Kerry Washington___________
Kerry Washington Headed for Cracktown
She turned Chris Rock's head in I Think I Love My Wife and got raves for playing a troubled lesbian prostitute in The Dead Girl. Now Kerry Washington faces another challenging role in Life Is Hot in Cracktown. Based on short stories by Buddy Giovinazzo ( Combat Shock ) , the drama tells intertwining stories about a neighborhood that has been ravaged by crack cocaine. Washington plays a transgender character featured prominently in one story; her co-stars include Michael Rapaport ( Fox's The War Next Door ) and Evan Ross, the son of Diana Ross and co-star of the current swim-team drama, Pride, starring Oscar nominee Terence Howard. No word on when shooting ( or smoking ) will start.
RuPaul Goes Undercover in Starrbooty
Before his VH1 talk show, before his cameo in To Wong Foo, even before "Supermodel," legendary drag glamazon RuPaul created an alter ego named Starrbooty. Now, after a few years away from pop culture, Miss RuPaul is back and ready to fight bad guys on the big screen. The upcoming film, Starrbooty, features the icon as a supermodel who goes undercover as a hooker to rescue her niece from a villainous body-parts broker. And if the statuesque RuPaul making like Mahogany-meets-Pam-Grier isn't enough for you, the supporting cast of Starrbooty features drag queens ( The Lady Bunny, Candis Cayne ) , queer pop stars ( Ari Gold ) , and gay porn studs ( Michael Lucas, Gus Mattox, Owen Hawk ) . Shooting wrapped in February, so don't be surprised to see Starrbooty glamming up this summer's gay and lesbian film festivals.
John Waters Serves Kids a Christmas Fruitcake
Renaissance man John Waters—filmmaker, actor, TV host, author, artist, pop-culture curator, and "Pope of Trash" are just some of his titles—may be most infamous for making Divine eat dog feces back in the day, but not everything he does is NC-17. After all, he gave us the PG-rated Hairspray, which went on to spawn a stage ( and soon a movie ) musical version. But is the world ready for a John Waters Christmas movie for kids? The man behind Female Trouble and A Dirty Shame has announced that his next project will be Fruitcake, a holiday movie for all ages. He's being tight-lipped about casting but plans to start shooting this fall for a 2008 holiday release. Please, please, please—Johnny Knoxville as Santa Claus!
Tom Cruise Rounds Up Usual Suspects' McQuarrie and Singer
After his public feud with Viacom's Sumner Redstone and subsequent decamping to United Artists, Tom Cruise is ready to flex his clout as a studio exec. One of the high-profile projects he's brought to his new shingle is a World War II drama that would reunite gay director Bryan Singer with writer Christopher McQuarrie—their previous collaboration, The Usual Suspects, snagged the latter a Best Original Screenplay Oscar. While this new ensemble piece sounds promising, it means that all of Singer's other projects—including a Superman Returns sequel, a Logan's Run remake, and the long-delayed Harvey Milk biopic, The Mayor of Castro Street—are all going on the back burner. But hey, when Tom Cruise calls, most of Hollywood answers. No word on when production will start.
Romeo San Vicente may be the last gay man in Los Angeles who doesn't know someone who knows someone who heard about a friend of a guy they met once who claims he had sex with Tom Cruise. Romeo can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com .
