This morning Lainey wrote about Brad Pitt and Flea, which made me think of this post Courtney Love put up over the holidays. Who is this mystery movie star? I immediately thought of Brad (she dates the picture at around 1987) but other guesses include Ethan Hawke and Sean Penn. (Lainey: Norman Reedus?!)
Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik have been sharing their baby on social media, but not fully. Yesterday Lainey made a list of Vogue cover guesses for 2021 – I agree with her choices and would also add Gigi to the list, particularly if the baby and Zayn join her.
This story sounds like a Duana fever dream: two (former) friends and influencers are fighting because one named her child Baybi and then, three years later her friend named her newborn Baby. They are now in a Battle of the Babies.
Like the multiple Babies, there are multiple Batmans, which Sarah wrote about here. As a casual enjoyer of comic book films, I’ve been watching the debate about what makes a “superhero” body with a lot of interest because, as Sarah points out, it has had an effect on what audiences perceive as a “normal” body. Yes there’s always been Schwarzenegger and Stallone body types, but those used to be one or two guys out of a dozen movie stars. That very bulky, very muscular physique seems a lot more prevalent now, which is fed by the demands of these films. And it made me think of an interview I read with Jeremy Strong, who said he knew he had to get out of LA when he was asked to audition for a role as Captain America’s “before” body: “I always wanted to do films. [But I remember once] I was living in L.A. in somebody’s house, and I’d gone in for an audition for a good role in a movie, and the casting agent called me up and said, “That isn’t going to happen, but we’re preparing a film about Captain America, and we need someone to play the skinny, undeveloped body of the young Captain America before he becomes a superhero.” At that moment, all I wanted was to be in a play in New York.”
The Hilaria Baldwin story is already yesterday’s news (except for the NY Post, which will milk it forever), but I’ve been pondering this point made by Billions showrunner Brian Koppelman about Alec Baldwin. Is he B-list or A-list? As Brian points out, definitely A-list for TV in that he can get a project greenlit. His name recognition is A and he’s worked with top-tier directors, but in the film world, I don’t think he can get a movie greenlit like Tom Hanks or Cruise or Brad Pitt. Still, he is sought-after and can be a scene-stealing character actor. I’d peg him at a B++. Not Clooney, but not ready for a CSI franchise either.
The Rock was named “the most likeable person in the world,” which is no surprise. He’s building on that as he expands his portfolio: he just announced a new drink called Healthy Positive Energy. They really crammed some keywords into that name.
One more celebrity product line has dropped (and we are only 5 days into the year!): Halsey’s About Face, a makeup line. I didn’t even know this one was in the works but it’s here, with a few products available on the website. Over the last 8-9 months, recording, filming and touring have all been impeded and because of that, I think we will see a lot of celebrity product lines and partnerships that were born during Covid quarantine start to hit the market.
