U fitted for sci-fi 'Prosthesis'

PalepUniversal is fitting "Prosthesis," creating progression of a sci-fi feature while using Gotham Group and 1stAveMachine creating and Arvind Palep pointing.Studio acquired "Prosthesis" after professionals saw Palep's 10-minute teaser presentation mixing VFX with storyboards and live-action footage.Palep co-created multimedia production banner 1stAveMachine with Serge Patzak, who'll result in the film with Gotham Group topper Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Eric Robinson. Peter McHugh and Mike Penfield will professional produce.Particulars around the world Palep has created for "Prosthesis" are increasingly being saved under systems aside from it'll rely on Palep's capacity to produce immersive cell phone industry's parallel towards the own. No film author is attached."?'Prosthesis' is certainly a legendary, inside the purest sense of the word, and Arvind's vision and to experience a persons condition will blow audiences away," Robinson mentioned.Anikah McLaren will oversee the job for that studio.Gotham Group's feature creating credits include "Abduction" and "The Spiderwick Tales." Media production banner 1stAveMachine includes 10 company company directors who create TV ads, high quality online content and interactive content along with developing TV and also have projects.Palep and 1stAveMachine were repped inside the deal by WME, Gotham Group and attorney George Davis. Gotham Group was repped by CAA and Davis. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

SAG Awards 2012: We Pick The Winners

One of the biggest surprises coming out the Academy Award nominations from Tuesday (January 24) was how significant the SAG nominees ended up being. No SAG nomination for Albert Brooks in "Drive"? No Oscar nomination for Albert Brooks in "Drive." It might be easy to dismiss them, but the SAG awards mean a great deal in the grand scheme of all things Oscars. The winners there often repeat later at the Academy Awards. When actors are choosing the winners, people pay attention. Here are our picks for the Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Ensemble - "The Artist" This film has two big factors going for it. It's all about how magical movies are, and it's silent. Actors have more respect for their own craft than anyone else, and part of that is honoring its origins. Not only is "The Artist" the front runner for Best Picture, but it's a movie Hollywood loves because it loves Hollywood. Best Actor - Jean Dujardin in "The Artist" Dujardin gets all of the benefits that "The Artist" has. His performance hearkens back to everything that made the pictures magical. It's the kind of role that SAG loves to celebrate. Best Actress - Viola Davis in "The Help" Let's call Meryl Streep's Golden Globes win a fluke. Viola Davis, along with some help from Octavia Spencer, carried "The Help," a movie that won't see much love outside of the actress categories. Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer in "Beginners" Plummer is an acting legend in a role that embraces alternative lifestyles. That's simple award season arithmetic. Supporting Actress - Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids" Megan simply stole the show in "Bridesmaids," and this award makes for the perfect opportunity for the guild to praise a comedic role. Best Ensemble (Comedy Series) - "Modern Family" TV's easiest show to love should have the easiest time reclaiming the award it won last year. With virtually the same field of competitors, a repeat shouldn't be a problem. Best Ensemble (Drama Series) - "Game of Thrones" As a true ensemble piece, "Game of Thrones" has the same advantage "Boardwalk Empire" had for its win last year, but tie goes to the newbie. Best Actor in a Comedy Series - Steve Carell in "The Office" Both the Emmys and the Golden Globes ruthlessly snubbed Carell after his final year as Michael Scott. Here's to hoping the guild will correct this egregious error. Best Actress in a Comedy Series - Edie Falco in "Nurse Jackie" Betty White got her obligatory award last year, and the "Modern Family" moms should cancel each other out. Falco will edge out Fey because of her more "dramatic" role in a comedy. Best Actor in a Drama Series - Coach Taylor in "Friday Night Lights" Yes, we're aware that his name is actually Kyle Chandler, but the two are one in the same. He cleared our eyes and filled our hearts for five years. It's time he wins every award possible. Best Actress in a Drama Series - Jessica Lange in "American Horror Story" It's Constance. She's new, creepy and crazy. "American Horror Story" was the only true water cooler show of the new season, and Lange played a large part in that. Best Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries - Paul Giamatti in "Too Big to Fail" Because he's Paul Giamatti. Best Actress in a TV Movie or Miniseries - Kate Winslet in "Mildred Pierce" Because she's Kate Winslet. Who do you want to see win at the SAG Awards? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!

Feig to helm HBO's 'Viagra Diaries'

Feig "Bridesmaids" helmer Paul Feig is onboard to direct and professional make the pilot for HBO's Goldie Hawn starrer "The The blue pill Journals."Darren Star has composed the script turning around a lady who struggles with being single the very first time in 35 years after her husband leaves her. Project is dependant on it of the identical title by Barbara Rose Brooker.Star, Hawn and Feig professional produce with Aaron Kaplan, David Knoller, Alan Nevins, John Medavoy, Alan Riche, Peter Riche and Wendy Riche.Feig continues to be among the smallscreen's most searched for-after comedy helmers recently, and he's busy around the feature front after the prosperity of "Bridesmaids." He lately dedicated to direct the Universal comedy "The Greater Lady" (Daily Variety, Jan. 10). Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com

Diane Kruger lined up to play The Seeker in The Host

According to a report by Deadline, Diane Kruger is in negotiations to join the movie adaptation of Stephenie Twilight Meyer's non-Twilight novel The Host.She'll play The Seeker, a member of 'the souls' who have invaded Earth and taken control of the planet's inhabiting humans. She's none-too-happy that rebel human Melanie (Saoirse Ronan) is proving resistant to the influence of her assigned parasitic 'soul'.Kruger joins Ronan, William Hurt and Max Irons in the movie, which will be written and directed by Andrew Niccol (Gattaca - yay! In Time - not so much...)Former model Kruger has thus far struck a nice balance between European fare and Hollywood blockbusters. She plays Marie Antoinette in Farewell, My Queen, which is scheduled to open the Berlin Film Festival in February.The Host will open on 29 March 2013.

New poster for Jason Statham's Safe

It seems amazing to think about that merely 15 years back, Jason Statham was most broadly referred to as Sausage from Guy Richie's knockabout crime caper Lock, Stock And A Pair Of Smoking Barrels. Nowadays he's an authentic action star, as well as the new poster for approaching thriller Safe, takes this and runs from it.The poster shows Statham at his most imposing, searching decrease your camera while brandishing a ruddy massive gun. No real surprise that youthful girl is cowering behind him. It's clearly probably the most secure place to become.The film sees Statham play a classic cop switched cage fighter, who occurs witness the attempted abduction from the youthful girl round the NY subway. Additionally, the gangsters developing a grab on her behalf would be the identical ones who destroyed his wife...It soon emerges the lady understands a more sophisticated code the Russian Mafia, the Triads together with a corrupt branch in the NYPD are ready to kill to acquire. Can the Stath keep her protected against every one of these wrong'uns? Whatrrrs your opinion?Targeted by Can Remember The Leaders helmer Boaz Yakin, Safe may come roaring into Uk cinemas on 11 May 2012. Get for the local multiplex and book your tickets now. Don't make Statham request the two of you occasions...

GoDigital, Adopt pact for pics

Video-on-demand upstart GoDigital on Wednesday announced a pact with Adopt Films that will make the independent distributor's six-to-eight films per year available in roughly 100 million U.S. households.Multi-year deal includes all VOD and electronic sell-through rights, putting NY-based Adopt's slate on all of GoDigital's cable, satellite, IPTV and broadband platforms. First title will be Marie Losier's "The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye," which opens theatrically March 8th.Adopt co-managing executive Jeff Lipsky negotiated the distrib pact with GoDigital's Andy Bohn."GoDigital is enormously incentivized to put our films at the forefront of their expanding company," Lipsky said. "We expect to learn from the best and trust that Andy and his colleagues are poised to maximize our VOD revenues."GoDigital acquired Might Entertainment earlier this month, creating a full-service digital distribution company with a library of over 1000 films. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

'Juice' 20th Anniversary Celebrated On RapFix Live

Twenty years have passed since the January 17, 1992 release of "Juice," director Ernest Dickerson's crime thriller about four inner-city youths caught up in the dangers of the streets. "Juice" featured a few names you may or may not have heard ofSamuel L. Jackson, Queen Latifah and Tupac Shakur, just to name a fewand we're celebrating the film's 20th anniversary today on RapFix Live with special guests and "Juice" veterans Khalil Kain and Naughty By Nature. Check it all out in the video below.

Meet Our Take 5 Actors for 2012

Take Five Meet Our Take 5 Actors for 2012 January 15, 2012 Erin Mallon Erin Mallon, NYC Hi everyone! I am thrilled to be one of this year's Take 5ers. I am an actor and writer in NYC who grew up right outside Philadelphia. Have you ever noticed no one seems to be from Philadelphia but always "right outside Philadelphia"? While I happily work in many media (theater, commercials, voiceovers, audio books), one of my greatest joys as an actor is working on new plays. Right now I'm having a ridiculously good time rehearsing "Mickey & Sage," by the wonderful Sara Farrington. I play Sage, a 9-year-old girl trapped in her backyard with Mickey, the 11-year-old pal she adores (and who finds her completely exasperating). We'll do a full run at NYC's Incubator Arts Project in September. Until then, we're offering workshop showings Jan. 20 to 29 at Foxy Films. Give a shout-out to MickeyandSage@gmail.com to join the fun.I organize a new playgenerating project in Brooklyn. One Friday night each month, six playwrights and 12 actors gather. The playwrights pick two actors' names from a hat, as well as one piece of inspiration to spark their writing (we've used everything from horror movie posters to family photos). Saturday we write the plays. Sunday we perform them for an audience. It's insane, and it's inspiring. Each time we dive into the madness, I'm reminded that we all have endless reserves of creativity inside us. Sometimes all we need to tap into the magic are two actors, one suggestion, and a firm deadline. I am also a new member of InViolet Rep, a fantastic NYC theater company that began much in the same way companies like LAByrinth and Steppenwolf did: a group of actors coming together to diversify their talents in the theater and make great things happen. I feel like I have been invited to a wonderful party, and I'm excited to see where we grow from here. Speaking of parties, we have a big one coming up Feb. 12 in Manhattan: "InViolet InRed," our annual benefit gala. I'd love you to throw on your sexiest red outfit and join us for food, drinks, and dancing. Also, if you happen to be in the Atlanta area this month, check out "40 Weeks," our co-production with OnStage Atlanta. My 2012 goals are pretty epic and include everything from spending more time in the voiceover booth (one of my favorite places to be) to publishing the line of humor storybooks I'm writing. Instead of rattling off that long list, I'd like to leave you with the overriding goal I have for us as an acting community this year. Paula Vogel once said, "We rise in circles." Let's take this concept 100 percent to heart. Let's embrace every opportunity to not only celebrate one another's successes but actively participate in bringing them about. Let's operate from a place of generosity and trust that when we provide encouragement and opportunity to others, it returns to us tenfold. Happy new year! Tim Intravia, NYC I finished Circle in the Square Theatre School's two-year program six years ago. After our industry showcase, I didn't get a single phone call or interview request. My classmates had meetings left and right, and I thought my career was over before it started. Turns out, that was the best thing to happen to me. It taught me that no one was going to do it for me and that I had to work for myselfbe my own agent, manager, publicist, disciplinarian, what have you.I started by going to every audition I was close to being right for. I woke up at the crack of dawn so Equity could turn me away day after day. My tenacity eventually paid off after going to a nonunion open call for something I was completely wrong for. The producers loved me and cast me in another show they also worked on (an Off-Broadway contract), and I joined Equity. Commercials never seemed like my bag. I just didn't see myself as the "commercial type" I grew up watching, in between "Charles in Charge" and "The Brady Bunch" reruns. I've since booked more than two dozen commercials, including my first national spot (Friendly's) in August. Writing wasn't even a thought in my mind when I got into acting (after graduating from college with an unrelated degree). But last year the one-man show I wrote about my survival job as a human statue street performer won best one-man comedy at the United Solo Theatre Festival. (Please like "From Busk Till Dawn" on Facebook, and excuse the shameless plug.)I tell you all this not to brag or pat myself on the back but to let you know that hard work, patience, and perseverance pay off. People always tell me I'm going to make it in this business, and I'm finally starting to believe them. Look, I'm not famous, and I'm not supporting myself solely on acting work. I still have to catch lunch specials and happy hours and read the free newspapers in the morning, but I'm seeing the progress I've always heard about. I'm experiencing those small breaks that (hopefully) lead to the big ones, and I'm trying to enjoy the ride. Anyone who knows me would say I'm a "glass half empty" guy, and that's something I want to change. I tend to see the negative more than the positive, and one of my main goals for this year is to embrace my career for where it is instead of where I wish it was. I also want to finally get a voiceover reel together and re-edit my acting reel with footage from "Dead by Friday," the film that, when it finally gets finished, could do very good things for me. Most important, I want to plan and have the best wedding ever, to the love of my life. After all, some things are more important than being on TV. Follow me on Twitter @timintravia.Stephen Tobolowsky, Los Angeles I was born in the 1950s in Dallas, Texas. That's when I wanted to become an actor. I thought it meant I would have adventures. Fly into space like Rocky Jones. Tame the West like John Wayne. Fall in love and try to save the old building and loan like Jimmy Stewart. I acted as a teenager in play competitions the Dallas city parks had during the summer months. I starred in "Wilber Takes His Medicine" and the "Ghost of Hootin' Holler"which our director renamed "The Ghost of Pumpkin Holler" because she thought "hootin' " sounded too rowdy.I was a child of the '60s who never did drugs. I had no idea what Woodstock was. In college I ate, drank, and dreamed theater. The stage. The English Stage. Olivier. Gielgud. Plowright. I read plays and thought that one day I would do Chekhov on Broadway. (Hold for laugh.)Now I am a professional actor. I have been in more than 200 movies and television shows. I have been on Broadway twice. The first time we "closed" on opening night. The second time we were showered with praise, ran for a year. We were nominated for more Tonys than any other straight play in Broadway history (we, including me, lost them all).I have been in a movie that has permeated popular culture, "Groundhog Day." I have been on landmark television programs: "Deadwood," "Heroes," and "Glee." I scored a national voiceover campaignall the trappings of success. And yet I wake up every morning scared as a jackrabbit. I am terrified I will never work again. Daily, I torment over ways I can improve my auditions, my study techniques for a shoot, and strategies to keep my sanity when the cards are against me.It is a brutal business. The irony is that I think most of us want to be actors because of something quite idyllic, perhaps something in our childhooda moment when we saw a performance that moved us to laughter or tears and we said, "I want to do that, too." Or when we saw a community theater performance of "The Fantasticks," and we imagined ourselves trying to remember the kind of September. There are a lot of things I don't know about this business. We will get to those later. The one I do know is that we are involved in the creation of magic. Real magic. I have seen it work. I have seen its effects. I respect its power. I respect the cost it takes on all of us who still pursue that little flame. The one that warmed us years ago when we saw something we didn't quite understand. Something that kept us awake at night, dreaming.Back Stage has asked us to express our goals for this year. In no specific order: To continue to try to get better. To get another job. To remember the little flame that got me here in the first place.Vanessa Smith, Los Angeles Hello, fellow artists and performers. I'm Vanessa Stewart (formerly Smith). I was married in June to a wonderful man who is an actor, despite telling myself I would never marry one. My heart apparently had other plans. Anyway, I'm very honored to have the opportunity to express in writing this year everything I've come to learn about this business since I started performing at age 8. I studied musical theater at Webster Conservatory in St. Louis, where I received a BFA, and followed that up with classical training at the Oxford School of Drama with really awesome teachers from the RSC. Growing up, my favorite actors in TV and film (Glenn Close, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson) had theater trainingso I figured if I wanted to be as good as them, I had to train like them. After school, all I wanted to do was make a living as an actor. I didn't need to be "famous." I didn't need to be rich. I just wanted a normal life and to start a normal family like every girl who grew up in Monroe, La. And I knew that there were only two places to make a living as an actor: Los Angeles and NY City. NY intimidated me. I love the theater, but the idea of living hand to mouth in a cluster of tall buildings seemed scary to my small-town sensibilities.So I moved to Los Angeles a decade ago to chase the elusive dream of making a living at playing pretend. The first smart idea I had was to find a good theater company that did great work and agreed with my artistic sensibilities. I started hanging out with the Sacred Fools theater company in 2004, and it quickly became my safe place, my West Coast family. I think it's really important to have something like that in Los Angeles. Mom always told me when I was a kid, "If you're lost, stay in the same place until somebody finds you." And that's what I did. I was "found" at the Sacred Fools theater company in 2008 while performing a show that I had written with Jake Broder called "Louis and Keely: Live at the Sahara." My family at Sacred Fools believed in me enough to produce this little play that, when I told them the idea, hadn't even been written. It premiered that May, then re-opened at the Matrix Theatre, then became one of the longest-running shows at the Geffen Playhouse, with Taylor Hackford at the helm. I was finally able to quit my three jobs, get an agent, get a manager, and have the career I always hoped for. Over the course of 2012, we will be readying "Louis and Keely" for its next incarnation as we head east. Looks like I'm going to have to get used to the idea of tall buildings after all. 2012 is going to be quite the year, and I'm looking forward to sharing with you my journey of being a self-producing actor-writer. I'll end this with one of my favorite inspirational quotes: "The difference between a goal and a dream is a deadline." Make 2012 your year of achievable goals.McKinley Belcher III, Los Angeles I'm sitting here in an apartment in New Haven, Conn., having just had a nap after a long day of rehearsal at the Long Wharf Theatre. I'm gearing up to play Macbeth in a world-premiere adaptation called "Macbeth 1969" that's literally and unashamedly kicking my butt. I sit here a Southern boy from Atlanta, Ga., and technically still residing in Los Angeles. It's strange to consider the winding road that has left me bundled up in a blanket, in a strange new place, with a black binder next to me full of pages from one of Shakespeare's most haunting and dare I say disturbing plays. I can't help but laugh at the life I've found, or maybe I should say the life that found me. (Don't worry, more clichs to follow.)I came to acting rather late. I spent all of high school admiring drama club from afar. Toward the end of my freshman year at Belmont University, a friend convinced me to audition for "A Raisin in the Sun." I got the part. On the first day, I was a stuttering-shaky mess, but somehow I found my own way to opening night and that there was something thrilling about how terrified I was. I was a private person who suddenly felt energized and alive to reveal myself in this very public forum. But I had planned to go to law school. Fast-forward through graduation, a miserable year working for a law firm, art stepping into the foreground, grad school auditions, and moving from Atlanta to attend USC in Los Angeles.I graduated from USC with an MFA in May 2010 a more confident, centered actor. Thanks to our showcase, I entered the industry with theatrical and commercial representation. I was auditioning pretty regularly in Los Angeles, but I quickly gave myself the nickname "Almost" for the many times I almost got that career-changing role. I booked a couple of co-stars on TV and a commercial or two and did Equity waiver theater (what I like to call 99-cent theater). I was moving forward as an actor, but I was missing the catharsis and challenge that I'd learned to love in grad school. So I began my search for a play that might satisfy that desire. I found a theater in NY that was producing a play I knew I had to do. I booked the job. Those two months ended up stretching into four. I got a taste of what it'd be like to live in NYC and built a relationship with the NY branch of my agency. I booked two more shows, the last of which I'm working on now at the Long Wharf. I'm proud to be Equity and SAG, and I'm investigating trading my L.A. sun for NY pavement. I couldn't be more excited to ride out this next year with you all. I already feel a bit naked, as we'll be experiencing together my successes, failures, growth, and hopefully a seamless move from the West Coast. Here's to parading around in my artistic birthday suit for the next year. Meet Our Take 5 Actors for 2012 January 15, 2012 Erin Mallon Erin Mallon, NYC Hi everyone! I am thrilled to be one of this year's Take 5ers. I am an actor and writer in NYC who grew up right outside Philadelphia. Have you ever noticed no one seems to be from Philadelphia but always "right outside Philadelphia"? While I happily work in many media (theater, commercials, voiceovers, audio books), one of my greatest joys as an actor is working on new plays. Right now I'm having a ridiculously good time rehearsing "Mickey & Sage," by the wonderful Sara Farrington. I play Sage, a 9-year-old girl trapped in her backyard with Mickey, the 11-year-old pal she adores (and who finds her completely exasperating). We'll do a full run at NYC's Incubator Arts Project in September. Until then, we're offering workshop showings Jan. 20 to 29 at Foxy Films. Give a shout-out to MickeyandSage@gmail.com to join the fun.I organize a new playgenerating project in Brooklyn. One Friday night each month, six playwrights and 12 actors gather. The playwrights pick two actors' names from a hat, as well as one piece of inspiration to spark their writing (we've used everything from horror movie posters to family photos). Saturday we write the plays. Sunday we perform them for an audience. It's insane, and it's inspiring. Each time we dive into the madness, I'm reminded that we all have endless reserves of creativity inside us. Sometimes all we need to tap into the magic are two actors, one suggestion, and a firm deadline. I am also a new member of InViolet Rep, a fantastic NYC theater company that began much in the same way companies like LAByrinth and Steppenwolf did: a group of actors coming together to diversify their talents in the theater and make great things happen. I feel like I have been invited to a wonderful party, and I'm excited to see where we grow from here. Speaking of parties, we have a big one coming up Feb. 12 in Manhattan: "InViolet InRed," our annual benefit gala. I'd love you to throw on your sexiest red outfit and join us for food, drinks, and dancing. Also, if you happen to be in the Atlanta area this month, check out "40 Weeks," our co-production with OnStage Atlanta. My 2012 goals are pretty epic and include everything from spending more time in the voiceover booth (one of my favorite places to be) to publishing the line of humor storybooks I'm writing. Instead of rattling off that long list, I'd like to leave you with the overriding goal I have for us as an acting community this year. Paula Vogel once said, "We rise in circles." Let's take this concept 100 percent to heart. Let's embrace every opportunity to not only celebrate one another's successes but actively participate in bringing them about. Let's operate from a place of generosity and trust that when we provide encouragement and opportunity to others, it returns to us tenfold. Happy new year! Tim Intravia, NYC I finished Circle in the Square Theatre School's two-year program six years ago. After our industry showcase, I didn't get a single phone call or interview request. My classmates had meetings left and right, and I thought my career was over before it started. Turns out, that was the best thing to happen to me. It taught me that no one was going to do it for me and that I had to work for myselfbe my own agent, manager, publicist, disciplinarian, what have you.I started by going to every audition I was close to being right for. I woke up at the crack of dawn so Equity could turn me away day after day. My tenacity eventually paid off after going to a nonunion open call for something I was completely wrong for. The producers loved me and cast me in another show they also worked on (an Off-Broadway contract), and I joined Equity. Commercials never seemed like my bag. I just didn't see myself as the "commercial type" I grew up watching, in between "Charles in Charge" and "The Brady Bunch" reruns. I've since booked more than two dozen commercials, including my first national spot (Friendly's) in August. Writing wasn't even a thought in my mind when I got into acting (after graduating from college with an unrelated degree). But last year the one-man show I wrote about my survival job as a human statue street performer won best one-man comedy at the United Solo Theatre Festival. (Please like "From Busk Till Dawn" on Facebook, and excuse the shameless plug.)I tell you all this not to brag or pat myself on the back but to let you know that hard work, patience, and perseverance pay off. People always tell me I'm going to make it in this business, and I'm finally starting to believe them. Look, I'm not famous, and I'm not supporting myself solely on acting work. I still have to catch lunch specials and happy hours and read the free newspapers in the morning, but I'm seeing the progress I've always heard about. I'm experiencing those small breaks that (hopefully) lead to the big ones, and I'm trying to enjoy the ride. Anyone who knows me would say I'm a "glass half empty" guy, and that's something I want to change. I tend to see the negative more than the positive, and one of my main goals for this year is to embrace my career for where it is instead of where I wish it was. I also want to finally get a voiceover reel together and re-edit my acting reel with footage from "Dead by Friday," the film that, when it finally gets finished, could do very good things for me. Most important, I want to plan and have the best wedding ever, to the love of my life. After all, some things are more important than being on TV. Follow me on Twitter @timintravia.Stephen Tobolowsky, Los Angeles I was born in the 1950s in Dallas, Texas. That's when I wanted to become an actor. I thought it meant I would have adventures. Fly into space like Rocky Jones. Tame the West like John Wayne. Fall in love and try to save the old building and loan like Jimmy Stewart. I acted as a teenager in play competitions the Dallas city parks had during the summer months. I starred in "Wilber Takes His Medicine" and the "Ghost of Hootin' Holler"which our director renamed "The Ghost of Pumpkin Holler" because she thought "hootin' " sounded too rowdy.I was a child of the '60s who never did drugs. I had no idea what Woodstock was. In college I ate, drank, and dreamed theater. The stage. The English Stage. Olivier. Gielgud. Plowright. I read plays and thought that one day I would do Chekhov on Broadway. (Hold for laugh.)Now I am a professional actor. I have been in more than 200 movies and television shows. I have been on Broadway twice. The first time we "closed" on opening night. The second time we were showered with praise, ran for a year. We were nominated for more Tonys than any other straight play in Broadway history (we, including me, lost them all).I have been in a movie that has permeated popular culture, "Groundhog Day." I have been on landmark television programs: "Deadwood," "Heroes," and "Glee." I scored a national voiceover campaignall the trappings of success. And yet I wake up every morning scared as a jackrabbit. I am terrified I will never work again. Daily, I torment over ways I can improve my auditions, my study techniques for a shoot, and strategies to keep my sanity when the cards are against me.It is a brutal business. The irony is that I think most of us want to be actors because of something quite idyllic, perhaps something in our childhooda moment when we saw a performance that moved us to laughter or tears and we said, "I want to do that, too." Or when we saw a community theater performance of "The Fantasticks," and we imagined ourselves trying to remember the kind of September. There are a lot of things I don't know about this business. We will get to those later. The one I do know is that we are involved in the creation of magic. Real magic. I have seen it work. I have seen its effects. I respect its power. I respect the cost it takes on all of us who still pursue that little flame. The one that warmed us years ago when we saw something we didn't quite understand. Something that kept us awake at night, dreaming.Back Stage has asked us to express our goals for this year. In no specific order: To continue to try to get better. To get another job. To remember the little flame that got me here in the first place.Vanessa Smith, Los Angeles Hello, fellow artists and performers. I'm Vanessa Stewart (formerly Smith). I was married in June to a wonderful man who is an actor, despite telling myself I would never marry one. My heart apparently had other plans. Anyway, I'm very honored to have the opportunity to express in writing this year everything I've come to learn about this business since I started performing at age 8. I studied musical theater at Webster Conservatory in St. Louis, where I received a BFA, and followed that up with classical training at the Oxford School of Drama with really awesome teachers from the RSC. Growing up, my favorite actors in TV and film (Glenn Close, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson) had theater trainingso I figured if I wanted to be as good as them, I had to train like them. After school, all I wanted to do was make a living as an actor. I didn't need to be "famous." I didn't need to be rich. I just wanted a normal life and to start a normal family like every girl who grew up in Monroe, La. And I knew that there were only two places to make a living as an actor: Los Angeles and NY City. NY intimidated me. I love the theater, but the idea of living hand to mouth in a cluster of tall buildings seemed scary to my small-town sensibilities.So I moved to Los Angeles a decade ago to chase the elusive dream of making a living at playing pretend. The first smart idea I had was to find a good theater company that did great work and agreed with my artistic sensibilities. I started hanging out with the Sacred Fools theater company in 2004, and it quickly became my safe place, my West Coast family. I think it's really important to have something like that in Los Angeles. Mom always told me when I was a kid, "If you're lost, stay in the same place until somebody finds you." And that's what I did. I was "found" at the Sacred Fools theater company in 2008 while performing a show that I had written with Jake Broder called "Louis and Keely: Live at the Sahara." My family at Sacred Fools believed in me enough to produce this little play that, when I told them the idea, hadn't even been written. It premiered that May, then re-opened at the Matrix Theatre, then became one of the longest-running shows at the Geffen Playhouse, with Taylor Hackford at the helm. I was finally able to quit my three jobs, get an agent, get a manager, and have the career I always hoped for. Over the course of 2012, we will be readying "Louis and Keely" for its next incarnation as we head east. Looks like I'm going to have to get used to the idea of tall buildings after all. 2012 is going to be quite the year, and I'm looking forward to sharing with you my journey of being a self-producing actor-writer. I'll end this with one of my favorite inspirational quotes: "The difference between a goal and a dream is a deadline." Make 2012 your year of achievable goals.McKinley Belcher III, Los Angeles I'm sitting here in an apartment in New Haven, Conn., having just had a nap after a long day of rehearsal at the Long Wharf Theatre. I'm gearing up to play Macbeth in a world-premiere adaptation called "Macbeth 1969" that's literally and unashamedly kicking my butt. I sit here a Southern boy from Atlanta, Ga., and technically still residing in Los Angeles. It's strange to consider the winding road that has left me bundled up in a blanket, in a strange new place, with a black binder next to me full of pages from one of Shakespeare's most haunting and dare I say disturbing plays. I can't help but laugh at the life I've found, or maybe I should say the life that found me. (Don't worry, more clichs to follow.)I came to acting rather late. I spent all of high school admiring drama club from afar. Toward the end of my freshman year at Belmont University, a friend convinced me to audition for "A Raisin in the Sun." I got the part. On the first day, I was a stuttering-shaky mess, but somehow I found my own way to opening night and that there was something thrilling about how terrified I was. I was a private person who suddenly felt energized and alive to reveal myself in this very public forum. But I had planned to go to law school. Fast-forward through graduation, a miserable year working for a law firm, art stepping into the foreground, grad school auditions, and moving from Atlanta to attend USC in Los Angeles.I graduated from USC with an MFA in May 2010 a more confident, centered actor. Thanks to our showcase, I entered the industry with theatrical and commercial representation. I was auditioning pretty regularly in Los Angeles, but I quickly gave myself the nickname "Almost" for the many times I almost got that career-changing role. I booked a couple of co-stars on TV and a commercial or two and did Equity waiver theater (what I like to call 99-cent theater). I was moving forward as an actor, but I was missing the catharsis and challenge that I'd learned to love in grad school. So I began my search for a play that might satisfy that desire. I found a theater in NY that was producing a play I knew I had to do. I booked the job. Those two months ended up stretching into four. I got a taste of what it'd be like to live in NYC and built a relationship with the NY branch of my agency. I booked two more shows, the last of which I'm working on now at the Long Wharf. I'm proud to be Equity and SAG, and I'm investigating trading my L.A. sun for NY pavement. I couldn't be more excited to ride out this next year with you all. I already feel a bit naked, as we'll be experiencing together my successes, failures, growth, and hopefully a seamless move from the West Coast. Here's to parading around in my artistic birthday suit for the next year.

Chris Evans May Join Snow Piercer

Bong Joon-ho wants him to acquire coldWhile he's most carefully recognized with Captain America at this time, Chris Evans is making certain he uses the fire place it's lit under his career to push it in interesting directions. He's now in discussions to star in Host director Bong Joon-ho's Snow Piercer. Even though it appears like he'd be playing another superhero (one getting a rather odd-sounding energy - "Iam the Snow Piercer!""Everything you do within your personal time may be the own problem, mate"), it is an indie occur a frigid arena of ice and snow, and dedicated to a train full of travelers that are fighting to live both conditions and each other.There's not sure which exactly Evans will probably be playing if he locks in the deal, however when he's doing register, he'll account towards the Prague occur March to start shooting.Bong Joon-ho, who last made crime thriller Mother, has written Snow Piercer with another leading light of Korean Cinema, Oldboy director Park Chan-Wook.Evans will next appear in the little film referred to as Avengers (due April 27) which is in the office now round the Iceman, the story of killer Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) who saved his mob assassin side hidden from his family.

Lily Collins to star in Evil Dead remake

The long-awaited Evil Dead remake is close to making its first piece of major casting, with the announcement that Mirror Mirror's Lily Collins is on the brink of signing on to star.Collins is in line to play a character named "Mia", who we understand is one of the five friends who decide to take an ill-advised trip to a remote cabin in the woods.As in the original film, the gang discovers a dusty tome known as The Necronomicon, from which reading a passage out loud results in all hell breaking loose, and various souls being swallowed.According to Bloody Disgusting, Mia has recently suffered a drug overdose and is looking forward to a weekend of detox at the cabin. Therefore, when she starts claiming to have been attacked by the trees outside, her friends just assume it's some sort of post-traumatic paranoia.We're not sure how well Collins' casting will go down with Evil Dead fans after the cutesy awfulness of the Mirror Mirror trailer, but then again, this is hardly a project that's been bathed in universal adoration from the get go...Directed by Fede Alvarez from a script co-written with Rodo Sayagues and Diablo Cody, The Evil Dead opens in the US on 12 April 2013.

Hugh Jackman on Broadway Means Cold Cash

NY (AP) Hugh Jackman leaves Broadway with many different damaged hearts and records.The hunky Australian actor's one-guy Broadway concert show closed on Sunday mid-day in the Broadhurst Theatre after getting gained $2,057,354 in the final week, the greatest weekly gross recorded through the Shubert Organization, which is the owner of the Broadhurst and 16 other Broadway theaters.Over its 10-week run, Jackman gained an astonishing $14,638,428, producers stated. Lucrative is the owner of 10 from the 11 top grossing days in the Broadhurst.Jackman, most widely known to be the hairy Wolverine in "The X-Males" franchise, routinely offered the 1,176-chair theater in most cases published weekly grosses of $1.5 million, frequently greater than rival musicals for example "Jersey Boys," ''Mama Mia!" ''How to achieve Business," ''Anything Goes" and "Follies."Only "Wicked" and "The Lion King," created by other organizations, consistently outdid Jackman. But individuals shows also had much greater expenses.The prior record in the Broadhurst occured through the Al Pacino-brought "The Merchant of Venice," which required in $1,175,750 captured. So far, the Shubert Organization's one-week greatest haul was "Billy Elliot," which gained $1,663,895 throughout an eight-show stretch this past year.Throughout the run, Jackman elevated an archive $1,789,580 for that charitable organisation Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Helps. The run "not just verifies him among the most bankable stars in Broadway's history but additionally like a fundraising event," producer Robert Fox stated.Backed by an 18-piece orchestra and six leggy ballroom dancers, a captivating Jackman anchored out about 24 musical theater tunes in "Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway." It had been his third time around the Great Whitened Way, following "The Boy From Oz" in 2003 and also the play "A Stable Rain" with Difficulties last year.The show featured his understanding of tunes varying in the sexy R&B tune "Fever" to "Rock Island," from "The Background Music Guy" to some medley of classic movie tunes for example "Singin' while it is rainingInch and "Luck Be considered a Lady." The typical ticket went for $160, with top rates opting for $350.A few of the highlights incorporated the eight-minute "Soliloquy" in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Slide carousel," and an accumulation of tunes from Jackman's Tony Award-winning submit "The Boy From Oz" while putting on Peter Allen-inspired matching gold lame pants and jacket, and gold footwear.Jackman's other stage credits include Australian productions of "Sunset Boulevard" and "Beauty and also the Animal." Working In London he starred as Curly in Trevor Nunn's staging of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" The coming year, he intends to star inside a version from the musical "L'ensemble des Miserables."Copyright 2012 Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Academy Awards 2012: Oscar Ballot Revealed

For those of you who have always wanted to be an Oscar voter ("Yes, 'Breaking Dawn' should win Best Adapted Screenplay!"), here's something that might pique your interest: a glimpse at the official Academy Awards ballot for Best Picture. The editors over at GoldDerby.com got their hands on the precious piece of paper that will rule Hollywood during the next two months, along with the instructions on how to fill it out. The nitty-gritty: When you have reviewed the Reminder List, please write the title of your first choice on the first line of this ballot and list your alternate choices on the succeeding lines in order of your preference. Do not list the same title more than once; multiple votes for the same picture do not enhance its chances. The pictures receiving the highest number of votes shall become the nominees for final voting for the Best Picture award. There may not be more than ten nor fewer than five nominations; however, no picture shall be nominated that receives less than five percent of the total votes cast. The preferential system of tabulation is used in nominations voting. You are voting essentially for one achievement, and the preferential system insures that your vote will be cast -- in order of your listed preferences -- for the candidate for whom it can do the most good. (If, for example, the achievement on the top line of your ballot receives almost no support from other votes, you have not "wasted" your vote. The system moves on and casts your vote for your second listed achievement, and so on.) You need not fill in all five lines. The more preferences you indicate, however, the greater the certainty that your ballot will influence the Best Picture nominees list. Check out an image of the ballot below; head over to GoldDerby.com to read the full letter from Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences president Tom Sherak. Ballots are due on Jan. 13, 2012. [Photo: Getty] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook