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  • Laura Prepon: “Orange is the New Black” Star Talks Diversity at SAG Awards

    Laura Prepon and her Orange is the New Black cast mates celebrated a big win at the SAG Awards this weekend, accepting the award for the Best Ensemble in a TV Comedy.

    To Prepon, however, that wasn’t the only win she and her cast mates were celebrating.

    “This is such an honor Look at this stage! This is what we talk about, when we talk about diversity! Different race, color, creed, sexual orientation,” Laura Prepon said during her speech, for Orange is the New Black’s second SAG win of the evening.

    Uzo Aduba won the show’s first award of the evening for Best Comedic TV Actress for her role as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren.

    “This wouldn’t be possible without [series creator] Jenji Kohan, for never shying away from telling these incredible stories,” Laura Prepon continued.

    “Piper, this wouldn’t be possible without your memoir!” she added, addressing the woman behind Orange is the New Black, Piper Kerman.

    Idris Elba kept Laura Prepon’s diversity theme going when he accepted two awards on Saturday. He won for Supporting Actor for his role in the film Beasts of No Nation, as well as the award for Lead Performance in the BBC miniseries Luther.

    “Ladies and gentleman, welcome to diverse TV,” he said as he later returned to the stage as one of the evening’s presenters.

    Other signs of diversity at the SAG Awards included Queen Latifah’s win for her role as singer Bessie Smith in HBO’s Addison to Elba and Viola Davis for How to Get Away With Murder.

    Kudos to Idris Elba and Laura Prepon for recognizing the diversity at this weekend’s SAG Awards. Might they be paving the way for next year’s Academy Awards?

  • Claire Danes in Chains on 2015 Emmys Red Carpet

    Claire Danes rocked the red carpet at the 2015 Emmys on Sunday, beside her handsome husband Hugh Dancy. The Homeland star wore Prada–a cabernet and navy sequin-covered gown–with chains.

    Claire Danes looked hot in her chains, as they served as straps and accents on her sexy gown. Hugh Dancy wore a Ralph Lauren Black Label double-breasted black tuxedo.

    Chatting with Ryan Seacrest on the Emmys red carpet, Claire Danes dished about her gown and her Homeland character, Carrie Mathison. She talked to Seacrest about her character shouldering the plot sans her partner in crime.

    “It leapt off the rack, and it fit,” she said of her gown.

    “I was working pretty hard,” Claire Danes said of her Homeland role. “It was an exciting shift, scary daunting to do it without my partner, Damian [Lewis]. It was rigorous but utterly worthwhile. I can’t quite believe my luck that I’m on a project that continues to challenge me and nourish me.”

    Claire Danes was nominated for her Homeland role. She got the Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She lost out to Viola Davis for her role in How to Get Away With Murder.

    Did you watch the 2015 Emmys on Sunday?

    Didn’t you love Claire Danes in chains–as well as her handsome hubby on her arm?

    Are you surprised she didn’t win an Emmy?

  • Maggie Gyllenhaal Talks Sex, Nudity at ‘Hollywood Reporter’ Roundtable

    Maggie Gyllenhaal dished about both sex and nudity with regard to the film world at a recent Hollywood Reporter roundtable. The conversation also included Taraji P. Henson, Viola Davis, Jessica Lange, Ruth Wilson, and Lizzy Caplan.

    As sex and nudity so often do, the points Maggie Gyllenhaal made on the subjects added definite intrigue to the roundtable discussion.

    The Honourable Woman star spoke of how she was told on more than once occasion that she didn’t quite live up to Hollywood’s standards for beauty or sexuality.

    “When I was really young, I auditioned for this really bad movie with vampires,” Maggie Gyllenhaal shared. “I wore a dress to the audition that I thought was really hot. Then I was told I wasn’t hot enough. My manager at the time said, ‘Would you go back and sex it up a little bit?’ So I put on leather pants, a pink leopard skinny camisole and did the audition again and still didn’t get the part. (Laughter.) After that, I was like, ‘OK, f— this!’”

    Sex scenes in films hold a great deal of intrigue for the actress.

    “I think sex in film is so interesting,” Maggie Gyllenhall says. “It’s uncomfortable to take your clothes off in front of people you don’t know, but it can be an opportunity for really interesting acting. I’m 37, and I’ve had two babies, and I’m really interested in nudity now.”

    Fake doesn’t translate into sexy for Maggie Gyllenhaal. In a world–especially in her Hollywood world–where so many people have undergone cosmetic procedures to capture their eternal youth, there’s something very refreshing about her attitude.

    “Isn’t it so much hotter to see a woman on TV who looks like an actual woman, someone whose arms aren’t perfect?” she asks. “I am much more turned on when I see people’s bodies that look like bodies I recognize.”

    Maggie Gyllenhaal has grown into an actress that many now revere as not just amazingly talented, but incredibly sexy as well.

    Do you suppose her competition from that long-ago vampire movie is still in the acting business? And if so, is she as naturally beautiful as Maggie Gyllenhaal?

  • Viola Davis Talks About Being “Less Classically Beautiful’ and Criminal Law

    For 26 years Viola Davis has acted on stage and screen. However, debatably, her breakout role came in the 2008 Academy Award nominated film Doubt. Davis has played a multitude of characters, but her latest TV role might be her favorite one yet.

    On How to Get Away with Murder, Davis plays Annalise Keating, a defense attorney and law professor. Annalise is a commanding presence on the series. She’s tough, powerful, smart, and strong—with a few secrets or two.

    On The View, Davis spoke about playing such a “complicated” character. Davis shared that it was easy for Shonda Rhimes to get her to play this role because it was a chance to use her “craft to transform, and surprise herself and the public.” She felt that this character was a physical manifestation of herself put on the screen.

    Davis also addressed the controversial New York Times article. The article called her “less classically beautiful” than some other famous African American actresses. Davis responded by saying that beautiful is subjective. Then she discussed how after the article was released, many African American women started using the hashtag, #LessClassicallyBeautiful to show the varying definitions of beauty. “At the end of the day, you define you,” Davis’ said about confidence and beauty.

     

    In an Associated Press article, Davis also shared her insight about guilt and innocent. Taking on the character of Annalise taught Davis “just how fine the line is between guilt and innocence, and a lie and the truth, and good and bad.” She further explained by saying, “I’m not just talking about the cases. I mean being a defense attorney.”


    Davis feels “alive as an artist,” because of her role on How to Get Away with Murder.

    How to Get Away with Murder premiered last Thursday to 14 million viewers, which made it the biggest series premiere of the week. How to Get Away with Murder airs 9:00pm CST on Thursdays.

  • Viola Davis Speaks Up About Film Protestors

    Viola Davis knows a thing or two about protesting; she was actually tossed in jail with her mother as a toddler during a protest at Brown University for welfare reform.

    The actress says she wants to encourage the teachers protesting her controversial new movie, “Won’t Back Down”, because it is not only their right, it is one thing that brings about change.

    “I welcome protest. I welcome discourse. I think discourse is a good thing, I think it spearheads change, I think we saw that in the ’60s,” Davis said. “That’s why we enjoy some of the privileges we do today. And you know what, in this movie, the teacher, at the end of the day, is the hero. They save the day.”

    The film, which opened on Friday, focuses on the true story of a jaded teacher and a mother so frustrated with the school system that she starts a campaign to take over. The story, while inspirational to some, has educators upset because they feel it portrays them negatively. Though Davis says she can appreciate the feelings of the teachers, she also appreciates the strength of the women who figure central to the story, her character included.

    “I don’t think it would be easy to come in and say, ‘Hey, let’s start a school.’ I do think that comes at a cost. That’s what life is about,” she said.