Will & Grace star Debra Messing is hiring a beard, and no, it's not Eric McCormack. Messing is set to star in the movie Something
Borrowed, a wacky comedy (quite a stretch for her) about an American woman in London who can't seem to avoid her ex-fiance. To
prove she has gotten on with her life and is doing just fine without her ex, Messing's character hires a male escort, played by Dermot
Mulroney, to pretend to be her boyfriend. (Hopefully, the script addresses why someone as cute as Messing needs to buy a guy.) Of
course, things get complicated when Messing and Mulroney realize they're not playacting—kind of like Pretty Woman with the roles
reversed. Earlier this year Messing finished shooting a yet-to-be titled romantic comedy in which she appears as the wife of Ben
Stiller, who cheats on her with fellow NBC star Jennifer Aniston.
Spies Like Us
They don't make handsome British spies like they used to, but they do make handsome British TV shows about them. Cambridge
Spies, which debuts Oct. 25 on cable network BBC America, charts the fascinating, duplicitous careers of four real Englishmen (two of
whom were gay) courted and trained by the Soviets in 1934. The well-heeled men passed on countless secrets to the U.S.S.R. over
several decades before they were discovered. The series stars up-and-coming young Brit actors Tom Hollander (Gosford Park) and
Samuel West (Notting Hill) as the unambiguously gay duo, and Toby Stephens (Die Another Day) and Rupert Penry-Jones (Charlotte
Gray) as their partners in espionage. Expect lots of tweed and foggy intrigue—and maybe a little clandestine buggering to keep it
sexy.
Queer as Freshmen
It must be difficult enough being out of the closet in a college dorm without a camera crew following you to the showers. But young
gay Dallas native Neil McGurk happily volunteered to be trailed for the upcoming Showtime series Freshman Diaries. From the
creators of Fox's American High, which featured gay students in a high-school setting, the new 10-episode series tracks a group of
freshmen at the University of Texas at Austin for a year. In addition to being hounded 24/7, students were given video cameras to use.
The show, premiering Aug. 31, looks to be more socially responsible than the increasingly sexed-up Real World—but then again, this
is the network that gave us Queer as Folk, so all bets are off.
Gershon Prefers Pulp
Total hottie Gina Gershon has had several roles that paired her with dangerous, beautiful women—think Bound and her upcoming
feature, Prey for Rock & Roll. But her next movie may be her most dangerous yet. Along with Ali Larter (Legally Blonde) and Joy
Bryant (Antwone Fisher) Gershon has started shooting Three Way Split, a violent and sexy thriller set in LA. Three Way Split is based
on the 1963 trashy novel Wild to Possess, penned by pulp writer Gil Brewer, who also wrote such gems as Little Tramp and Nude on
Thin Ice. The book is about a kidnapper juggling the three sexpots in his life—his girlfriend, his partner-in-crime's mistress, and his
bound kidnap victim. Here's hoping Gina plays the tied-down seductress.Write2Romeo@yahoo.com .
