THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

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Breslin Is Rozema's American Girl

Lots of gay directors make kids' movies - Jim Fall went from Trick to The Lizzie McGuire Movie, and Tommy O'Haver's work includes both Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss and Ella Enchanted. So why shouldn't lesbian directors get to do the same? Canadian filmmaker Patricia Rozema, best known for Sapphic love stories I've Heard the Mermaids Singing and When Night Is Falling, will take the helm of American Girl, a new feature inspired by the popular line of dolls and books. Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) and 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski star, along with Devil Wears Prada scene-stealer Stanley Tucci. Breslin plays Kit Kittredge, a plucky young girl who helps keep her family together during the Depression. Look for lots of little American girls to pack theaters when it opens in July 2008.

Reichen Lehmkuhl Journeys to Dante's Cove

In its tireless attempts to bring America's hottest shirtless men to television, the here! cable network has announced that Amazing Race winner (and Lance Bass' ex-boyfriend) Reichen Lehmkuhl has joined the cast of the sizzling gay soap opera Dante's Cove. When a TV network calls its own show a 'guilty pleasure,' you know you're not dealing with Playhouse 90, but who can resist Cove's campy combo of steamy studs, gorgeous beachside setting, and outrageous supernatural intrigue? The show's upcoming third season will also feature Noah's Arc's delectable Jensen Atwood —between him and Reichen, that means a lot more abs per square inch of TV screen during the new season, which premieres in October.

Legally Blonde 2 Director Puts the Hammer Down

The guy who directed Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde working with the guy who used to be on the loutish cable phenomenon The Man Show? It might seem like an odd pairing, but gay LB2 helmer Charles Herman-Wurmfeld and comedian Adam Carrolla's joint project, The Hammer, wouldn't be the first unusual juxtaposition of sensibilities that Hollywood's ever seen. And who's to say that the recently wrapped story of a down-on-his-luck former amateur boxer (Carrolla) who decides to get back in the ring and prove he's got what it takes isn't full of the same joie de vivre that allowed that sparkly Blonde sequel to include a gay doggie romance? Maybe The Hammer's plot includes a secret backstage boyfriend for the butch boxer. Audiences will find out when the punchy comedy eventually makes its way to theaters.

Romeo San Vicente has it on good authority that the Sex and the City character of Samantha was based on him. E-mail DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com .