Celebritology Archive: Catching Up With...

Bai Ling, Crazy Cool

Bai Ling's cell phone self-portrait. (Courtesy Bai Ling) Bai Ling is misunderstood. Or so I've been told. I'm on the phone with the China-born actress and perennial Fug target because I characterized her as "bat guano crazy" and her publicist saw it. Mea Culpa. In any case, I've been asked to talk to Bai myself, to understand that she's more than a tabloid-friendly photo op. Here's what I learned: Ling is one of the workingest actors in Hollywood with nine projects in various stages of production (her latest, "Crank: High Voltage" opens this weekend). She's also an author (she says her book, "Nipples," will likely publish later this year), a singer ("I'm a cross between Fergie and Bjork"), a blogger (check out her free-form stream of Blackberry posts here), an award-winning actress (she won three awards for her role in the Hong-Kong-made film "Dumplings"). If she's a bit eccentric,...

Catching Up with Charlie Murphy

Charlie Murphy. (Image courtesy Crackle.com) Don't ask Charlie Murphy if he has any new "True Hollywood Stories" to tell. He's past all that. Even though his hilariously hard-to-believe tales of late night pancakes with Prince and partying with Rick James were spun into sketch comedy gold on the now defunct "Chappelle's Show," he's moved on. "There's actually nothing else I can think of that I think would make another good Hollywood story. My life went in another direction," said Murphy yesterday when I talked to him by phone. The comedian -- and brother of Eddie Murphy -- says his future is on the Web. At least for now. Later this month, he'll debut a series of short comedy sketches on Crackle.com, Sony Entertainment's entry into the Web video field. The site already features vintage TV, movies and shows created exclusively for the site. Contrary to some Web reports, Murphy...

A Dozen Questions for Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais is best known in the U.S. as the creative force behind BBC's "The Office," HBO's "Extras," he's also responsible for "The Ricky Gervais Show" series of podcasts. Gervais teamed with writing partner Stephen Merchant and producer Karl Pilkington for five seasons, largely made up of the pair mocking Pilkington for his outlandish and bizarre theories. And the round baldness of his head. The show has produced a new series of audio books, the latest installment of which, "The Ricky Gervais Guide to...The Arts" is available now. We solicited readers' questions about the podcast, his shows, career and more, then sent a dozen to Gervais. His answers are below.

Catching Up with 'Lost's' Michael Emerson

Michael Emerson. (ABC) It turns out that Michael Emerson, living, breathing actor, is every bit as intense as Ben Linus, fictional, diabolical mastermind. The difference, I suppose, is context. Where Ben Linus's frightening gravity is mustered to bend those around him to his will, Emerson's is more of a centeredness and workman-like approach to his craft. Yesterday, I spoke with Emerson by phone and it may behoove fans of "Lost" to pay close attention to a man who -- both in and out of character -- chooses his words carefully. Emerson, who says his default mode is theater work, never expected his run on the show to last this long (he's in his third season) or for his character to become so central to the plot. "I'm really sort of grateful I didn't know or I might've been so nervous I'd have screwed it all up," says Emerson. But...

How to Be a Celebrity

(Courtesy Skyhorse Publishingt) Do celebrities actually have to touch their children? What are the steps to pulling off a legal paparazzo extermination? Do personal assistants really need a living wage? I know what you're thinking: Being a celebrity is harder work than you'd imagined. Just ask Leslie: Gornstein, E!'s saucy "Answer Bitch" columnist. Gornstein's how-to manual, "The A-List Playbook," is set to hit bookshelves -- and celebrity nightstands -- on Feb. 22 (Oscar day, FYI). I talked to Gornstein by phone last week after speeding through an advance copy of the "Playbook" to get her invaluable take on what makes celebrities -- or as Gornstein terms them, America's royalty -- so different from the rest of us. Read on to find out why celebrities get an average of $20,000 in free swag a month, why Angelina Jolie plays hard to get, how the stars leak their own private lives...

Catching Up With 'Mad Men's' Bryan Batt

Bryan Batt with co-star Christina Hendricks on the 'Mad Men' set. (AMC) Even if the cigarettes are herbal and he has to give back the sharkskin suits at the end of the day, Bryan Batt agrees: "Mad Men" is basically the coolest show on television ever. And it's not just those impeccably tailored clothes, the spot-on '60s era sets and the unshakably hip vibe. Batt plays Sal Romano on the show -- which will air its season finale Sunday on AMC -- Sterling-Cooper's closeted gay art director. Always available with a quick quip, but equally anxious to deflect attention from himself. "I couldn't have been luckier landing this plum role in such a great place, created by the brilliant Matthew Weiner and to be a part of such a great ensemble of actors," said Batt via phone last week. That may smack of sycophancy, but Batt means every word....

Older Entries in This Category »

Catching Up With Christopher Knight, Liz , September 18, 2008

Dirty Job: Catching Up With Mike Rowe, Liz , July 16, 2008

Catching Up With John Schneider, Liz , May 22, 2008

Isabella Rossellini's Going Green, In a Porn-y Kind of Way, Liz , April 22, 2008

Catching Up with Kate Walsh, Liz , March 28, 2008

Catching Up With Sheryl Crow, Liz , March 17, 2008

Catching Up With Jane Fonda, Liz , February 27, 2008

Catching Up With... Barry Williams (aka Greg Brady), Liz , January 25, 2008

Catching Up With Dave Navarro, Liz , December 13, 2007

Doubletake: Celebrity Clones as Art, Liz , November 8, 2007

Catching Up With... Andy Dick, Liz , November 2, 2007

Perez Hilton Comes to Town, Liz , August 20, 2007

Catching Up With Ricki Lake, Liz , July 25, 2007

Catching Up with Tony Danza, Liz , July 3, 2007

Catching Up with Joe Mantegna, Liz , May 25, 2007

Catching Up With Ralph Macchio, Liz , February 6, 2007

Catching Up with Robbie Rist, Liz , August 31, 2006