It would be an exciting week for casting even if the Cannes Film Festival weren't going on, but the glamorous event in France is bringing a ton of new casting deals as well. The lead for YA tearjerker The Fault in Our Stars cast its Augustus Waters, and Zac Efron just got a new speed-demon role. Click through to see these and the new jobs for everyone from Shia LaBeouf and Christoph Waltz to Cate Blanchett and Scarlett Johansson.
Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner gathered celebrities from New York to LA to Washington DC. There were plenty of ladies decked out in their red carpet finest, including Katy Perry in Giambattista Valli, Kerry Washington in Wes Gordon, Kate Mara in white Prada, and more. Amy Poehler also went for white, choosing a dress from Basler. Nashville's Connie Britton wore a bright blue Temperley London number, while costar Hayden Panettiere picked a yellow Katharine Kidd gown. Purple was a popular choice for Veep's Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Dolce & Gabbana dress. and Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery in Elie Saab. Claire Danes went with baby blue Prada to hit the dinner with husband Hugh Dancy — see all the White House Correspondents Dinner fashions!
Plenty of guys turned out too — Modern Family's Ty Burrell and Eric Stonestreet, Matthew Perry, and Scandal's Tony Goldwyn were among those who stepped out to hear jokes from host Conan O'Brien. We were on the scene at the big dinner and have rounded up highlights from the 2013 Correspondents Dinner.
The White House Correspondents' Dinner took place in Washington DC last night. A roster of Hollywood stars kicked things off Friday night. Downton Abbey met Mad Men when Michelle Dockery and Jessica Paré made the rounds at The New Yorker's party. And last night, stars Amy Poehler, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Olivia Wilde, Jason Sudeikis, and more got together for drinks before the big dinner. Click through to see who turned out in the capital this weekend!
Additional reporting by Annie Scudder
Stars flocked to the desert in Indio, CA, for two successful weekends of Coachella! As in years past, it's a favorite destination for celebrities who live nearby in LA. The first weekend of the festival brought out plenty of stars including Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, who went arm in arm to take in shows, as well as Joshua Jackson and Diane Kruger, who cuddled during their time in the desert. For the second go-around, Alessandra Ambrosio was accompanied by her daughter, Anja, to take in a performance by The Lumineers, and Jessica Alba hit the grounds with pals.
Whether or not you were able to make it to the festival, get the inside scoop on who was there with our look at all of the well-known concertgoers. Click through to see them all now!
In Olympus Has Fallen, Gerard Butler plays a former aide to the president and comes to the rescue after a terrorist attack. I recently got a chance to sit down with Butler and his director Antoine Fuqua. The two spilled about the film's mind-blowing action scenes and how they created their own version of Washington DC. It turns out that despite their research, there's still some national secrets they weren't privy to. Check it out!
Olympus Has Fallen, the latest from Training Day director Antoine Fuqua, is unflinching, unsettling, and a solid action film. Gerard Butler stars as Mike Banning, a former aide and good friend to President Asher (Aaron Eckhart). Their relationship has been strained since an accident that claimed the first lady's life resulted in Mike's transfer to another department. Yet when the White House is the subject of a brutal attack from an extreme North Korean political group, it's Mike who braves snipers and infiltrates the capitol building in an effort to save the president and his young son. Mike's plentiful hero stunts aside, it's the way Fuqua orchestrates the complex coup that makes the movie feel uncomfortably real.
The film primarily takes place in three places: the bunker where the president is being held, the halls of the White House where the returned hero Mike is roaming, and the off-site safe room where the acting president (Morgan Freeman) and his staff (including Angela Bassett) are grasping the reality that the president's blood will be on their hands if they don't negotiate with the terrorists. It's a clever separation, and the isolation of the three units creates even more tension. To see what else I liked about Olympus Has Fallen, just read more.
It's been quite the presidential week, what with the inauguration and now the trailer for Olympus Has Fallen. However, the latter is a bit more explosive: in the preview, secret service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is tasked with protecting the fictional commander in chief (Aaron Eckhart) until there's a horrible accident he can't prevent. Mike leaves his job for a lower-stakes desk job until the president — and the White House — are taken hostage and Mike is the only man who can rescue the leader of the free world.
If the plot sounds a bit familiar, then you may be thinking of another upcoming 2013 release, White House Down, which has a frighteningly close premise (but with Channing Tatum in a role similar to Butler's). But similarity or none, Olympus Has Fallen looks like a big, fun, flashy action flick — and it even has Morgan Freeman as the Speaker of the House, which is quite formidable indeed. Butler will save the president on screen on March 22, and you can watch the trailer after the jump.
Sarah Jessica Parker and her co-host for the evening, Gerard Butler, coordinated in complementary shades of blue during last night's Nobel Peace Prize Concert held in Oslo, Norway. The stars were joined on stage during the event by performers like Jennifer Hudson, Seal, Kylie Minogue, and Ne-Yo. The concert wraps up this year's Nobel celebrations, with the European Union taking home the top honor.
The European getaway comes as a break after a hectic promotional schedule for Gerard. He made the talk-show-circuit rounds in November on behalf of his surfing flick Chasing Mavericks and recently joined costar Jessica Biel in NYC and LA to chat up their big-screen love story, Playing For Keeps. It seems Gerard's charm couldn't tempt fans into theaters, as the film earned a disappointing $6 million during opening weekend. But 2013 kicks off with another high-profile project from Gerard; he's set to make a cameo alongside Emma Stone, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, Naomi Watts, and many more in the adult comedy Movie 43.
Sarah Jessica Parker joined Gerard Butler in Oslo, Norway this morning at a press conference for the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. SJP and Gerard are cohosts of this year's star-studded celebration, and they were joined today by fellow stars Jennifer Hudson, Seal, and Ne-Yo. The concert will bring the Nobel festivities to a close, after presidents from the EU's three main institutions were honored with the Nobel Peace Prize Monday.
SJP and Gerard Butler headed to Norway for the annual concert after keeping busy schedules stateside. Sarah Jessica Parker joined Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber at the New 42nd Street Gala in NYC last week, while Gerard has been busy promoting his new film, Playing For Keeps, in which he stars alongside Jessica Biel. In a recent interview, Gerard gushed about working with Jessica, but audiences weren't thrilled with their finished product — the movie tanked at the box office last weekend with only $6 million in ticket sales.
Jessica Biel donned a long Versace gown on the red carpet at last night's NYC premiere of Playing For Keeps. She posed for photos solo, as did her costars in the film Gerard Butler and Uma Thurman. Later, though, Jessica had the company of her husband, Justin Timberlake. Jess changed into a hot mint-green Nina Ricci dress to hit the afterparty at the Dream Downtown with JT on her arm.
Jessica and Justin have spent quite a bit of time in NYC since their Italian wedding back in October. She's done double promotional duty with two films out this season, Playing For Keeps and Hitchcock. In one interview, she opened up about the joys of life when you're married to a guy who can cook. Jessica Biel told Elle, "He bakes pies. He's Southern, so he's got all this influence from his grandma. He does a three-layer pie . . . and blueberry crunch cake, which is pretty unbelievable. It doesn't happen all that often, thank god. Otherwise, it would be a big problem."
