Collectible Hollywood Stuff

All Right! Who’s up for a night of movies, buttered popcorn, your favorite candy and ice cold slushies? A show of hands please. Yeah, just what I thought, pretty much everyone is. I doubt we will ever get tired of America’s greatest national treasure, watching new released movies. Whether it’s in the comfort of our own homes, or in the local movie theater, we are in love with watching movies. But wait a minute! As with most good things, there is a bad side or two. Have you ever noticed that most of the movie review guys are over-weight? What do you think you would look like if you went to every new release movie and ate all of that buttery popcorn and calorie laden candy? Can you say Big Fat Fatty? I guess a good Hollywood film is worth a little fat.

The thing that really aggravates me is the way Hollywood is spitting out all of those movie remakes and stamping them as new released movies. Can anyone tell me why are all the new released movies are re-makes of old flicks, TV shows, cartoon characters or comic book heroes? Come to think of it, how many comic book heroes are there anyway? Can’t anyone use their imagination anymore? This is really starting to bother me. I have to go see how many comic book super hero new released movies?

I probably shouldn’t complain so much. After all, one of my favorite movies is Robin Hood with Errol Flynn and all though it is considered a movie classic, it was just another new released movie remake. Another good new released movie I went to see was Peter Jackson’s re-make of the film “King Kong.” OK, I’ll admit it. There are some good movie remakes out there but the reason this film was good was Peter Jackson who just finished making the critically acclaimed and Academy Award winning “Lord Of The Rings” trilogy was completely obsessed with remaking “King Kong”, and although he used all of today’s special effects technology to help him pull it off; it was the fact that he pretty much stuck to the plot combined with good acting that made this a successful new released movie. It took a really good director to make it again and show what it truly could be using today’s technology.

Alright, just because I just mentioned a couple of good remakes and I’m sure there are more, doesn’t get all the other poorly made new released movies off the hook. Someone please tell me, why in the world did they re-make “The Omen”? In my opinion the original Omen was fantastic. The movie wasn’t that old, they really couldn’t improve on the special effects and the lead actor was Gregory Peck, need I say more. There are times when some thing is done so well it just can not be improved upon, and this was one of them. When a movie is that good, why can’t they just re-release the original movie as a new released movie, why do they have to remake it?

For some reason they remake horror films more than any other genre. And I understand that with today’s superior special effects the temptation is just too strong not to want to remake everyone’s favorite scary movies. But, guess what Hollywood? The reason most people go to see a new released horror or hack and slash movie is the suspense, the unknown. Guess what? When you remake a horror or hack and slash movie, the suspense is gone, the unknown is known. Use your collective imaginations and make a completely original new released movie so we can start using our imaginations once again. I have actually heard remakes called “re-imaginations” and that’s a sad thing. So please stop taking the “thrill” out of the thriller.

Listen, I think I have a solution to this whole new released movies and movie remake problem. I understand that you are releasing more new movies than ever and that they are being shown in the movie theatres for less time than ever so they can be re-released as DVD’s for sale or rent in places like Blockbuster and Hollywood Movies or sold as PPV to cable networks. I understand it’s all about the money, but why not remake movies that didn’t fare so well when they were new released movies. Take those movies that have a decent plot but because the producers didn’t have a very big budget or the director sucked or the actors couldn’t act and do whatever it takes to make them good movies that we will enjoy watching, slap a new title on them and put them in theatres as new released movies. Sounds like a money making plan to me. Before I end this, I was thinking of doing a remake of this article instead of writing a new one. What do you think? Let me know. In the mean time, surf on over to Movies, Music, Games & More and download all of the new released movies and movie remakes you want for free.

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The Navy’s elite SEAL or Sea, Air, and Land Forces squad is made up of the best of the best. In order to provide the public with an insight as to what the Navy SEALs is all about, the U.S. Navy had agreed to serve as technical advisors for several of Hollywood’s films. This opportunity can also increase recruitment from the general public. Several former Navy SEALs had mentioned in their biographies that these movies inspired them to join the SEAL teams.

The following are some of the films in Hollywood that best describe the U.S. Navy SEALs’ intense training and how of they operate in some of the missions.

The top Hollywood film to depict the U.S. Navy SEALs in action is the movie, “The Frogmen.” The movie shows how a special ops team had done their part during World War II through reconnaissance duties, clearing the enemy’s underwater obstacles, offensive underwater attacks on enemy ships, and advance landings on enemy territory. This is the first such movie about scuba diving. The Underwater Demolition Teams or UDT then became what is now the U.S. Navy SEALs. The title is taken from the nickname of the Underwater Demolition Teams, “frogmen.”

“Tears of the Sun” is second on our list. This movie was set in a fictional Nigerian civil war where a team of Navy SEALs is forced to make a decision whether to ignore the conflict around and stick with the plan or follow what they believe is right and protect the innocent lives.

Another movie called “G.I. Jane” shows the intense training of the U.S. Navy Combined Reconnaissance Team or CRT. The training is very similar to the U.S. Navy SEAL BUD/S training course. The female protagonist hand picked by a female senator as part of a series of tests to determine whether women will be integrated into the U.S. Navy is thrown into the grueling training course of the CRT. She gets the same treatment as the men and proves that she has what it takes to be a member of the CRT in the training course and in live combat where she excelled in her leadership and strategic skills and gained the team’s trust.

Fourth on our list is the movie “The Rock.” This film shows how the U.S. Navy SEALs operates in a covert ops mission, in this case, breaking into Alcatraz Island where a group of tourists are held hostage.

The fifth movie on our list is the “Navy SEALs.” This one shows the camaraderie of the members of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs and their unique abilities that make them the best of the best.

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There are many reasons to glance through the pages of popular celebrity weekly magazines such as Star Magazine and In Touch and become envious at the lives of celebrities. The truth is that fame is often elusive for those who seek it and often fleeting for those that do. We have become a celebrity obsessed culture with headlines about war being pushed back for cover stories on the Hollywood elite. We are in dangerous territory when the information on the personal lives of those we do not know becomes more important than national security.

The over the top coverage is just one of the reasons that can be found to hate Hollywood. Here are three others:

Talented Is Not Needed

Bring back the days of actors and actresses belonging to studios for their singing and acting abilities. Today any would be celebrity only has to be the offspring of someone famous or act outrageously on a reality television show to experience instant stardom. Since when did hooking up with half of Hollywood garner a record deal? I miss the days of true singing talent. Andy Warhol famously said that everyone wanted their 15 minutes of fame, and unfortunately, most spotlight seekers are trying to stretch that fifteen minutes into one whole hour.

The Illusion of Being Thin

Many average women compare themselves to the size zero starlets in the entertainment industry. While in America there is definitely an obesity epidemic, with both children and adults affected. Yet Hollywood does not promote a positive body image. In fact many starlets suffer from eating disorders and can easily fit into the clothes of children. The new fad is to be less than a size zero.

Hollywood should do a better job of promoting a healthy body image and it should start with the truth. If your favorite supermodel or actress puts on a little bit of weight, technology is around to help remove the cellulite and extra few inches from the thighs of the actress. That well toned abdominal section may just be a trick of the mouse. Entertainers often have serious eating disorders and very unhealthy techniques to staying thin. Those that do decide to lose weight have been known to fast for days without eating any solid food. Personal chefs and personal trainers are often employed to whip them into shape. To make matters worse those of a healthy weight are often referred to as curvy or voluptuous. Since when is a size six curvy?

Celebrities and the Average Joe are Not Created Equal

The most annoying thing about celebrities is that we have created a culture where they feel they are above the law. Crimes that the average person would be penalized for only merit a slap on the wrist for many celebrities. R. Kelly has been awaiting charges on pedophilia for at least 4 years, O.J. Simpson has been able to write a book about how he actually did commit the crimes, Nicole Richie is arrested was under the influence of drugs while driving down the highway in the wrong direction.

While we are all supposed to be afforded equal protection under the law, and yet we are not all judged equally by the law. In Hollywood there is a microcosm of people living with an overabundance of everything including drugs and alcohol. The rest of the population is put at risk when the law is broken and it is treated as entertainment.

The best course of action is to treat those in entertainers as entertainers. They are not supposed to be the measuring stick against which we judge ourselves, and a drunk driver is just the same whether or not they have a show on television.

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There are many reasons why people just love to read about Hollywood celebrities and look at candid photos of their escapades and daily activities, which psychologists have spent considerable time trying to explain. One of the main reasons that people love entertainment celebrity news is for the simple amusement of reading about and viewing photos from famous people’s lives. Many people also feel as if they can identify to one Hollywood celebrity or another, either for their physical attributes or their supposed personal traits.
Another simple explanation for the Hollywood celebrity obsession is the simple diversion of reading celebrity news and looking at their scandalous photos. Sometimes entertainment celebrity news can help depressed people lift their spirits because it allows them to focus on some outer experience that breaks their obsession with themselves. Most people that look at the Hollywood celebrity magazines and online gossip sites aren’t particularly depressed, however, but they do find it enjoyable and diversionary to see images of very attractive and well known stars while breaking from their day-to-day routine activities.
Yet another reason for the obsession with Hollywood celebrities is the esteem build-up that it can provide when the rich and famous slip and fall. When Hollywood celebrities have a messy public life, especially when they are a multi-billion dollar earner with many adoring fans, it makes people feel better. These public humiliations make people that their personal lives are at least more successful, although their professional lives might not be as celebrated and opulent.
Entertainment celebrity news is really a pastime for the general public, whether it’s for the simple diversion, the identification or the personal gratification that it offers. As long as people don’t start confusing celebrity news with the real news, and the celebrities or their families aren’t physically endangered, it should be harmless.

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Hollywood celebrities have been an obsession for America and the rest of the world ever since the motion picture industry made its home in these Southern California hills. Hollywood celebrity photos are big business these days, and despite some protests that the paparazzi take it too far, most celebrities know that the interest of these photographers keeps their careers going strong. Celebrity news is also big business, but these stories can seem dry and even unbelievable if there isn’t some sort of photos that go along with them to help tell the tale.
Some of the most popular Hollywood celebrity photos are of celebrity couples, because their relationships are so tempestuous that they can’t help but peak our interests. Celebrity news often tracks the budding relationships, the soaring romances, the dramatic arguments, the alleged affairs and the bitter breakups that ensue. People just can’t seem to get enough of this stuff, as the continued success of tabloid news magazines, television shows and web sites proves. The scandal of Hollywood celebrities and their relationships gone wrong is always at the forefront of news, covering the pages of both serious newspapers and gossip rags that line the shelves of newsstands and grocery stores.
While the photographic obsession with Hollywood celebrities is a new phenomenon, the idea of people obsessing over famous individuals in this way is something that goes back for centuries. People used to spread celebrity news about royals and socialites, and while the pictures weren’t always there to prove it the power of the pen was just as strong. We now have Hollywood celebrity photos, though, to provide unequivocal proof of the scandals and everyday lives of our favorite celebrities.
Celebrity news, gossip and photos can be found in magazines, on the radio, on the television screen and online. Gossip is a great way to take a break from more serious news; as long as people remember not to take it too seriously.

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5 Steps to Awarding the Oscars

Are you a fan of the movies? Then you may be wondering about the process that’s involved in selecting the best actors that are awarded Oscars by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Indeed, the manner in which the best actors and actresses are chosen for Oscars is a rather complicated process on some level. With that said, the nomination and election process for movies, actors, actresses and the like within the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been in place for years. The process seems to work well although some recent complaints have been voiced in regard to the advertising campaigns that now surround the awards process following the announcement of nominees.

1. The first step in selection the best actors in movies as part of ultimate awarding of the Academy Awards or Oscars is the nomination process. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is made up of men and women who are professionals in fields related to the making and production of movies. A slate of nominators is appointed by the Academy to come up with the names of the actors and actresses who will be put before the enrolled members of the Academy as nominees for Academy Awards. The actors and actresses are nominated for their work in movies that were produced and that were presented in theaters during the preceding year. Needless to say, a nomination for an Academy Award is one of the highest honors that a person who works in the movies can receive at any time in their lives.

2. Following the nomination process, voting by select members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences occurs. The voting process employed by the Academy when it comes to rewards for movies is rather interesting and unique. For example, all of the actors who are enrolled members of the Academy vote on the slates of best actors and best supporting actors who have been nominated for Oscars for their roles in movies. Likewise, directors vote on the directors prize, screenwriters on the screenwriters prize and so forth. All members of the Academy are able to vote on those movies nominated for best picture.

3. Prior to the actual voting process, a very active promotional campaign takes part on behalf of the nominated actors from various movies. In recent years, significant advertising campaigns have been mounted in support of the different actors, actresses and other professionals involved in movies. Ads are taken out in the trade publications. Banquets are held promoting different movies. Thousands and thousands of dollars are spent promoting the nominated movies, the actors, the actresses and the nominees in a variety of other categories. Indeed, the campaigning for Oscars has become one of the most competitive ventures in all of Hollywood — even more competitive than the scrapping and clawing for roles in movies.

4. Once the voting deadline passes in regard to selecting the best actors in movies for the year, the ballots are tabulated by an independent accounting firm. As each vote is cast for the movies and professionals under consideration, the ballots are sent to an accounting firm that holds them in a secure location. The accounting firm tabulates the votes relating to the various movies in secret. For years, the accounting firm that handled these magical movie awards was the venerable agency of Price-Waterhouse. Not even the men and women who serve as officers of the Academy know who the winners are in advance of the award ceremony itself.

5. On the night of the televised awards, the winners from the various movies in the best actor, best actress and other categories are announced. Essentially no one knows who the various winners are prior to the announcement of the various awards during the award show presentations for the various movies, performances and the like.

In conclusion, and as an interesting aside, the Academy Award statuette was not always known as “Oscar.” In fact, it was screen legend Bette Davis who dubbed the Academy Award statuette “Oscar.” During an Academy Awards ceremony some years back Bette Davis remarked that the statuette looked exactly like her husband … who was named “Oscar.” Oscar stuck.

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I was spending quality time with my 10-year-old niece, Nicole, the way quality time is defined these days – by watching TV - and there on “Zach and Cody” was the lovable geek from “Boston Common,” D.C. I remembered his tag line in one episode was “just like the city, without all the traffic.” Having been born in Washington D.C. the quote inevitably stayed in my head as did the skinny guy with the booming voice. In fact, it was the voice that triggered the memory, as the man himself now on the tube in front of me seemed to have grown into his voice. Older, of course (only women don’t age in Hollywood, because they aren’t allowed to), but the hair close-cropped instead of flowing like the early nineties look I first saw him in and the frame filled out like anyone should be after 15 years. And as a pompous elementary school dean, he was funny. Fun-ee. Even Nicole laughed out loud as he berated Zach (or was it Cody? Is there a difference?) with a mop in a dream sequence. This might sound silly, but it was nice to see him again.
Then a few weeks later, there he was on “What About Brian?” (Yes, I watch it. Religiously. Judge me if you will, but ask yourself if you have a guilty boob tube pleasure or two that you’d blush to admit to. “You’re The One That I Want,” anyone?) He had shed Zach and Cody’s haughty, over-the-top kid show character and merrily slipped into the demeanor of a slightly smarmy egotistical boss to Rick Gomez’ Dave Greco. I was all a-flutter. “Ah! That guy!” I exclaimed and pointed to the TV, though no one else was in the room. I couldn’t help it. I was a fan. Here was a guy that was so familiar; even though I didn’t know his name, I loved his work. Like Richard Jenkins. Before he was on Six Feet Under, I always clapped my hands in glee when I saw him on the small or large screen. I hadn’t seen “D.C. from Boston Common” in a while. It was like meeting up with an old friend again. I wondered where else he might surprise me?
The next time I saw him, I almost peed my pants. As a straightforward White House lawyer on Fox’s “24” he disagreed with Peter MacNichol’s Thomas Lennox, trying to give D.B. Woodside’s President Wayne Palmer sound advice. Okay, this was crazy. I had to find out where this guy had been between NBC’s “Boston Common” and this rush of recent roles. Had he been hiding under his bed for 15 years or had I just not been watching the right shows? In fact, what is the life of a non-celebrity in Tinsel Town? Who are those people you always recognize, but whose names aren’t blasted across the tabloids every week? After all, these people, the ones that are continually working but whose names you don’t know, are really the people you see most of the time.

After some investigation via the Internet – starting at imdb.com “Boston Common” - I first found out that “D.C.” was in fact, D.C. Douglas. Scrolling down the impressive list of TV and film roles, I realized I had been missing him constantly: “ER,” “NYPD Blue,” “Las Vegas,” “Strong Medicine” and a host of other roles had kept him busy. I rapidly moved onto his websites – all five of them (www.D.C.douglas.com)– and his phone number. Right there. Easy. So I called him – and there it was, The Voice. He seemed surprised to hear that anyone would want to interview him. So surprised in fact, that he laughed out loud – a great, hearty cackle, impossible to describe or imitate. Higher than you might imagine and loud enough for me to jerk the receiver away from my ear. But he was game. “What the hell,” he said. “You don’t work for The Enquirer, right?”
Turns out, this is one busy guy. Between on-camera acting and voice over, D.C. is constantly and consistently working. He invited me to interview him on a battleship in the middle of the night. But he had good reason; he was currently in the middle of shooting “Deadwater,” a ghost ship thriller with Lance Henrikson and James Russo, due out in 2007. So I drove to San Pedro, climbed aboard the USS Lane and talked with him between takes down in the bowels of the beast.
I was embarrassed, but I had to know about “Boston Common.” That’s where I first saw him, so I assumed that was his first significant gig. But like most actors, he had already been on plenty of TV shows like “Coach” and “Melrose Place” and “Boston Common” was supposed to be a one-episode co-star. But Hollywood is unpredictable, and you never know what might help an unknown move forward. In this case, it was that laugh that nearly burst my eardrum when I first spoke to him that turned one line into ten episodes.

Vicki Rosenberg was the casting director for “Boston Common” and D.C. even had to audition for the one line. Once hired, “they had me there the whole week during the producer run-through,” D.C. started. “It was a funny show and I couldn’t help but laugh. And I laugh rather loudly and unabashedly – I once had a neighbor ask me not to laugh at night because it kept her up – so the next day for the Network run-through, Max Mutchnick and David Kohan (co-creators of “Will and Grace”) told me to ‘feel free to laugh as much as you want.’ So I did. And then I sent a big basket of wine to congratulate them on the pilot. It was the first time anyone called me back to thank me… and Max said if there were more episodes, they’d bring me back. And they actually did! It took several episodes before they turned the character’s name into D.C., because they were never sure if they could bring me back… at first they just plugged me into whatever odd role there was, but eventually I became ‘D.C.’ There I was, having a role essentially written for me. I was sure I had hit it big. I spent most of the money assuming I’d get nice residuals from summer repeats.”
And then there was that laugh as he said, “The show lasted one season and was cancelled. No repeats. It went straight to cable and I made $50 in residuals for all 10 episodes.”
So what does an unknown do then? Back to the proverbial pounding of the pavement, which, in L.A is done by car.
After fifteen years and untold gallons of gas, he has over a hundred on-camera projects under his belt. Between those and his busy voice-over career, he no longer needs to have an alternate job to pay the bills. “That’s refreshing; I was a horrible waiter.” But it did take some time to get there. An actor with no contacts is going to have as hard a time getting jobs in Hollywood as a mountain climber getting to the top of Everest without extra oxygen.
An actor’s first contact on the long food chain of Hollywood is the casting director. Unless you can make friends (or lovers, for the more ambitious) out of producers, casting directors are an actor’s connection to those highly coveted and sparsely available jobs. The first casting director in D.C.’s corner was Dava Waite, whom he met when he auditioned for “21 Jump Street”. He didn’t get the role, but she referred to him as a chameleon and called him in as often as she could. “She felt it was her duty to get me my SAG card. It was a Roy Rogers commercial that put me in the union and Dava continued to cheer me on. A couple of years later, she got me on “Coach” with Craig T. Nelson, acting opposite a young guest star; Rob Schneider.” Soon in 1996, he was laughing it up on “Boston Common.”

Twenty years later, many casting directors know him and trust him as a professional to work well with stars like James Caan (“Las Vegas”), Sherri Stringfield and Mekhi Phifer (“ER”), Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs (“Charmed”), Rachel Nichols (“The Insider”) and of course as already mentioned, Peter MacNichol and D.B. Woodside on “24”.
And that list isn’t just limited to TV, either. Through numerous independent films D.C. has acted with the likes of Tony Plana (of “Ugly Betty”), Krista Allen (“Totally Blonde”), Lorraine Newman (“Saturday Night Live”) and a slew of big names in “The Commission” that included Martin Sheen, Martin Landau, Sam Waterston, Ed Asner and Corbin Bernsen.
So…no, I guess he hasn’t been hiding under his bed. I just can’t possibly see every TV show and every independent film ever made. But I’ve probably heard him more than I realize. Especially lately as his GEICO campaign has been running for six months. As the front and end voice over tags introducing the celebrities that translate for real GEICO customers, D.C.’s voice bounces around the nation on TV and radio waves.
As he makes his living behind the mic and in front of the camera, the paths occasionally cross. For the movie “Factory Girl,” the star wasn’t available to record some off-screen lines, so D.C. was called in to imitate Guy Pierce imitating Andy Warhol. “That was trippy.” he said.
At that moment in our interview, D.C. was called to set to get beaten up by Lance Henrikson. We’d covered a lot of ground during the time I’d been there - for a guy from the West Coast, he talks fast. Ideas, descriptions and a gnarly sense of humor seem to fuel him forward and the listener has to hold on tight to keep up. I didn’t mind – I’m from New York, after all.

In his absence, I wondered how he gets through the dry spells, if there are any. I’ve spoken to plenty of people in this business and the statement I hear the most is that unless you’re Tom, Meryl, Julia or Kate, you have to create your own projects. No one sends you scripts to read if they don’t know who the hell you are.
And furthermore, though co-stars and guest stars on TV shows are good gigs, most actors dream of their own sit-com or series. But the reality is that you’re doing well if you’re getting a lot of auditions and booking these kinds of roles. And these days, since most guest stars are being stunt-cast with stars (Madonna on “Will & Grace,” anyone?), getting any auditions at all puts an actor ahead of most of the pulsing, shoving throng of people trying to jam their feet around the casting director’s door. D.C. is one of those actors that has been in Hollywood long enough that casting directors know him, like him and know they can count on him. Yet, still it’s tough. But when there’s nothing else you want to – or by his admission, can’t – do, you have no choice but to persevere.

For D.C., part of that perseverance comes in the form of creating his own projects. During his next break between shots, he denied being a writer, but I know from imdb.com that he’s written and produced five original award-winning short films. In fact, he’s also directed, edited, animated and acted in them. His most recent project that played the festival circuit is “Duck, Duck, Goose!” - a blend of 60’s Technicolor European romp and post-modern cynicism. Worth a watch, if you want to buy it online – It won four festival awards, including one to D.C. for Best Actor and one to Robin Daléa, his “pint-sized fireball of a girlfriend, a talented and beautiful actress in her own right and a full foot shorter than me.” Three awards came from one festival in New Jersey. “They love us in Trenton!”
Currently, he’s in the midst of editing and animating another pet project he directed entitled, “The Crooked Eye,” a short film based on a short story written by his mother, Betty Malicoat. Fay Masterson (“Eyes Wide Shut” and “Man Without A Face”) stars and had to act in front of a green screen the entire time. “We shot 78 shots in two days and the first day, we didn’t have any air conditioning. Poor Fay was practically a puddle by the end of the day, but she was a real trooper. Luckily the second day, the air was back on.”

Looking at his resume of directing, I asked if he was pursuing that line of work too. He shook his head, “I’m having a helluva time pursuing being an actor, why would I want to pursue being a director too?” But, he added, if he was offered the opportunity and liked the project, he’d do it.
Part of persevering in the finicky industry of TV and film is recognizing that you’re a product and embracing your type. “I’ll never be on a show of gorgeous people like Courtenay Cox-Arquette’s new show ‘Dirt’ or a show of young, beautiful people like ‘The O.C.’ You have to know your place in the market and know it’s not a reflection of you as a person.” And the laugh, “…but I can’t be that bad; I managed to snag Robin.”
In viewing his demo reel and individual clips, in the past 15 years, this actor has clearly gone from geek to guy. The Flock Of Seagulls haircut is gone and the man has grown into his voice. An actor’s type is at the mercy of genetics and the passage of time. (And one’s financial ability and desire to combat them with modern technology). So an actor’s type is in constant flux and a smart one knows what to market. D.C. does just that, working his skills and look together.
So, then, for an unknown, working actor, what is success? “When I get there, I’ll let you know. I have a funny feeling I’ll be 85 when I finally get my own hit series and it won’t matter much because anyone I hoped would see me that successful will probably be dead!” And there it is, the laugh that seems to carry him through it all, reverberating off the ship’s steel walls until he’s told to quell it by the first A.D. “Quiet on set! Please hold all cackling laughter!” D.C. puts his hands over his mouth…and quietly giggles.

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Almost every actor needs to be literate and able to understand language from a variety of eras. A good actor can become anything he or she wants to be. If you want to really stand out as an actor, you will have to make your resume stand out for you.

When you look at all the famous actors out there they all have one things in common they all were passionate about becoming an actor, you need to be passionate about acting to become and actor. Plan to study your craft and become good at it; create your talent and persevere even if you are not getting parts and then share your knowledge and learn from others who share the same passion.

When working with agents to get work you should conduct yourself professionally in a setting. Actors need to promote themselves anyway they can, they need to hone their craft, try creating your own projects or joining a community theatre, co-op productions or doing anything that will help you get your name out there in the public and will help find an agent or someone who will notice your talents. Include a small thumbnail headshot of yourself on your resume.

What does the term acting mean, the definition is a person who portrays someone else or a character either on screen or on stage. When choosing an acting school you will need to notice that they offer many different programs that allows for flexibility when choosing the time to take the class this allows the student the ability to meet the requirements. The perfect forum is acting school it embraces the actors/actresses with the ability to enhance their talents to become the best they can be. When taking classes in a Universities they teach the finer points of how act and improve students craft of acting, they sharpen your skills but they do not spend the time showing actors how to get work on a consistent basis, or how to make a living as an actor.

The range of skills that an actor must have to be effective is very wide. To prepare for the skills to act you will need the following: you will need to connect to directors, producers and other actors and to listen to all of them.

When people talk about a hidden acting agenda they are referring to a term that describes a phenomenon where actors hide a condition or some trait or a quality of theirs because one of these things was the source they use that occurred earlier in their lives.

When actors perform in theater halls they were designed to have incredible acoustics, the reason for this was to help actors and performers so the audience are able to hear them and to give the performers and actors natural reflections when performing. People watch TV, go to movies or theater to be entertained. You need to start some place when becoming an actor, you should look into short films or independent theater and you should take a few simple classes, this will help you on your way, it is just the beginning.

Although, there are some exceptions, normally agencies will not work with actors that have no experience, it is very rare that they will consult inexperienced actors or take them in as clients.

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Celebrity Gossip and celebrity scandal are everywhere. When it comes to stars and celebrities we love to talk about them. Not many people can resist a good old gossip preferable about someone that is known. Celebrity gossip and news can be found in magazines, on the radio, and on the television screen.

Celebrity Gossip is a great way to take a break from the more serious news that is found both locally and around the world. As a society we like to follow the actions of those celebrities we see in media. We talk about them. After all, do you really want to miss out seeing the next outrageous outfit that Paris Hilton is going to wear?

Do you feel a twinge of guilt about buying a gossipy celebrity magazine? Don’t. Tell yourself instead that you are merely honoring a respectable ancestral survival mechanism by engaging in celebrity gossip. This reveals lots about our culture. Celebrity gossip helps us tackle our social anxieties (what if we started breaking the rules like some Celebrity) and celebrity gossip tells us something about our dreams (only if I were to be rich and careless like Angelina).

Celebrity Gossip and our past.

Humans as a species live in groups, so it is essential for individuals to learn what other members of the tribe are up to and what this means. In our modern world with its instant communications celebrities make up part of that group. We feel we know them even if we have not even met them in real life. This drives us to engage in gossip about the celebrities. This begs the question :

Did celebrity gossip just start recently or has celebrity gossip been around for a long time?

Long ago reputations were important, we are talking, middle ages here, even more so than they are today. Women needed their husband to uphold their reputation - if a woman felt she was losing their husband, she would vocally accuse her competitor of trying to take him away by calling her a whore. You could even be punished for gossiping!

The punishment was various - but included a scold’s bridle, a metal band that fitted over the head and had a 3.5 inch protrusion which was inserted in the mouth and lay flat against the tongue. One sure way of making sure they did no more scolding.

Going back further. “If primate intelligence originally evolved to solve complex social problems, such as keeping track of shifting coalitions or countering against deception, then it’s possible that present-day human intelligence carries a legacy of this history”. So it seems that even in history mankind has been engaging in different forms of celebrity gossip.

Celebrity Gossip Today.

As we get to the point where we have less and less friends in common, the only way we can engage relationships and communication is to try to find people who are known to both of us - celebrities, public figures, sports stars, and media figures of all kinds. This allows us to gossip about a common theme - the well known celebrity. Now that communities include virtual ones, we engage in virtual celebrity gossip by e-mail, text or Internet. Most of the time this is for pure entertainment and the forming of social bonds. This need-to-know what happed to so and so could explain the enduring popularity of soap operas and other gossipy media. This human need for celebrity gossip was shown in Scotland in a recent human group experiment.

An interesting discovery about Celebrity Gossip

Scottish Psychologists devised a mind test similar to the game known as “Chinese whispers”,

They gave 10 volunteers four different texts to read, and then asked them to write down what they could remember. Their efforts were then passed to another set of volunteers as passages for them to learn, and the process was repeated four times.

The final version of the texts were then compared against the original - and the psychologists found that “celebrity gossip-like” information, involving deception and infidelity and the interactions of other people, was most easily remembered and relayed with the most accuracy.

However, the volunteers were hardly able to recall purely descriptive information about individuals or their surroundings. These results suggest that humans attach a high importance to personal and social data. Just the type of data we find when we engage in celebrity gossip. Could this information be used in the future to educate our children? Who knows but finding out about other people’s private lives and interactions is a key for human survival. We must also remember that celebrity gossip does have a serious side to it.

Celebrity Gossip and work

It’s all to do with being a human being. You simply will not survive unless you can gossip about the people you know, for a lot of us that means celebrities. We just love to exchange information about them and find out more about them. This need also comes to the fore at work.

In any organization, you’ve got a boss that’s one person you need to know about - their idiosyncrasies, their peculiarities and their relationships. As a result most office gossip is focused upwards - it’s looking up the hierarchy. This is another reason why we gossip about celebrities so much as they appear to be above us in the human hierarchy.

Celebrity Gossip and Public Relations

Some businesses use this information to great effect. In the Public Relations business it’s important to control the flow of information and when that information is released to the public. Public Relations companies need to know when and where to show the public important information about their clients who are incidentally often celebrities that they may be representing. Most importantly is where people gossip about celebrities.

To find out where this gossip takes place, one enterprising PR company compiled a top ten list of the places that people are most likely to engage in celebrity gossip…

Top 10 places to engage in gossip.

1. Restaurants
2. On the train or Tube
3. Friends telling friends
4. On our mobiles voice and text
5. At Meetings
6. In crowded bars
7. With the cabdriver
8. With their coach or personal trainer
9. Supermarket queues
10. Unisex toilets.

Do you see how those same PR companies use this information to target us. All those strange advertisements we see about upcoming celebrity events in train stations and on tube escalators, it gets us talking.

What if there was no gossip?

What would happen if we stopped gossiping about people? Just imagine if all celebrity gossip, were to stop tomorrow, what would we talk about? Who would we talk about?

Without celebrities or people we see as above us it would be an imperfect world - the most obvious reason is that about 80% of talk that occurs now, simply wouldn’t happen. That’s about how much of our conversation is celebrity gossip. Imagine no celebrities to gossip about! Society would break down, because the information we get from other people is fundamental to managing our relationships with them. We need to know who the friends, fools and the scoundrels are.

So to sum up we need to talk and to talk means to gossip. Celebrity gossip is a great way to take a break from the more serious news that is found around us. As a society we like to engage in celebrity gossip and follow the actions of those celebrities we see in the media light. It helps us bond. Celebrity gossip is here to stay. Just imagine seeing the next outrageous outfit that Paris Hilton is going to wear on the front of a magazine! Would you ignore it? Or talk about it?

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Despite the pleas on some tearful celebrities, the answer is the people. The same individuals who made ordinary actors, singers, and politicians into celebrities in the first place actually hold the deed on celebrities. So long as celebrities stay in favor with the public, they continue to live a blessed existence of fame and fortune. But if a celebrity loses favor and begins to fade away, they simply cease to exist for much of the world. In some cases they might retain some of the fortune, but the fame is certainly gone.

An audience creates a celebrity. Many individuals have starred in movies or performed at concerts without gaining celebrity status. It is only when the world begins to sit up and take notice of an individual that true star status is obtained. This is how stars are born overnight. If people care about the comings and goings of an individual and the media picks up on this interest, news and tabloid coverage will increase. This creates a celebrity. If nobody cares about a singer’s shopping trips or political message, it is a safe bet that individual will not be stalked by paparazzi and won’t be gracing the covers of magazines. Simply, celebrities are selected.

Certain websites have constructed an algorithm to demonstrate the popularity of celebrities. This algorithm and the celebrity’s popularity equate to a market price, much like a stock price. Members of the site are able to buy and sell celebrities for their personal portfolios and if the celebrity increases in value - both popularity and price, the portfolio value increases. If a celebrity begins to lose value, he is undesirable and dumped.

There can be no clearer message about not only the value of celebrities, but also the ownership of celebrities. Just as celebrities in a portfolio can create a return for investors, those same investors take the time to research the celebrities in forums, news articles, and blogs. This research and drive for information increases the celebrity’s popularity and price. When a celebrity fails to generate news, or generates too much bad publicity, the public will simply lose interest, the celebrity loses value, and stardom begins to fade.

Celebrity obsession is certainly nothing new. If anything you would have figured we as a society would have become more accustomed to and quite bored with celebrities by now. As far back as you can go in history you will see that we have made celebrities almost royalty in the sense that not only does our society need to hear and see their every move and action of these celebrities but large corporations are aware of the fact that we trust the opinions and endorsement of these celebrities more then we trust our own. Turn on your television and you will be bombarded with celebrities selling you everything from fast food to weight loss pills. Can you believe the irony of all of this? We as a society support these celebrities to such and extent that they are now millionaires yet we now put them in a position to make even more money by us purchasing the products they promote.

Do we all really want to be celebrities? Well, the answer is yes and no. The fact of the matter is not many of us are talented enough to excel in sports or the entertainment world and a lot of us would not care to be bothered with the burdens that come with the lives of celebrities. However, each and every one of us, whether it is at work or in our homes, do contribute and would love to feel appreciated for what it is we do on a daily basis.

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