The Lowdown
The Lowdown on: Desperate Housewives
This week, OntheBox brings you the Lowdown on not just one lone actor type, but a collection of them all starring in a whopping four seasons’ worth of twisted storylines. Indeed, this week, The Lowdown is on a whole show! Desperate Housewives has been gracing our tellies for quite some time now, and with the fifth series creeping up on us, we felt it was time to take a look back at times gone by for the domestic demonesses…
When did those Housewives get so darn desperate?
It all started four years ago when Desperate Housewives, the award-winning dark comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry, found its way onto our screens in October 2004 introducing us to the pruned hedged bliss of Wisteria Lane, Fairview and the lives of a group of exceptionally good-looking wifey-types who lived there.
Told through the eyes of their dead neighbour, Mary Alice, she unravels the neatly woven exterior of the housewives’ seemingly perfect lives to reveal their domestic struggles, secrets and lies.
Low and behold, it turns out that each is not as squeaky clean as they’d have us believe. As all four seasons have gone on and the death toll and bed notches have increased, the housewives have only acquired more reasons to fret.
Funny but dark…
In the first episode, after describing the normality of her day, original desperate housewife Mary Alice gets a revolver out of a suitcase and fairly calmly commits suicide, thereafter proceeding to tell the stories of her friends from beyond the grave. One might quite accurately note that this lends the comic series a rather dark tone!
The show, with quirky credits showing a tongue-in-cheek look at women’s perceived role through the ages, has been compared by the creator to the black comedy film, American Beauty, as well as some of the sassy females being likened by others to those from Sex and the City and the mysteries to those of David Lynch’s classic TV series Twin Peaks.
Who’s who?
There’s a load of ladies in the show, all with their own complicated issues. It would probably take roughly 86 hours (the length of all episodes thus far) to tell you about the true intricacies of their personal stories so instead, here’s a one-line description of the members of the inner fold:
Susan Mayer (Terri Hatcher) – divorced mother who frenziedly claws for true love
Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) – dedicated businesswoman and thus unwilling housewife who gets cancer
Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross) – Control freak mum and widow
Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria Parker) – ex-model trophy wife with urge to sleep with her gardener
Edie Britt (Nicolette Sheridan) – Neighbourhood slut
But was it always going to be this way?…
Actually, the role of Susan Mayer could have been played quite differently. Back in the early days of casting, The West Wing’s Mary Louise Parker turned down the part. Also, actress, Dana Delaney, who plays Katherine Mayfair in series four initially snubbed the main role of Bree Van de Kamp because “it wasn’t the right timing”- here’s for second chances!
Season Synopses in a Nutshell
Each series has added its own threads to the residents tangled web.
Season 1 (2004) introduced the central characters on Wisteria Lane. The main source of intrigue was their neighbour’s unprompted suicide and the association of her husband and son beforehand. Bree struggled to rescue her failing marriage and Susan and Edie fought for their new neighbour’s affections. Meanwhile, Gabrielle carried on behind her husband’s back with the underage gardener.
Season 2 (2005) brought with it new neighbour Betty Applewhite, who moved in during the night. Bree is now a widow but unwittingly starts dating the man who poisoned her husband and drifts more and more apart from her son as she turns to drink. Susan’s ex-husband gets engaged to Edie and Lynette goes back to work after struggling to cope with being at home. Gabrielle has now ditched the gardener and is preparing to have a child with her husband.
Season 3 (2006) sees Bree marry a man with a troubled past. Lynette has to get used to her husband’s as yet unmentioned daughter being around and Gabrielle divorces her husband but finds solace in the affections of the mayor. Susan and Edie seek men as ever.
Season 4 (2007) lands yet another new neighbour in Wisteria Lane, Katherine Mayfair, but she has previously lived there twelve years ago. Lynette gets cancer, Gabrielle has an affair with her ex-husband, Susan gets pregnant and Bree plans a fake pregnancy to raise her daughter’s child as her own. A gay couple from Chicago come to Wisteria Lane.
More Desperation for the Housewives?
The fifth series is due to be aired in the US on September 28th 2008. Excitingly, it’s going to be set some five years in the future. This should give the writers a pretty clean slate for creating some additional mystery in the lives of the already familiarly complex characters, many of whom will be staying on.
They will, of course, be joined by some fresh faces with their very own desperation. Looking forward to it. The more suburban unease the better.
The Lowdown on: Marc Warren
Marc Warren was born in Northamton in 1967 and IMDB list his trade mark as ‘His extraordinarily expressive eyes and hands’, which must either have been written by an edging on (if not full blown) stalker fan, or a friend taking the mickey. Still, they have a point, and Warren showed promise as an actor from an early age. Who could have known that the extra from a 1989 episode of Dr Who would one day be an accomplished character actor on the British circuit and doing his very own guest starring role in the 2006 episode Love and Monsters.
Now a chipper looking 40 years old, Warren established himself in such roles as Band of Brothers and State of Play, both critically acclaimed telly drama’s in which he played supporting characters. However he really came to our attention in Hustle, as Danny Blue. He also did a disturbing turn as Dracula in a 2006 TV movie.
Starring this year in the superb Burn Up, Warren’s ability to play the murky character with depth was displayed once again. He has even had a role in an Angelina Jolie fronted blockbuster, Wanted, in which he played an assassin known as The Repairman.
He went to the East 15 Drama School at aged 17 but dropped out after two years. In interviews he has said that he gained little from going, and learned more from is girlfriend at the time.
His private life is shrouded in, well, privacy and Warren has gained a reputation for being a difficult subject to interview as he closely guards his personal life. However earlier this year in an interview with Richard & Judy, glamour girl Abi Titmuss admitted that she and Warren were in a relationship.
Warren stars in the BBC drama Mutual Friends, starting tonight on BBC 1 at 9pm.
The Lowdown on: Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine
These days Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine, the straight-talking TV fashion advisors, have a bit of competition. New kid on the block, Gok Wan, is the latest wannabe style expert to prod the fleshy bits of Britain’s women and give them tips on how to boost the sag. His ‘everyone is beautiful, darling’ approach is proving very popular with ladies everywhere. But Trin and Sus don’t go in for all the hugging fluff- theirs has always been more of a stiff upper lip attitude- ‘this is your body, deal with it’. Surely, with their plentiful history the pair must rightly be named the true queens of style. Just look at what they’ve accomplished…
Before 2 became 1
Susannah Constantine was born in 1962 into a wealthy family. She was privately educated at boarding schools and worked as a teacher and a shop girl in Harrods before working under fashion designer Giorgio Armani as a shop girl in America. She later retuned to London, working for designers including John Galliano. After getting into journalism, she wrote initially about cars, a world away from the fashion she was eventually to end up in.
Trinny Woodall (born Sarah-Jane in 1964) was also privately educated. Random fact: The name she uses, Trinny, derives from an incident at school when was sent home for mischievously cutting off another pupil’s plait and a family friend, Ronald Searle, who wrote the scripts for the St. Trinian films likened her to a naughty St Trinian girl. The scamp was not without her share of trauma though- once at school she was made to stand totally unclothed in front of other pupils as a punishment for having water fight. What the hell were her teachers thinking?! This, she maintains, led to a fear of being naked. Uh, yeah, no sh*t.
She spent 10 years struggling with alcoholism and discontentedly working in marketing before her career turned to fashion.
Opposites attract
Believe it or not, Trinny and Susannah, the pair behind Britain’s biggest wake-up call to women’s dress sense, almost scratched each other’s eyes out when they first met. Introduced at a posh dinner party in 1994, both looked upon each other with catty contempt. Trinny on Susannah: a stuck-up aristocratic snob. Susannah on Trinny: Eurotrash. Looks like they couldn’t stay away from each other though. Now, they’re a beautiful fusion of the two.
“Don’t put that on you fool!” (What Not to Wear)
After co-founding a dot-com fashion advice business, which ceased to be in 2000, losing investors a supposed £10 million (ouch!), a stint at Granada Sky Broadcasting on Ready to Wear and a make-over slot Richard and Judy, these independent women were signed up to BBC Two in 2001. They shone for the next four years with their series, What Not to Wear advising people to ditch their crap clothes and put on shapes that accentuated their natural body shape. Their frank chat about ‘tits and arse’ and thoroughly hands-on approach to participants’ bodies gave everyone quite a shock, them being posh birds and all. Granted, they’ve been labelled ‘patronising’ but they maintain that their approach is one of concern for their guests- a sort of cruel to be cruel (and a bit kind) ethic. Their show was promoted to BBC One in 2004 and in a celebrity slant on the format featured the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and Jo Brand.
“Take off your kecks…” (T and S Undress)
In 2006 the ladies left the BBC behind and went running into the arms of ITV, who was fervently waving them over with a shiny-looking wad of £1.2m. They began their new show, Trinny and Susannah Undress, and for two series helped couples with marital problems in their belief that the right cuts and a bit of nudity here and there can solve any disaster. Using makeovers as confidence-building exercises they attempted to revitalize their relationships. The pair did come under criticism for their lack of qualifications to deal with the subject matter but again, bit back (probably with a comment about kissing their firmly supported, big pant-clad tushes)- which reminds me, they also have their own range of Magic Knickers which they launched in 2006 and will “transform your figure”.
“…everyone!” (The Nation)
The newly configured series, Trinny and Susannah Undress the Nation, begun to air in 2007, investigating key fashion errors over Britain and sees the last episode in the current series air next week.
And it isn’t just a one way process. Nope, they don’t mind practising what they preach. For their programme, The Great British Body, they stripped naked with 300 others on a hill to create a colossal living sculpture adding a few lumps and bumps of their own to the Sussex landscape.
Books, Awards, Ramsay’s Pigs and Doctor Who…
As well as winning a Royal Television Society Award in 2002, the ladies have written several successful books on fashion, all of which have fetched them a fortune. What Not to Wear profited £8.7m in 2001. Their next one, which centred from their fashion show bagged them a British Book Award in 2003 for ‘The TV and Film Book of the Year’ and sales figures reached 670,000 copies. Consequently, they obtained a £1m book deal to produce three more of their fashion books, which have become number one best sellers in Britain and the US and have been translated across the globe, selling over 2.5m copies. Gosh. Haven’t they done well?
So well, in fact, that Gordon Ramsay named the two pigs that he fattened up and ate for his show, The F-Word, after them, which they found highly entertaining.
Oh, and also, in 2005, not content with fashion, they voiced a robot version of themselves for Doctor Who in the episode, Bad Wolf.
Those bloody Littlewoods adverts (are actually gold dust)!
And who could forget those cringe worthy Littlewoods ads where they try and rob the store or hijack Santa’s sleigh. Mind you, this was a particularly canny move for the internet shopping company, who not only saw orders rise thirty percent during its sponsorship of Trinny and Susannah Undress, but who in enlisting of the style gurus as the faces of Littlewoods also has seen the brand awareness grow by 13 percent, total sales by 18 percent and visitors to the website by a whopping 56 percent. These girls mean business when it comes to brand representation.
What next?…
So, the two have shown us what they’re made of and no doubt, have a pretty decent CV.
They haven’t just kept their eagle eyes for British bodies only. Often appearing as makeover extraordinaires espousing fashion tips on The Oprah Winfrey Show in America and appearing on NBC’s The Today Show in 2006, they also announced a tour to New Zealand and Australia for a series for public appearances just last year.
But what happens now? Is there still room for the clothing crusaders or has the world had enough of Trinny and Susannah (just like Gordon Ramsay and his two pigs) and enlisted in the Gok Wan club? Either way, their success cannot be denied in helping ladies lose their muffin tops and camel toes and dress a bit sharper. Ta for that.
By Susan Allen
The Lowdown On… James Corden
As up-and-coming stars go, they don’t get much bigger than James Corden. With a BAFTA, some quality writing credits and a successful comedy series under his belt, he’s definitely one to watch. Here’s the lowdown on the man himself.
Early Days
James Kimberley Corden was born on the 18th August 1978 (isn’t Kimberley a girl’s name…?) He grew up in Buckinghamshire and started studying drama at the Jackie Palmer Stage School. He was never a fan of academia, so didn’t bother with uni. His heart was set on drama.
Acting Up
Corden didn’t slip straight into acting roles after leaving school. It was eight years before he landed his first part. It was a bit of a demoralising time for the fledgling thesp. He says:
“I never worked at all, I don’t know why. I think it was the best thing that could have happened to me because it taught me about rejection from a really early age. At the time it was awful, all my friends were getting parts in paint adverts and stuff.”
He finally landed a part in the stage musical Martin Guerre followed by a stint as Jamie Ryder in Fat Friends. Small television roles followed, including a small part in the first series of Teachers in 2001, and a guest appearance in Little Britain.
His star started to rise when he got the part of Timms in the original London stage production of The History Boys, which toured Broadway, Sydney, Wellington and Hong Kong. But his biggest break came when BBC Three bought Gavin & Stacey which Corden co-wrote with his Fat Friends co-star Ruth Jones.
Prizes all round
Corden’s talent has been recognised across the board. He was nominated for the 2000 RTS Award for Network Newcomer for Fat Friends, and won Best Male Comedy Newcomer Comedy at the 2007 British Comedy Awards where Gavin & Stacey was given Best New British Television Show.
This year Corden won the BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance, guaranteeing him a place in the comic pantheon. And to top things off, Gavin & Stacey won the Sky+ Audience Award for Programme of the Year, beating shows like The Apprentice and Britain’s Got Talent.
That thing with Keira…
Something that Corden will always be remembered for is his cheeky speech at the Empire Awards. Presenting a gong to the absent Keira Knightley, he spoke of his ardent lovemaking session with the skinny actress, claiming that he’d “just been shagging her solid for the past three days” and that it was “quite dark, a lot of it.” The audience loved it.
… and Hollyoaks
During his early years as an actor, Corden had a small part in Hollyoaks as a caretaker of the local college. In a recent interview with Esquire Magazine he said he would rather die than go back on the show because he disliked the people so much. “I met a couple of really good friends there, but it’s (only) 20% nice people”, he said. Harsh, but probably fair.
… and Lily
Although Corden claims to be in a relationship with actress Sheridan Smith, the gossip mongers were quick to link him with Lily Allen after some pretty intense flirtation when he appeared on her show. Are they or aren’t they? Decide for yourself:
…and Becks
It seems that there are no lengths to which Corden won’t go to raise a laugh, even if this means stripping down to his smalls. He decided that if Becks could do it, so could he, and this charming take on Beckham’s Armani underwear ad was the result:
Lovely.
And now…
The future looks bright for young Mr. Corden. The public love him for his charm and self-deprecating wit. He is working on a second series of Gavin & Stacey for the BBC, and will be an executive producer for the US version of the show. He will co-star with Mathew Horne in a new sketch show called Horne and Corden, a comedy show in the style of Morecambe and Wise, as well as the intriguingly-titled film Lesbian Vampire Killers. Watch this space!
by Susie Gordon
The Lowdown on: Sienna Miller
Man-hopping (and doing some movies)…
Let’s be honest, actress, Sienna Miller has until very recently been most known for her real life role as that fit blonde actress that fiancé Jude Law cheated on with his kids’ nanny, hasn’t she? Only lately has she managed to overcome this particular starring part to forge some sort of an acting reputation for herself- though this is largely based on the quality of her curves rather than how she can spin a good line. Yet, it seems that the sexy little starlet just can’t keep the steam on screen. These days, it’s her romance with married actor Balthazar Getty for which she is most notorious. Some actresses just prefer the real life drama.
But how has Miss. Miller got to where she is today?
Model of boho chic
Sienna was born in New York in 1981 and moved to London at just one years old. Her early life saw her get straight into the acting thing attending the Lee Strasberg Institute back in NYC. Before forging a professional acting career, she worked as a model, featuring in Vogue and Prada. Her style of attire was said to contribute to the fashion of boho chic – you know the one, the one with the floaty skirts and scruffy hair and arty earrings that leave your ears permanently stretched from the sheer weight of them.
Can you act? Erm..kinda, but I’m pretty hot!
Early on, Miller was in numerous amateur plays including Anthony Minghella’s Cigarettes & Chocolate.
Her debut in the world of film came in 2001 when she starred in South Kensington with Rupert Everett and Elle Macpherson. A couple of other projects followed including a long running role in 2003 in Keen Eddie, the TV action drama series by Simon West.
Sienna, it seems, has a bit of a ‘Do it or don’t’ attitude for getting her kit off for the movies. On the Jonathan Ross Show she recently explained that you either go the full hog with nudity scenes or don’t bother. Obviously, Miss Miller being the ‘do-it’ kind of girl she is, didn’t bat an eyelid (well unless it was in a provocative manner) as many of her early movies took full advantage of her commitment to her art, sparing her the bother of actual depth of character and focusing graciously on lingering arse shots.
This was particularly so in her sexed up role in Layer Cake with Daniel Craig in 2004 and the remake of the 60s show Alfie in which she met Jude Law and subsequently rocketed to fame as his other half.
More than just t*ts and arse…really?!…
Playing Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl in 2006, says Miller, was the first time she got to play a real meaty role. I think what she was trying to say here was that she actually got to play a proper character rather than a two-dimensional movie pin up.
Though, even Factory Girl has its steamy moments and it was certainly this particular aspect that got the 2008 movie The Edge of Love in the papers for its promise of lesbian antics between Sienna and her co-star, Keira Knightley. Unfortunately, people were a little let down by the fact that there was no actual three in a bed action. Described by critics as “uniformly fine”, it was just a bit dull.
Jude Law
Her notorious relationship with the king of posey, rubbish acting, Jude Law, in 2004 saw her on the front of many papers as the two seemed inseparable. However, Law couldn’t keep his mits off the nanny of his children with former wife, Sadie Frost, and he issued a public apology to Miller for the affair in 2005.
Balthazar Getty
After a brief fling with actor Rhys Ifans she declared “I really thought I was very ready to settle down, but then I realised I wanted to be selfish for just a little bit longer.” So she was. She has most recently been pictured locking lips on a yacht with the actor Balthazar Getty. The saga continues…
Oh, and she has another movie coming out, GI Joe, which is due to be released next year. Clad in tight black leather for the duration of the movie, Sienna promises that this film will truly challenge her as a serious actress. Uhuh…
By Susan Allen
The Lowdown on: Neil Patrick Harris aka Doogie Howser
Any child of the nineties will remember that baby faced whizz-kid Dr Doogie Howser. At a mere 16 years old, NPH (as the hipper of us would call him) made Dr Doug Ross look like an inept, cranky old man.
While some of us might believe that NPH emerged fully grown in 1989 from the mighty brain of some sort of god, he was of course born normally like other people. The strangely comical sounding town of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was his birth place on June 15th 1973.
His first role came in fourth grade when he appeared as Toto in the school play. Critics and his parents hailed the performance as ‘brilliant’ and ‘the most astounding performance of Toto I have ever been blessed to see’.
It was in 1988 playing opposite Whoopi Goldberg in Clara’s Heart that he started making an impact, and after starring in children’s fantasy film Purple People Eater he was snapped up to play the lead role in Doogie Howser, MD. A show about a child genius who is also a doctor, but deals with all the pitfalls of teendom along the way. This precarious sounding premise ended up becoming a hit series that ran for four seasons and thrust NPH into the light of child stardom.
Whilst you might expect a long road of drink drugs and rehab, NPH seemed to survive the regular temptations of young fortune and actually disappeared for a number of years. He was quickly dismissed as yet another forgotten child star.
It wasn’t until Starship Troopers in 1998 that he popped back into popular consciousness again, as the geeky best friend of the heroic lead played by Casper Van Dien. The cult success of the film, and NPH’s comically straight-faced turn, was enough to earn a grudging respect from audiences.
However it wasn’t until a guest turn in another cult hit, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, in 2004 that mainstream audiences started to realise that Harris had some serious comic talent. In the role he sent himself up as a has-been star with a penchant for binges and bee-atches.
This in turn led to the role that really turned audiences’ heads as Barney in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The slightly delusional, comically self centered character totally stole the show and there is no doubt that he carried the comedy in its rocky first season.
Today NPH is gaining a rep as a fierce comic talent who doesn’t mind experimenting with style. His most recent work was in Joss Whedon’s online web show Dr Horrible’s Singalong Blog. His all-singing, all-dancing portrayal of Dr Horrible pulled together a show that, frankly, sounded REALLY dodgy on paper and turned into an affectionate, hilarious and strangely poignant show.
Oh and for those who care, he came out last year, much to the sadness of many women and the happiness of many men.
Mostly though, at the age of 35, Neil Patrick Harris has established that he’s got lasting talent.
by McGee Noble
The Lowdown on: Denise Richards
Sh*gging her best friend’s husband, a messy divorce and raunchy roles: what is Denise Richards all about?
Does anyone take Denise Richards seriously these days? It seems that every week there’s another story splashed across PerezHilton.com (who absolutely detests her) about her latest publicity stunt or the most recent machination in her divorce from Michael Sheen. But there has to be more to her than that, right?
‘The only girl on the baseball team…’
Denise was born in 1971 in small-town Illinois. Her mother owned a coffee shop and her father was a telephone engineer. Denise didn’t embrace her feminine side until later in life. As a kid she was a tomboy who shunned girly stuff, preferring sporty pursuits like baseball.
Model and actress
Denise decided to capitalise on her good looks by becoming a model. This led to her being cast in a string of low-budget films and shows during the 1990s like Saved By The Bell. In 1997 she got her big break starring in Starship Troopers, followed by cult hit Wild Things in 1998.
World’s worst Bond girl…
Denise must have thought all her Christmases had come at once when she was cast as – ahem – Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough in 1999. She felt that her character possessed great depth of character and was “brainy and athletic”. The viewing public wasn’t so sure. She was criticized for the skimpy tank top and shorts combo that Christmas wore throughout most of the film, and lost credibility as quickly as Bond loses bullets during a particularly vigorous shoot-out. Unfortunately for Denise, she was voted worst Bond girl of all time by Entertainment Weekly in 2008. Harsh – but fair?
Sex symbol
Most of the time in Hollywood the pretty girls don’t get the gritty roles that would allow them to prove their acting mettle. This was exactly what happened to Denise. In the early 2000s her film work consisted solely of roles which highlighted her sex symbol status, like Valentine, Undercover Brother and Scary Movie 3. She posed naked for Playboy in 2004 and was voted among the world’s sexiest women in various lads’ mags.
Love troubles
In recent years it’s been Denise’s rocky personal life that has kept her in the headlines. Her split with Charlie Sheen (with whom she has two young daughters) is a favourite topic on gossip websites. She married Sheen in 2002 after meeting on the set of Scary Movie 3. The pair had two daughters together before Denise filed for divorce in 2005. It all got a bit messy when she took a restraining order out on him for his alleged death threats against her. She claimed that he was obsessed with prostitutes, addicted to gambling and drugs, and had a penchant for porn. This smear campaign didn’t endear Denise to her public…
My best friend’s husband
Nor did her affair with Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, which began soon after Sambora split from Denise’s best friend Heather Locklear. Word of advice for the future – best not to choose your close friend’s ex-hubby as your rebound fling… Suffice to say, Denise and Heather are no longer on speaking terms.
Airing her dirty laundry…
Violence
Despite relying on the paparazzi for her continuing slice of limelight, Denise directed her temper at a pair of snappers who dared to take her photo while she as filming in Canada. She flung their laptops over a balcony. One hit an 80-year-old wheelchair-bound woman, and the other hit a 91-year-old. Oops…
Reality bites
The saga of the Richards-Sheen divorce rumbled on when Denise signed up for her own reality show on E! called Denise Richards: It’s Complicated. She wanted to include her and Sheen’s two daughters, Sam and Lola, but Michael wasn’t too happy. He called her “greedy, vain and exploitative”, but his case against her wasn’t successful and the show went ahead featuring the girls.
Despite something of a renaissance after never quite making the A-list for her movies, Denise isn’t exactly Miss Popular in Celebville. But these days all publicity is good publicity, so we’re sure she’s perfectly happy with what she has. What’s life without a bit of scandal anyway?
by Susie Gordon
The Lowdown on: Michael C. Hall
Serial killers, a gay mortician and the lowdown on one of the U.S’s top telly actors: Meet Michael C. Hall
You may have come across him in the breathtakingly good Six Feet Under, a series which arguably changed the face of US television drama. Set in a family run funeral home, its constant morbid intimacy made death both an unrelenting presence and flippantly mundane. The constant ethical and dramatic challenges that the characters faced made it evocative and at times darkly comic in such a way that had not been captured so well in a TV drama before. Playing the role of the closeted homosexual mortician was Michael C Hall. By the end of the show Hall had been multiply nominated for Emmy’s for his role. Not a bad start considering that prior to the show his start was as an off Broadway actor with no television experience.
“My father’s death was a real marker…”
Michael C Hall was born in 1971 in Raleight, North Carolina and trained as an actor at the NYU Master of Fine Arts. He was an only child as his sister died in infancy and his father died of cancer when he was 11, leaving his mother to bring him up alone. In an interview with The Advocate in 2004 he said: “At that age, 11, my father’s death was a real marker. Certainly, for a young boy, there’s no good age, but I think I was on the cusp of a time in my life where I was starting to reach puberty, to relate to my father—or as a result, I was becoming more like him. To have him… Something gets frozen. As you revisit it for the rest of your life, it’s sort of this slow but hopefully sure crawling-out of that frozen moment.”
Leading the dance in Cabaret
After leaving NYU he starred off broadway in plays like Macbeth and Cymbeline at the New York Shakespeare Festival, and in Timon of Athens and Henry V at the New York Public Theater. It was through the theatre that he met director Sam Mendes and when Mendes did his feted revival of the dark, erotically charged ‘Cabaret’ he cast Hall in the role of the emcee after Alan Cumming. It was this that eventually led to his audition for the role of David in Six Feet Under.
Hall puts on his dancing shoes as David in SixFeet Under
Getting cast in Six Feet Under
Mendes and Six Feet Under creator and showrunner Alan Ball worked together on the film American Beauty and when Ball was looking to cast David, Mendes suggested Hall. At this point in time it was actually actor Peter Krause, who ended up playing Nate Fisher, was originally cast to play David Fisher. The producers struggled to cast the role of Nate and eventually decided to cast Krause in the role and Hall as David. This reversal ended in an award winning acting partnership that was the cornerstone of the impressive ensemble cast.
In an interview Hall said that “Everything I opened up for Cabaret,” Hall says, “I slammed shut for David.” The wariness of the character, his meticulous nature and deeply closeted homosexuality made him engrossing to watch, played with a precision and dark self loathing by Hall.
He took a few feature film roles between- both a far cry from David, a messy action thriller in which he played a bit role ‘paycheck’ and TV movie Bereft. However it was his role as a serial killer with a heart of gold and murder that has brought him back to serious character acting for television.
A promo for season 2 turns fountains around the world blood red
Playing a Serial Killer
Based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, it was adapted for television by Emmy award winning screenwriter James Manos Jr. You probably haven’t heard of him but knowing that he is an Emmy award screenwriter whose previous work includes the Sopranos gives you a sense of the quality of the adaptation. The challenging character of Dexter, who both charmed and horrified audiences, was an absorbing character and in the deft hands of Manos, the pilot was brilliantly morbid and creepily addictive watching.
Michael C. Hall talks about playing Dexter
Julie Benz, who plays Dexter’s brittle, damaged girlfriend talked about working with him in an interview “When we did the pilot, I was very nervous… I was beginning to work with my favourite actor. I had to do a lot of relaxation to be on set with Michael… I was such a huge fan of his and just couldn’t believe I was cast to play opposite him. I was really waiting for someone to come up to me and say it’s all a joke,”
Another fan is author of the books Jeff Lindsay. When asked about how he feels about the show’s adaptation he replied: “Ninety-nine times out of a hundred television will take your book and throw away what’s good and turn it into what they want, which is crappy television. Not here. Michael C. Hall is absolutely bloody marvellous.” It is a testament to Hall’s skill as an actor that when Lindsay first heard of the casting he thought that he wasn’t right for the part at all, “but then the first time I saw him on the set I was blown away.”
Privately, Hall married actress Amy Spanger in 2002 but they divorced in 2006 and Hall is now rumoured to be dating his co-star Jennifer Carpenter, who plays his sister Debra Morgan on Dexter.
Watch the Season 2 promo
With Season 2 of Dexter just stared on FX last week, now is a great time to tune into this series and see what all the fuss is about. Catch season 2 episode 2 tonight, Tuesday, on FX at 10pm.
The Lowdown on: Davina McCall
Love her or hate her, you can’t escape Davina McCall at the moment. The annual Big Brother circus is in town, with TV’s favourite motor-mouth heading up proceedings. Thanks to a long career in front of the camera Ms McCall is one of the most recognised faces on television. Here’s the lowdown on her life and career.
Early Life…
Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (try saying that after a couple of drinks…) was born on the 16th October 1967 in London. Her childhood wasn’t exactly idyllic. Her parents separated when she was three and she went to live with her grandparents in Surrey. Her French mother Florence was quite the free spirit, moving back to Paris after her divorce which meant that young Davina only saw her during holidays.
Making Waves…
At the age of 13 Davina moved in with her dad and started at posh Godolphin and Latymer Girls School. Her difficult family life led to her developing anorexia in her teens. It was also during this time that she started flexing her performance muscles, starting a professional band. She decided to go solo when she was 19 with the help of family friend Eric Clapton who she dated for a while. But pop stardom wasn’t to be for Davina. Frustrated by her lack of progress in the music industry she decided to pack it in and get a day job. But it wasn’t your run of the mill office drudgery. Davina landed a job as a booker for Model One’s male division – nice work if you can get it!
But the showbiz bug had bitten and it wasn’t long before Miss McCall was back on stage, this time in the Kylie Minogue video for ‘Word is Out’. A string of jobs and bit-parts followed (including a stint as a singing waitress in Paris, and two years running a restaurant) until she found herself back in London where she threw herself into the club scene. Drugs were rife and the temptation was too hard to resist. During her early 20s Davina was addicted to alcohol and cocaine.
First Taste of Stardom…
It was guardian angel and one-time lover Eric Clapton who helped Davina out of her misery. Thanks to him she conquered her addictions and got her first proper TV job presenting a show on MTV. Her next few jobs were on late-night and cult shows such as ITV game show God’s Gift and dating program Streetmate. But it was good old Big Bro who catapulted Davina into the limelight. A fixture since the very first show, her dedication to the BB cause was so great that she battled through three series while pregnant. But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Davina caused controversy in series 6 when she interviewed evictee Sam Heuston while wearing a bikini, and came under fire in the press for her heavy-handed interview technique with Makosi Musambasi.
Household Name…
Despite a steady salary from Big Brother Davina works between summer stints. Her CV is peppered with televisual hits like Popstars: The Rivals and Love on a Saturday Night as well as presenting gigs on the BAFTAs, Sport Relief and the BRIT Awards. She was given her own chat show on BBC1 in 2006 which never quite took off. Ratings never quite pipped 3 million and the show was axed after just one series.
Drama…
Not satisfied with simply presenting, Davina decided to give acting a go. She appeared in the sitcom Sam’s Game in 2001 but didn’t exactly set the thespian world on fire… She had more success alongside Leigh Francis on Bo’ Selecta and A Bear’s Tail, but has wisely realised that her true skill lies in presenting.
Personal Happiness…
After her rocky childhood, it seems that Davina has found happiness in her personal life. She divorced her first husband Andrew Leggett in the late 90s and married Pet Rescue presenter Matthew Robertson in 2000. The pair have three children – Holly, Tilly and Chester. Little Holly has already taken her first showbiz steps. Chris Moyles uses a sound clip of the tot saying “International Radio 1” on his breakfast show from time to time. You never know - maybe we’ll see her presenting Big Brother twenty years from now!
Future…
So what does the future hold for Davina? With Big Brother’s success on the wane she may lose her main meal ticket, but her popularity means that she’ll be in a good position to carry on presenting. A successful prime-time career, loyal hubby and three kids… It looks like Miss McCall has finally found peace and happiness after a rocky start. Long may she reign!
by Susie Gordon
The Lowdown on: Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Cole first stepped into the limelight on popular talent search Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. After six years at the top of the charts the former Miss Tweedy is returning to our screens as a judge on this year’s X Factor, replacing original battleaxe Sharon Osbourne. So what’s the lowdown on the feisty Geordie lass?
Cheryl Ann Tweedy was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 30th June 1983 into a family of five children. She was a natural performer from an early age, dancing in local recitals and television. The versatile youngster cut her showbiz teeth in ballroom dancing, ballet and modelling. Her good looks were recognised early. Her list of accolades include Boots bonniest baby, Mothercare Happy Faces Portrait competition, Best Looking Girl of Newcastle, The Evening Chronicle ‘Little Miss & Mister’ and Most Attractive Girl at the MetroCentre. This led to an appearance in several television commercials.
Tweedy was working as a waitress when she auditioned for the girl group in Popstars: The Rivals.
After storming her way through the live knock-out shows, Tweedy was eventually voted into Girls Aloud along with Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh, Sarah Harding and Nadine Coyle.
Shortly after Girls Aloud’s launch Cheryl was involved in a disagreement with nightclub toilet attendant Sophie Amogbokpa in a Guildford nightclub. She was charged with racially aggravated assault and actual bodily harm. Despite claiming that she had acted in self defence, Cheryl was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and was sentenced to 120 hours of community service. She had to pay Amogbokpa £500 in compensation, as well as £3000 court costs. She has always denied that the attack was racial.
The controversy didn’t stop Girls Aloud from scoring eighteen consecutive Top 10 hits and releasing four studio albums after their first single ‘Sound of the Underground’ stormed the charts.
When Cheryl got together with footballer Ashley Cole, it was a match made in tabloid heaven. The pair married at Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire on 15th July 2006. Cheryl wore a dress especially designed for her by Roberto Cavalli, reportedly worth £110,000. OK! Magazine paid £1 million to cover the wedding.
However, the fairytale wasn’t to last. Cheryl’s personal life was thrust into the public eye once again in January 2008 when allegations surfaced in the tabloid press that Ashley had been unfaithful. Two girls, including hairdresser Aimee Walton, claimed to have slept with the footballer. Aimee told the press that Ashley’s management had even offered to pay for her to have an abortion. Imaginably, Cheryl was devastated. She was pictured without her wedding ring on holiday with her band mates in Thailand, and Britain was poised for news of a divorce. But Cheryl decided to give her husband another chance. The pair reunited, with rumours of a sex ban imposed by Cheryl until wayward Ashley learned his lesson.
Despite this knock to her confidence Cheryl’s career went from strength to strength. She trained as a street dancer in ITV’s four part series The Passions of Girls Aloud which led to a part in Black Eyed Peas’ singer Will.i.am’s single ‘Heartbreaker’, and has recently accepted Sharon Osbourne’s job on the judging panel of this year’s X Factor.
A string of Top 10 records, a place in one of the UK’s most successful girl bands, and a blossoming TV career - life is looking good for the Newcastle lass.
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