Ryan Phillippe Enlists for Stop/Loss
Kimberly Peirce's first film since Boys Don't Cry, the Iraq War drama Stop/Loss, has been a long time coming, and Romeo has reported on Peirce and the twists and turns in her attempts to direct a follow-up feature for some time. But now it's one step closer to finally seeing action on big screens near you. Actor Ryan Phillippe plans to star as a young soldier who completes his tour of duty and returns home to Texas, only to be called back to duty through the U.S. military's controversial 'stop-loss' policy. When he refuses to return, complications ensue. Australian actress Abbie Cornish has signed on to co-star, and Peirce hopes to roll cameras by late summer. The film has a 2007 release date—unless it goes AWOL before then, which sometimes happens in Hollywood.
The L Word Latches Cybill Shepherd
One would think that after all these years as an actor, Cybill Shepherd would have played gay at least once. But she hasn't—until next season, when Shepherd will return to television to join the cast of Showtime's lesbian soap, The L Word. Shepherd will play a married mother—and president of the college where Bette Porter ( Jennifer Beals ) attends graduate school—who begins to question her sexual orientation. That makes two new cast members—Marlee Matlin is also on board for the fourth season—circling around Beals' character. Will the never-ending web of lesbian connectivity made infamous on the series simply absorb both of the new women, or will one of them stick to Bette for good? Answers arrive early next year, when the new season airs.
Brooke Shields Gets a Nip/Tuck
FX's Nip/Tuck, the popular and critically acclaimed series from queer creator Ryan Murphy about plastic surgeons, is lining up a new client list of guest stars for its upcoming season. Brooke Shields will anger Tom Cruise once again by playing a psychiatrist who sees Dr. Troy ( Julian McMahon ) as a patient. Also appearing in future episodes will be Dallas veteran Larry Hagman as the much older husband of the woman ( Sanaa Lathan ) who buys the medical practice of Drs. Troy and McNamara ( Dylan Walsh ) . Meanwhile, Kathleen Turner will show up as—what else?—a husky-voiced phone-sex operator who appeals to the doctors to rejuvenate her vocal cords. The new season begins shooting soon and will look much younger than previous seasons when the bandages come off.
Max Minghella Is Mysteries Man
The film adaptation of novelist Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh finally has a male lead in Max Minghella. Chances are you don't know his name yet, but the up-and-coming Minghella—son of The English Patient director Anthony Minghella—has already worked with the likes of Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche and George Clooney in Bee Season and Syriana. He's also currently starring in Art School Confidential. For Mysteries, Minghella will play Art, a young man coming of age—and sexually exploring both women and men—in the Pennsylvania city of the title. After much speculation as to whether or not Pittsburgh would be allowed to play itself, the film is set to begin shooting there soon for a 2007 release, co-starring both Peter Sarsgaard and Sienna Miller.
Romeo San Vicente once had a memorable moment in 'The Factory' room at Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum—and got away with it. He can be reached care of this publication or at e-mail DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com .
