttered Feb. 20, has shortchanged its performers by at least $150,000, according to an investigation by Back Stage. At least 75 actors and models are claiming to be owed money, with the average person missing roughly $3,000.