Brosnan's still busy after banishing Bond
Q: What is actor Pierce Brosnan doing now that he's not playing James Bond? — K.D.A:<$> Well, he's certainly not sitting around. He stars in the upcoming Civil War drama Seraphim Falls<$>, the adultery-and-murder-themed drama Marriage<$> and the crime drama Butterfly on a Wheel<$>. He also has plans to do the thriller The November Man, to recreate his Thomas Crown character in The Topkapi Affair and to co-star in a sequel to Mrs. Doubtfire<$>. And he's currently shooting the biographical drama Caitlin, about poet Dylan Thomas and his wife.
Q: I haven't seen action star jet Li in anything recently. Is he still making movies? — A.S.
A:<$> Yes; he has an action film called Rogue coming up, and he's set to team up with Jackie Chan in an as-yet-untitled martial-arts film, set to start filming next April.
Q: I read somewhere that Roman Polanski is directing the next Rush Hour movie. Is that true? I thought he was such a famous director — why is he doing this? — K.F.
A:<$> The Paris-based director of such weighty films as The Pianist <$>and Chinatown is, in fact, connected to Rush Hour 3, but it's not as a director. He's acting in it, playing a French police officer.
Q: Please tell me what actor Kevin Bacon is going to do next. I think he's wonderful. — B.P.
A: He stars in the upcoming family drama Saving Angelo <$>and the romantic drama The Air I Breathe, is currently filming Death Sentence, with Kelly Preston, and follows that with the crime drama Black Water Transit, with Sophie Okonedo. He's also in discussions to star in Rails and Ties<$>, the directorial debut of Alison Eastwood, Clint's daughter.
Q: Can you tell me about an actor named Liev Schreiber? I think he's very good. Does he have anything new coming out? — W.N.
A: He stars in the upcoming drama The Painted Veil<$>, opposite his girlfriend, Naomi Watts; he co-stars with a large cast, including Rob Corddry and Amanda Peet, in The Ten, a comedy based on the Ten Commandments; and he's currently filming the Gabriel Garcia Marquez classic Love in the Time of Cholera. He's also joining the cast of CSI in a recurring role — he makes his first appearance on the series in January.
Q: Is it true that actress Sharon Stone is dating Rick Fox? I thought he was married to Vanessa Williams. — K.B.
A:<$> The former NBA star was married to actress Vanessa Williams but isn't any longer. And he was recently spotted in various amorous clinches with Stone in a nightclub in Los Angeles. By the time you read this, though, that might or might not still be the current situation.
Q: I was watching Nip/Tuck last night. Was that Alanis Morissette playing the lesbian character? How did she get that role? — N.G.
A:<$> Yes, it was; the singer-songwriter, who is playing the character Poppy in several episodes, has acted before, in Curb Your Enthusiasm<$>, playing herself, and as another lesbian character in Sex and the City<$>. In this case, the series creator wrote the character of Poppy with her in mind and asked her agent; she said yes.
Q: Whatever happened to that handsome actor named Blair Underwood? — B.H.
A: He appeared recently in an episode of the series The New Adventures of Old Christine, stars in the upcoming TV movie Company Town and is set to co-star with Gabriel Byrne and Diane Wiest in HBO's upcoming series In Treatment<$>.
Q: What movies will actress Jennifer Aniston do next? — H.S.
A:<$> She's in discussions to star in the remake of the comedy caper film Gambit<$>, opposite Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley, followed by the drama The Senator's Wife, the true-life story Counter Clockwise, in which she'll play a Harvard psychologist, and the thriller Wanted<$>, which teams her with Meryl Streep.
Q: Have actor Tom Cruise's recent problems hurt him in Hollywood? — P.L.
A:<$> Not really; his well-publicised split from Paramount and erratic behaviour over the past year certainly cast some dark tones. But he has a new deal producing movies for Untied Artists — the studio that his producing partner, Paula Wagner, will now head — and he is in talks to star in two movies: I Married A Witch and Spike Lee's Selling Time<$>.