Ellen Pompeo was four when her mother died, at age 33. An article says “her five older siblings were dissolved in grief; her father.. was wracked by a sorrow he was unable to articulate.” It was “a very, very vivid, painful memory,” Pompeo says. [From Anatomy of a Late Bloomer, by Judy Bachrach, Allure, Dec […]
Actors and Performers
Actors and creative polymathy: Mayim Bialik, James Franco and others
A number of well-known actors are multitalented, with interests and experiences in other creative areas. Actor Mayim Bialik earned a Ph.D. from UCLA in Neuroscience. On “The Big Bang Theory” TV series she plays Amy Farrah Fowler, a neurobiologist with a relationship with physicist Sheldon Cooper. In a Los Angeles Times article, Bialik comments, “The […]
Keeping out of your head to act
James Woods appreciates being an actor: “I’m just like an idiot savant. I have one enormously enjoyable, pleasurable – for me – talent, which is being able to act. I do it without any confusion or restriction or ambivalence or hesitation, and it just flows, almost as naturally as anything in my life.” He also has […]
Joan Chen on the emotional need to retreat
Joan Chen comments about first seeing “Edward Scissorhands” in 1990: “It was unique cinema that felt like pure magic. The bizarre beauty of the film and the gentle hero with his lethally sharp scissorhands stayed with me through out the years. “Looking back, after almost 20 years, I now understand better the fierce longing and […]
Amanda Seyfried on fame, anxiety and being self-critical
In an interview, Amanda Seyfried said she isn’t comfortable with her new fame and status: “I mean, why am I considered an ‘it girl?’” she asks. “Because I’m in a lot of movies right now or am on the covers of magazines? I just hope there is something solid behind that. “Because here’s the thing […]