Issue Date: May 23, 2004
I want to know more about Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ." With black hair and blue eyes, what is his ancestry? What's he working on now?
Rose Laning, Bismarck, N.D.
Nothing just now, but Caviezel, 35 and married, stars in the current golf drama "Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius," the marketing of which ("His Passion Made Him a Legend") plays smartly off his most recent film. Come September, a sci-fi thriller he made with Robin Williams, "The Final Cut," will be released. Although tackling the role of Jesus in Mel Gibson's controversial movie may have seemed like a gutsy career move, Caviezel, who is part Irish and part Slovak, didn't see it that way. He had turned down Jesus roles in a play and two TV projects. It was Gibson's commitment to filming without restraint that persuaded Caviezel to say yes. As Jesus, Caviezel wore brown contact lenses.
Where is original "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson these days?
Julie Petersen Los Angeles
When I talked with her, she was in New York on a mission for contact lens maker Acuvue Advance, which sponsored her tour. The pretty singer, 22, is into promoting self-esteem for young women. She tells me she was a chunky seventh-grader in spectacles and braces who just wanted to fit in. That's why "I don't mind being a role model. To me, just being myself is being the best role model." Clarkson has songs all written for her next CD.
What's new with first daughters Barbara and Jenna Bush? Are they finished with college?
Ernie Morales, Baldwin Park, Calif.
The girls, now 22, graduate this weekend -- Jenna, from the University of Texas at Austin, with an English degree, and Barbara, from Yale, with a humanities degree. They may work on their father's presidential campaign, which would be a first for them.
Go to top
You heard it here first: Joan Cusack, accomplished actress, wants to produce a parenting TV show. "We have a million sports channels and home decorating channels," says Cusack, who lives with her husband and their two sons, 4 and 7, in Chicago. "Why not parenting?" Meanwhile, Cusack, 41, is the voice of a new animated character on TLC, a penguin named Peep, and is in the movie Raising Helen. How does she balance family and work issues? "I am someone who feels like I have two lives. That makes it challenging for me to work. [Helen] was a nice project, because I could do it during my kids' spring break, and they came to see me on the weekends."
I know Eddie Van Halen split from actress Valerie Bertinelli and has recovered from cancer, but what are his plans for making another record with his band, Van Halen? What is his son, Wolfgang, doing?
Gordon Chagrin, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Wolfgang, 13, spends time with both parents, who have separate homes in L.A., a few miles apart. The couple separated in 2001 but have not filed for divorce. Musically, things are coming back together for the band. Sammy Hagar rejoined them in March, and they're working on fresh songs for a possible new album.
Can I look forward to seeing actor-director Ed Burns in anything soon?
Jennifer Mangino, Endicott, N.Y.
You'll have to wait until fall, when Burns, 36, stars in A Sound of Thunder, a futuristic action movie based on a 1952 short story by Ray Bradbury. Burns was recently in Nova Scotia making The River King, a supernatural thriller expected out next year. In between, he can keep busy at home. He and his wife, supermodel Christy Turlington, 35, had a daughter, Grace, in October.
Does Billy Boyd, of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, have a girlfriend? He is often pictured with a woman, but I'm told it's his sister, Margaret. True?
Jean Reed Saylor, Fairfax, Va.
The boyish Boyd, 35, is usually photographed at movie premieres with Margaret; they were raised by their grandmother after the death of their parents. Boyd topped a list of the 100 most eligible men in Scotland in 2002, but he now has a girlfriend he declines to name. In addition to acting, he's an avid surfer and a singer of rock and swing classics who has performed around Britain.
I heard Linda Ronstadt has had health problems. Is that why she's not as visible as she once was?
E.P. Worrell, Arlington, Va.
You're probably recalling that Ronstadt, once the girlfriend of then-California governor Jerry Brown and the former fiancée of George Lucas, has had to deal with autoimmune thyroid disease. It caused her to cancel a few concerts some years ago, but she's otherwise a busy, active single mom of two adopted children. Ronstadt, 57, will play a few concert dates this summer, but her children are still school age, so she likes staying close to home in Tucson.
Go to top
Nick Bakay's "Tale of the Tape" on ESPN is like Letterman's Top Ten list or Weekend Update on "Saturday Night Live" -- a smart-aleck institution. Now the secret's out. His wife, Robin Bakay, is the woman behind the funnyman. She gets equal credit on his compilation book out this month, "Nick Bakay's Tale of the Tape: Taking on the World of Sports, One Fight at a Time." The collaborative couple, who met at Comedy Central, have been writing together for years. A former gymnast, Robin tells me she's been covering sports "since [ESPN] started paying me, when Nick and I were a-courtin.' " Nick, who spent four summers at Bobby Hull hockey camp, can't remember a time when he didn't love sports. The two must really love each other, because they spend way too much time in the same room, and they still laugh. "We're parents to homeless animals, and nobody watches TV like us," says Robin Bakay.
Go to top
BIRTHDAYS
May 23: Jewel, 30; Drew Carey, 46
May 24: Bob Dylan, 63
May 25: Lauryn Hill, 29; Mike Myers, 41; Ian McKellan, 65
May 26: Lenny Kravitz, 40; Stevie Nicks, 56
May 27: Joseph Fiennes, 34
May 28: Kylie Minogue, 36; Rudy Giuliani, 60; Gladys Knight, 60
May 29: Melissa Etheridge, 43
Contributing: Gayle Jo Carter, Tameka L. Hicks, Kevin Maynard, Frappa Stout
 Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
|
