"I would be thrilled if it's embraced by drag queens. I think we all share a love of this kind of costume."Angelina Jolie shares her opinion on playing Maleficent. Something tells me we'll be seeing a gaggle of Maleficents on Halloween!
I never went to a prom. Don't cry for me, dear readers. I've made up for it by meeting presidents, royalty and even Oprah. But, no prom for Billy. One of my closest friends promised she'd go with me, and then at the last minute changed her mindnot that I'm holding a grudge. Whether you go to them or not, proms are part of our lives.
I remember years ago covering a story about a gay boy who was named prom queen by his class as a joke. We've come a long way, because last week, a 17-year-old Connecticut boy was named prom queen ... and he campaigned for the title! Nasir Fleming of Danbury was nominated for both prom king and queen. He decided the only title he wanted was prom queen. Fleming has a long history of being bullied for being openly gay since sixth grade. He says he's not sure if his nominations in either category were meant as a compliment or a joke. Regardless, he decided being prom queen was "fabulous." And so it goes ( as the late Linda Ellerbee used to say ).
This week brought quite a bit of good news to HBO. The first night The Normal Heart aired, 1.4 million viewers watched it, making it the fifth most watched HBO premiere since 2010. That said, it was still significantly lower than the 2.4 million people who watched Behind the Candelabra, the gay-themed movie HBO debuted the same weekend last year. Let's put it in perspectiveLifetime's Petals on the Wind debuted last week and was seen by 3.4 million, as opposed to Flowers in the Attic, which was seen by 6.1 million people.
By the way, The Normal Heart will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray Aug. 26. As luck would have it, that's the day after the Primetime Emmys, where the film is predicted to garner many wins for HBO.
Here's something I don't get to do very oftenwrite a nice story about Justin Bieber. Actually, I almost never write about Bieber because, eh, why bother? But this is different. Last week, Justin was at the annual American Foundation for AIDS Research "Cinema Against AIDS" gala in Cannes when he found himself eyeing a stunning aquamarine-and-diamond Bulgari necklace which was being modeled by the former first lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. It was valued at more than $200,000. Within moments, Bieber found himself in a bidding war for the bauble with Leonardo DiCaprio. They went back and forth until Leo's last bid of $476,000. Just as DiCaprio thought he'd won, Bieber bid $545K and snagged the gem. Justin later said he wanted to buy the necklace for his mom, and also felt inspired to donate to such a good cause. Way to go, Biebs.
You may not believe it, but I can keep a secret. Have I told you who "You're So Vain" is about? How about who really killed Kennedy? Or for whom the bell tolls? Nope. I had been sworn to secrecy about the role my dear friend John Wesley Shipp will play in the upcoming Flash reboot ... until now. He'll be playing The Flash's father. Executive producer Greg Berlanti said, "Given his history with The Flash, [we] could only think of one person we wanted to play Barry's father and that was John Wesley Shipp. ... Also, personally, it was just wonderful to work with him again since my days at Dawson's Creek. He's a great actor and a great guy." He is, indeed.
For the first time in history, NBC has given a 12-episode order to a sitcom it is producing with Half-Core Entertainment and Shaw Media. That may not sound historic to you, but Half-Core and Shaw are Canadian broadcasters. So this isn't like Once Upon a Time being filmed up in Vancouver by a U.S. crewthis is a true collaboration between the United States and Canada to make a sitcom.
The show, Working the Engels, is about a family in crisis who must work together. But what it is really about is giving my friend Andrea Martin, perhaps the most talented woman on the planet, a job where she can shine for years to come. Actually, the real lead of the show is Kacey Rohl, who plays the most normal siblingwhich is ironic since most of last season she was a murder victim on Hannibal, and this season she came back missing an ear! Look: I said she was normal; I didn't say she had all her body parts! Although it has already aired in Canada, NBC is launching the show this summer. It will air Thursday nights at 9:30 p.m. and will debut July 10. I'm begging youWATCH!
Our "Ask Billy" question this week comes from Victor in Pennsylvania: "Did I actually see a hot naked guy walk by in the beginning of The Normal Heart? Did guys walk around naked on Fire Island? I don't remember that in Longtime Companion. Could you track down who owns that gorgeous body and enormous penis?"
Well, Longtime Companion was made in 1989something that really has been overlooked when discussing how long it took for The Normal Heart to make it to the big screen. As a theatrical release back then, you probably weren't gonna see a penis. But, I'm loath to call it "gratuitous nudity," knowing what a stickler for authenticity and detail Ryan Murphy is. To find the perfect specimen, I'm certain that he bent over backwardsor, at the very least, forward. I don't know who the nude guy is, but I'm happy to post every inch of him on BillyMasters.com .
When I'm still waiting to be invited to a prom, it's definitely time to end yet another column. Leave it to my readers to find the silver lining in a film about the AIDS epidemic. Still, that's what you'll find on www.BillyMasters.comthe site that's versatile. If you've got a question you'd like me to tackle, send it along to Billy@BillyMasters.com and I promise to get back to you before I book a trip to Fire Island! So, until next time, remember, one man's filth is another man's bible.