HOLLYWOOD

By Tony Rizzo
Producers cried, “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” as they plowed through hundreds of actors … until they found British actor Gregory Booth. The 19-year-old future heartthrob will star opposite “True Grit” Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld, along with Holly Hunter and “Gossip Girl’s” Ed Westwick. Booth previously impressed in the Starz mini-series “Pillars of the Earth” and will be seen as Miley Cyrus’ love interest in “LOL” and the BBC adaptation of “Great Expectations.”

“Superman Returns” … Brandon Routh, who played the Man from Krypton in that film, was to have starred in the sequel, but it was called off. Now the Superman film is being made with Brit Henry Clavill as “The Man of Steel.” Brandon impressed in his weekly appearances in the NBC series “Chuck,” which led to his being signed to topline the new film about lacrosse, “Crooked Arrows,” shooting in Boston in August for a spring 2012 release.

A reader in New York asks, “What is David Chokachi up to?” David was “Cody” on “Baywatch,” (l995-l999) and starred in “Witchblade” (2001-2002). He was briefly in “Soul Surfer” with AnnaSophia Robb and Dennis Quaid, and is awaiting the release of two films, “Boarding School 3D” and “Devour” with Brooke Hogan, set for a December 2012 release.
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Last week I wrote about the legendary Debbie Reynolds, so it seems only fitting to write about her daughter, Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia in “Star Wars”), this week. When you see ads for Jenny Craig, you have no idea how she put on all her weight. As if being the daughter of absentee father Eddie Fisher wasn’t enough to mess a girl up, she had many other problems.

In l980 she was engaged to Dan Aykroyd, but left him to return to Paul Simon. Their marriage lasted less than a year, but he got some good songs out of it. Then she lived with agent Bryan Lourd, with whom she had a daughter, Billie Catherine Lourd, though they were never married. Their relationship ended when he left her for a gay relationship. Next, she lived with Brit singer James Blunt (“You’re Beautiful”). In addition to suffering from bipolar disorder and a dependency on drugs, she also had electroconvulsive therapy treatments to “break apart the cement in my brain,” as she puts it.

Out of all this came the book and movie “Postcards From the Edge” (with Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine) and her recent book “Wishful Drinking,” which became a hit Broadway show then an HBO special. While we were all singing “Oh My Papa” along with Eddie Fisher, Carrie was having her first identity crisis!

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