Posts tagged Hollywood

Jennifer Aniston’s Gift

Jennifer Aniston

How many times have you received a beautifully wrapped gift only to be disappointed by it’s contents? In Hollywood most of the stars I interview are always perfectly wrapped with their hair, makeup and outfits, but what was underneath did not always match the surface. The first time I interviewed Jennifer Aniston I expected little more than a beautiful woman with flat answers, that’s what I thought I would get. I was on a press junket,  55 journalists asking questions about the same movie.  I met Jennifer Aniston in 1997 for the film Picture Perfect. I had been doing press junket interviews for 5 years and usually I got interesting answers but with little warmth behind them as most of the stars only wanted to “get it over with.” Along came Jennifer…she was breathtaking, a  beautiful woman who made me feel welcome when she said, “how nice to meet you,” (I usually got hello or nothing at all). I did not expect her to be so nice to me off camera. Her lack of pretension made me aware that I could ask her anything, even about her private life, which is a no-no on junket interviews as it could have been the end of my career if a star had complained to the studio. Her willingness to be an open book to me made me look good as an interviewer. She did that for me not only once, but every time we worked together. She was willing to talk about how she dealt with the tabloids and how she would not let the negative comments get her down, which did hurt her. She also told me that there seems to be a lot of people with free time and nothing to do but spread rumors because she was a great target. Her way to stay grounded was by staying close with her amazing friends. When it came to her career she was offered lots of romantic comedies, after all, she was Rachel Greene from Friends. But what she wanted was to play out of her comfort zone which she finally did in the film The Good Girl. Now she knew she could deliver even when she was scared.

The last time I interviewed her was for the film Derailed, 2005, where infidelity was the running theme in the movie and after the nicest welcome ever I waited till near the end of my timeslot to ask her about it. Her private life was all over the tabloids and the studio was afraid I would upset her. I asked her if this film could do a lot to make people aware of the dangers of infidelity. Watch the interview to see her brilliant and open response.

Jennifer Aniston and Reba Merrill

Last week I went to a party and screening for her latest film Cake, this role might give her an Oscar nomination so the mood was very upbeat, though her character is addicted to prescription medications. Surrounded by well-wishers I managed to get a chance to talk to her so I could thank her for making me look good in all the interviews we did together and let her know that her answer to infidelity was heard around the world. She asked if she could see the interview and of course I said yes and I asked for a picture and she said if she did one for me then everyone who had asked would be unhappy and, of course, I understood. At the end of the party she came up to me and said “let’s take a picture,” and we did.

Jennifer is having a truly amazing life and career. She has two films out this season, the wildly funny Horrible Bosses 2 (Now Playing) and the oscar-buzz drama Cake (January). Sometimes life gives you gifts. In my case, every time I got to sit down with Jennifer Aniston, she was a gift. I look forward to Oscar Nominations January 15th, and I hope to see Jennifer’s name as she is a supremely talented actress, a wonderful human being and…a GIFT!

Amanda Blake

This is a story from my TV talk show past. Amanda Blake, Miss Kitty, from Gun Smoke came on my show once she moved to Scottsdale. Her idea of relaxation and fun was removing her corset and eating everything she had not tasted in the last 20 years.The pay off: she gained a lot of weight and didn’t care. Even though she was heavier than on TV she was still very beautiful. At the time I was working in front of the camera so I had to stay slim and I couldn’t relate to how she was letting loose. Years later when I started working behind the camera in Hollywood and no one ever saw what I looked like, I finally let myself go too. I started eating everything I hadn’t tasted in years too. I gained 60 lbs… but unlike Amanda, I did care…

Julianne Moore wins at Cannes

Julianne Moore wins at Cannes

When I sat down to interview Julianne Moore I was warned by her publicist not to ask any personal questions so of course I did and she didn’t mind – in fact she told me a great story which I promised not to repeat. Of course I was not allowed to interview her again I guess the publicist won.

Bennett Miller wins best director at Cannes

Bennett Miller wins best director at Cannes

I was thrilled as he is one of my favorite directors. He gives great parties too as I was the last one to leave Chateau Marmont after his Capote film party. 

Hollywood Addict

I am going to surprise you, I am an addict, and I got that way from eating sugar. Don’t laugh it started with a little extra candy after a meal.As my career was getting more successful in Hollywood,I produced TV programing about movies for local TV stations across the country, I spent more and more time on film sets where there was lots of sugared treats. I just ate and ate whatever was at the craft service table [treats provided for crew on sets] and before I was knew it, I had gained 40 pounds.As the weight came on my behavior became more erratic,more demanding of my crew, rude to people and sometimes angry, I wonder If I was really angry at me for self sabotaging my life,but I did not stop.This went on for over 7 years until I weighted 209 pounds and lost most of my business. Help arrived when I went into a 12 step for overeating. Besides a food plan that included portion control it also made me give up sugar and white flour. And then I detoxed for 3 weeks which made me aware that sugar was more than a sweet treat, for me it was my drug of choice. I lost the weight regained my business and found that I am not alone. 

The Ford Factor

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I am on my way to Los Angles to do some interviews for my morning TV show on CBS in San Diego.  I love movies and their stars so I am looking forward to the short plane trip, limo ride and hotel suite that Fox is providing. It’s early May and this is one of three films that I that I will work on over the weekend. The first screening is arranged for that night with interviews set for the following morning, then more screenings and interviews to follow.  I see the film and like it but do not love it, so I only ask questions from the production notes that the studio provides. Since I have never heard of any of the actors I am looking for stories that would introduce them to my TV audience. The last interview for the film is with the star, a really good looking guy with starling blue eyes. Oh so handsome and oh so boring, it could have been my questions, but I cannot wait for the interview to be over.  I even look at my watch to see how much time is left and know he has no idea that I cannot wait to leave, as I keep smiling.  I have to wait 3 weeks for the film to open and when it does on May 25,1977 it becomes the biggest film of that year. I know you guessed it, the film is Star Wars and the boring star: Harrison Ford.

I am only sorry that the interview was not a better one, I found it later in a grocery bag in my storage locker and still have it. Years later, I sat down with Ford for the film Air Force One and had one of the greatest interviews of my career, this time I did a lot of research and the personal stories just poured out, some of them are in my book Nearly Famous: Secrets, Lies and Addiction. So when they announced the new cast of Star Wars this past week all those memories came flooding back.

The Secrets Behind Winning An Oscar

I wrote the article below before the oscars… and guess what? For the first time in a my career as an academy voter I was denied tickets. Could they be related? Read on and let me know what you think.

 

You might be surprised to know that to win an Oscar takes much more than talent. It takes a strategic campaign. Let me translate. Outrageous budgets go towards lavish lunch and dinner parties to win the favor of Oscar voters. Big publicity budgets go towards new 30 second TV spots, and self-congratulatory magazine and newspaper ads. Does this sound familiar? Could it be that the studios are running a political campaign? Why all the hoopla? Well, Every Oscar win is money in the pockets of the releasing studio and let’s face it, money is king.

The best-kept secret of an Oscar campaign is that competing studios try to destroy the competition anonymously. The cleverest publicist who operates like a seasoned campaign manager will plant stories which ever so subtly throw shade over the successes of competing films. For example in a Huffington Post article about The Wolf Of Wall Street, the article has DiCaprio defending the film for condoning the excessive behavior it depicts, instead of raving about how great it was to participate in the film. Bringing these subtle details about the film to light can make an Oscar voter take a second look which may in turn change their vote.

The moral of this story is you can’t just make a great film and expect it to win on it’s own merits, you have to spend the money, use the publicity machine and plant subliminal messages that will put the golden man in your hand.

 

Casting Couch and Courage

I remember how degraded I felt when for the first time in my professional career I was told that the the only way I could work at 20th century fox was to go down on the executive that did the hiring at the division I wanted to work at. I came really close to doing it as I knew that seemed to be the only way to get any major studio work. I didn’t do it and it took 8 years before I actually worked there. I never told anyone about it until I wrote my book and even now I have never revealed his name as he is still very powerful.

The young man, Michael Egan, who came forward with his law suit is very brave as he will never work in Hollywood again. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2014/04/16/x-men-director-bryan-singer-accused-of-1999-sex-abuse-of-teen-boy/

I know that I was not the first to have sex attached to getting a job but I do know that by keeping quite I did finally did work- tho it took longer.

I wish I had the courage to go public when it happened but I was afraid

Everything old is new again

I am starting to follow what I learned in New York on how to publicizes my new book Nearly Famous: Secrets,Lies and Addiction. I sent out 20 emails looking for a TV appearances or magazine articles. So far I got 2 rejections but nice ones. One will keep me on file and the other passed me on to another women’s magazine. Fingers Crossed.

I was told by the power players in Hollywood that I created a new way to market films. So It came as a real surprise that I couldn’t figure out how to market my new book. Shhh don’t tell…

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Nearly Famous: Secrets, Lies & Addiction



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