Make room on the red carpet for P. Diddy.
The hip-hop mogul will be among the presenters Sunday at the 77th Academy Awards, to air live on ABC from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Calif.
Combs stars in the upcoming prequel “Carlito’s Way: The Beginning.” Other presenters include Leonardo DiCaprio, Prince, Mike Myers, Sean Penn, John Travolta, Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman and Tim Robbins.
Crowe rumbles
The failure of the love story “Eucalyptus” to begin filming ballooned into a national disappointment in Australia, but star Russell Crowe has fired back at rumors that he is to blame, people.com reports.
The movie, which stars Crowe as a storytelling suitor who woos Nicole Kidman under the eye of her protective father, was put on hold just days before filming was set to start, triggering outrage Down Under.
Much of the finger-pointing targeted Crowe, who was said to have caused the delay because he rejected the script.
“Oh, for goodness sake, what’s next? Perhaps I wanted to play [Kidman’s] role as well?” he e-mailed the Sydney Sunday Telegraph.
Crowe said he still wants to make the film, calling the original script “magical and mysterious,” in his e-mail–though, he noted, “I was taken aback at the addition of a scene requiring me to expose my penis to the young Queen Elizabeth.”
All righty then.
HOT ZONE: Natalie Portman literally was chased off the set of a new movie she is filming in Jerusalem.
Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jewish worshipers confronted Portman and her co-star, objecting to the couple kissing during the filming of a scene beside Jerusalem’s Western Wall.
The incident Tuesday evening underlined the sensitivity of the site, a remnant of the biblical Jewish temples, the holiest place where Jews can pray. The site is controlled by strictly observant Jews. Male and female worshipers are separated by a barrier perpendicular to the wall, following Orthodox Jewish rules forbidding casual contact between the sexes.
Police said they had to step in when worshipers spotted Portman, who was born in Israel, and Israeli actor Aki Avni embracing and kissing for a scene in their movie “Free Zone.” The daily Yediot Ahronot said ultra-Orthodox Jews charged the couple, shouting, “Immoral, immoral!”
Police said they asked the actors to leave and return later, and they agreed.
PULP TV: Can “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” get any bloodier? We’ll find out.
“Kill Bill” director Quentin Tarantino has signed on to go behind the camera during the popular crime drama’s season finale, The Hollywood Reporter says.
It’s not the first time that Tarantino, apparently a big “CSI” fan, has become involved with a hit show. He appeared as a guest judge on “American Idol” last season. The “CSI” finale is scheduled to air May 19.
Meanwhile, Tony Hawk is turning up dead on “CSI: Miami.” The skateboarding legend plays–What else?–a skater and video game tester who may have been murdered, zap2it.com reports.
Underwood no underdog on ‘Idol’
Simon Cowell already declared Carrie Underwood his “it” girl this year, and now she’s the favorite to win “American Idol.”
The 21-year-old country singer–at least that’s how Cowell envisions her–from Checotah, Okla., has the best chance to win, according to oddsmaker betwwts.com, followed by New Yorker Mario Vazquez.
Cowell singled out Underwood as a front-runner during an interview on “Live with Regis & Kelly” earlier this month. He didn’t name her, but his description left little doubt: “She’s like a country singer, a blond girl.”
That would be Underwood, who says on “AI’s” official Web site that she started singing in church when she was 3 years old.
Second city
Calling Chicago the “City of Big Portions,” Ellen DeGeneres served up a deep-dish sized episode of Windy City jokes on Thursday for her hour-long “Ellen” tribute to the city.
DeGeneres flew about 200 Chicagoans to her NBC studio near Los Angeles this week for the special taping, in an attempt to treat her fans to a splash of good weather during the dreary winter. Too bad it’s been raining all week in California.
Still, the Chicago Boyz Acrobatic Team rocked, and clips of the Loop and Michigan Avenue did Chicago proud. So-so stories from Chicagoans Bob Newhart and Sean Hayes (Jack on “Will & Grace”), however, proved that maybe Chicago really is just a second city.
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Compiled from news services and edited by Leo Ebersole (lebersole@tribune.com)
