 |
|
|
 |
We
ran into Claire Danes and Billy Crudup lunching at the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills
Hotel. Billy
has been in town filming the third in the Tom Cruise franchise,
Mission: Impossible. Billy said he’s playing “somebody
mysterious,” and begged off giving any explicit details
for fear of violating Cruise’s no-publicity edict, which
he said the proucers made him double-pinkie swear to silence.
Claire, looking smashing in a Narciso Rodriguez dress, was in
town from from her danced solo in the world premiere of the hour-long
Christina Olson: American Model at Performance Space 122 in New
York City.
 |
Claire
Danes
|
|
If
the name “Christina Olson” sounds familiar, it
should. That is the name of the woman in Andrew Wyeth’s
emotionally arresting 1948 painting, “Christina’s
World,” showing a woman sitting almost forlornly on a grassy
slope gazing toward a gray house in the distance. Through dance
movement, Claire interpreted the back story of the painting.
Claire’s personal reviews were stunning: Alexis
Green, The Hollywood Reporter’s critic
wrote:
“
... Danes
proves to be as intense and mesmerizing a dancer as she is a
movie actress.”
Claire’s next front-and-center appearance — probably
in a long, floor-sweeping gown, again, by Narciso Rodriguez — will
be at the premiere of her new film Shopgirl, based on Steve
Martin’s
best-selling novella about the lonely life of a sales clerk at
Sakes Fifth Avenue in BH.
 |
Margherita
Missoni
|
|
Exiting the Polo Lounge we stopped to say hello to Margherita
Missoni and Ernst Hanover Jr. She
is the pretty, 22-year-old daughter of Angela Missoni; he is the son of Prince
Ernst August of Hanover and the stepson of Princess Caroline of Monaco.
Though they have known each other since they were children, Margherita
and Ernst are not dating in earnest (Ernst in earnest; Ernst
in love), since they reconnnected romantically in Sardinia during
the summer. They were on their way to Monaco to “Fashion
Rock,” the mammoth fundraiser for Prince Charles’ Youth
Charity Turst — the Prince’s Trust — on October
17.
Jerry Hall is the hostess for the evening, and
a melange of boldfaced names – from The Who and the Grimaldi clan to Prince Charles
and Camilla. We understand that Jude
Law will also attend with
Sienna Miller, after holidaying in the South of France. Some
who claim to be in the know insist that Sienna will be dressed
by Roland Mouret for the event. But gossip has Sienna replacing
Kate Moss in Burberry ads, which, if true, would have her more
logically in Burberry.
 |
Nicole
Kidman
|
|
Nicole Kidman will also be at the Monaco event, dressed by Karl
Lagerfeld for Chanel. Nicole plans to spend a lot of time in
Monaco where we hear she just purchased a home. She will be filming Headhunters there, starring as one of four New Jersey women who
jet to Monte Carlo and pretend-to-be-wealthy heiresses looking
for rich husbands.
Lindsay Lohan who seems to be everywhere these
evenings was at
the Tower Bar at the Argyle Hotel in Chanel from head
to toe and telling Patrick Dempsey: “Without
a doubt, Grey’s Anatomy is the best show on Television.
I don’t have time to watch television but I do make time
for your show.”
Patrick was dining with his wife Jill Fink, the
makeup artist to the stars and the owner of the cosmetics company
Lux. Despite
Grey’s Anatomy’s momentum, “Everybody
at the show has contracted a case of sophomore jitters,” said
Patrick. “this is our defining moment: Either we will become
a so-so show or a great show.”
In his new film Cattle Call, Patrick,
39, portrays a lonely guy who opens a casting agency in hopes
of meeting his
soul mate
when she comes in for an audition. There’s a little irony
in that, considering with the success of Grey’s Anatomy,
there’s little likelihood that he’ll ever have
to audition for anything ever again. About his role as Dr. Derek
Shepherd: “I needed something that let me play a leading
man with an edge. People had such a strong idea of what I was
based on what I had played years ago. I just hope I am a little
more challenged this season.”
 |
Lindsay
Lohan
|
|
Knowing we are big vintage collectors, Lindsay Lohan asked
us to be on the lookout for some 30s and 40s Chanel jewelry.
She
really set us up with this one when she said, “I might
consider becoming a fashion designer and maybe I’ll call
my line of clothing L-Lo.” Get it? Hello? We almost felt
like telling her to save that for her next awards show appearance.
We told her how fabulous she looked when she presented famed
makeup artist Paul Starr with a Hollywood Lifestyle
Award. “Did
you love my makeup?” she asked, rhetorically. “Paul
did it, of course.” She said that working with Meryl
Streep on A Prairie Home Companion was
incredible. “We had a great
relationship. Watching her and watching how she gets into her
characters is pure genius.” Just to make sure she covered
all bases, Lindsay also said she was infatuated with Angelina
Jolie. “I'd like to get involved with some of
the charities she’s involved with at some point. I think
it is really important to give back, not just do it to say you
do it.”
Sitting a few tables away were Matthew Perry and Joaquin
Phoenix, with some of their pals. Gossipmongers have Matthew, newly single
as as result of his split after two years with fashion designer
Rachel Dunn, asking his former Friends cast mate Courtney
Cox Arquette to help him find a girlfriend.
 |
Matthew
Perry
|
|
Matthew has a long history
of linking up with the likes of Julia Roberts and tennis whiz
Jennifer Capriati and pooh-poohed such an idea: “I don’t
need any help finding a girl friend. But if Courtney wants to
set me up with someone, that’s fine. But I haven’t
asked her to,” Matthew said with a hint of solemnity and
exasperation creeping into his voice.
Joaquin Phoenix successfully beat his adddiction to alcohol after
completing a program in rehab in April, but said he finds cracking
the cigarette habit a real pain. “I am smoking a lot more
since I quit drinking,” he confessed, to which we told
him that that was our pattern too, when we became sober ten years
ago. Now, we said to him, we each average a pack a day.
Big things are being said about Joaquin’s performance as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, the story of the legendary man-in-black
and his wife June Carter Cash, portrayed by Reese
Witherspoon. Phoenix’s investigation of Cash’s abuse of amphetamines
and alcohol forced him to investigate his own life, saying, “I
didn’t want to end up there in ten years.”
Strangely, Phoenix is one of those actors who never watches themselves
on screen and, obviously, has not seen his new film which prognosticators
are predicting an Oscar nomination for him. He says watching
himself on screen would make him fearful that he might repeat
some mannerisms not appropriate to another film.
 |
Joaquin
Phoenix
|
|
There were rampant rumors that Joaquin and Reese did
not get along on the set. An out-and-out lie, according to Joaquin
who
credits Reese with calming his fears over portraying such an
iconic figure as Cash, saying, “I always had this feeling
like, will I be able to pull this off?” He
says working with Reese was a wonderful experience and she was
extremely comforting during the film process.
While she confirmed to us that Orlando Bloom did
not purchase an engagement ring for Kirsten Dunst at
her jewelry store, Nadine
Krakov admitted that the couple did visit the store
and that the Elizabethtown co-stars shopped separately: Orlando
bought
a 1930s Cartier watch and Kirsten selected a 1930s Van Cleef
and Arpels diamond bracelet. As we were on our way out of the
store, we met Stavros Niarchos III and his girlfriend Mary-Kate
Olsen entering. Said M-K: “Before you even ask,
we are not shopping for engagement rings. I am looking for something
to wear to the Princess Grace Foundation Gala at Cipriani 42nd
Street in New York on October 26.”
Mikhail Baryshnikov will be honored with the
Prince Rainer III Award from Prince Albert and Princess Caroline.
Stavros and Mary-Kate
will be sitting with Caroline’s children, including Charlotte
Casiraghi, the 19-year-old beauteous replica of her
mother. Mary-Kate and Stavros visited Charlotte’s $9 million
island off the coast of Sardinia this past summer. The couple
denies the reports
that the Niarchos family is unhappy that Stavros and M-K are
dating, citing the family’s objection to Mary-Kate as a “media
whore.” The truth is that they are approving of the relationship
and think that “Mary-Kate is a darling girl.” |
|
|
|
|
