Some actors are dying to be in movies; others are in movies to die. In “Smokin’ Aces,” due in theaters Friday, Jeremy Piven plays a Vegas showman a mob boss wants whacked. “Desperate Housewives” star Jesse Metcalfe can relate–he starred in a movie called “John Tucker Must Die.” Which guy deserves a new lease on life? Sounds like a faceoff.
WHY HE’S A TARGET
PIVEN: The mob wants Piven’s Buddy “Aces” Israel dead because he cooperated with the feds. As an aside, it’s sad that the feds and the mob can’t get along after all these years. (Checkmark).
METCALFE: Metcalfe’s John Tucker fools around on his girlfriends. When they all find out, they plot their revenge. In super-cute outfits.
WHY HE’D BE MISSED
PIVEN: Few actors play a sleazeball with as much relish as Piven does. And Lindsay Lohan shows up at his birthday parties. Clearly this void is not easily filled. (Checkmark).
METCALFE: What would women do if they couldn’t look into those eyes? Well, besides looking into Brad Pitt’s eyes.
PERSONALITY
PIVEN: The usually laid-back Piven started a little static when he implied in a recent interview that John Cusack wasn’t happy for his recent success.
METCALFE: “From time to time, it seems like I have a pretty strong reaction from the ladies,” he said in an interview in July. (Checkmark).
TV PERSONA
PIVEN: Piven has an Emmy to show for his oft-imitated but never duplicated work as agent Ari Gold on HBO’s “Entourage.” (Checkmark).
METCALFE: He made millions of women swoon as hot gardener John. Unfortunately, there’s no Emmy for Outstanding Swoon-Causer.
STUBBLE
PIVEN: Gruff and roguish. (Checkmark).
METCALFE: Is that dirt on your face?
OVERALL WINNER
Piven has the talent, the experience and the Chicago-area roots. Save Jeremy!
On and off
Did Britney Spears break up with the Feder-clone?
The pop tart told a video camera-wielding paparazzo Thursday night that she and boyfriend Isaac Cohen broke up, x17online.com reports. (Cohen wasn’t with her at the time.)
When Cohen, a model and actor who has been linked to Spears for a few weeks, was asked about what Britney said, he laughed it off and drove away. (Spears wasn’t with him at the time.)
In between, according to x17online.com, the two met up at a nightclub.
Sounds like Britney’s love life remains filled with drama.
Baby on board
Felicity is having a baby! Actress Keri Russell and her fiance Shane Dreary are expecting their first child, Us Weekly reported on its Web site. The couple hasn’t set a wedding date, according to Us Weekly. Russell most recently starred in “Mission: Impossible 3” and is scheduled to have a movie open at Sundance.
Holding court
A teenager was sentenced to 117 days in jail Friday in California after pleading no contest to stalking Hilary Duff. A Superior Court judge also ordered 18-year-old Maksim Myaskovskiy to serve five years probation. Myaskovskiy was arrested in November after police said he made several phone calls from a hotel room to a private security firm employed by the singer-actress.
‘Stomp’ romps
The dance flick “Stomp the Yard” retained its top spot at the box office for a second week, while a handful of small films were boosted by their success at the Golden Globes. “Stomp” took in an estimated $13.1 million over the weekend. “The Last King of Scotland” made $1.8 million on just 495 screens.
