Hollywood to Rewrite Men’s Roles for Women?

George Clooney Wants Hollywood to Rewrite Men’s Roles for Women

Eliza Berman @lizabeaner

Clooney and "Our Brand is Crisis" co-producer Grant Heslov cast Sandra Bullock in a role originally written for a man to play

George Clooney may not have the cure-all for sexism in Hollywood, but at the Toronto Film Festival on Friday, he proposed one surprising simple solution: Rewrite roles originally intended for men to be played by women.

In reality, it was Sandra Bullock, not Clooney himself, who inspired this line of thinking, The Wrap reports. When Bullock read the script for Our Brand Is Crisis, a film about an American political consulting firm managing a presidential campaign in Bolivia, she identified a role she was interested in playing.

The problem? The role, loosely based on real-life political consultant James Carville, was written for a man to play.

Bullock called Clooney, the movie’s co-producer and her Gravity co-star, to inquire about retooling the part so that she might play it. According to Clooney, as soon as Bullock requested to play the part, the movie began moving from development toward production.

Many women in Hollywood have been outspoken about the lack of interesting roles for women in film. Their reports are backed by research, including a 2015 study from San Diego State University that found that women comprised just 12% of protagonists in the highest-earning films of 2014.

Bullock is one of a handful of top actresses playing gender-switched roles in upcoming movies. Emily Blunt’s FBI agent in Sicario, out Sept. 18, was originally conceived for a man, as was Julia Roberts’ part in the forthcoming Secret in Their Eyes.

“There’s a lot more out there if people just started thinking,” Clooneysaid after Our Brand Is Crisis, which hits theaters Oct. 30, premiered in Toronto.

Raven-Symone Comes Out as Gay with Tweet: “I Can Finally Get Married!”

Raven-Symone Comes Out as Gay with Tweet: “I Can Finally Get Married!”

Raven-Symone has come out of the closet as gay.

“I can finally get married! Yay government! So proud of you,” she tweeted on Friday.

A rep for the actress further tells Gossip Copthat “Raven is not getting married,” but “was just supporting the fact that she heard on NPR that more states legalized gay marriage today.”

And the former child star also tells us, “I am very happy that gay marriage is opening up around the country and is being accepted.”

“I was excited to hear today that more states legalized gay marriage,” she continues. “I, however am not currently getting married, but it is great to know I can now, should I wish to.”

Speculation about the star’s sexuality has circulated for a while, and back in May 2012 she took to Twitter to address the rumors.

At the time, she declared, “My sexual orientation is mine, and the person I’m datings to know. I’m not one for a public display of my life… However that is my right as a HUMAN BEing whether straight or gay. To tell or not to tell. As long as I’m not harming anyone.”

Lea Michele breaks silence on Cory Monteith's death

The last time Lea Michele's Twitter followers saw an update from the "Glee" star was on July 13, when the unthinkable happened. The 26-year-old's on- and off-screen boyfriend, Cory Monteith, was found dead at 31.

In the days since, Michele's co-stars have one by one expressed their griefover losing Monteith. On July 29, Michele broke her silence and joined the chorus with a statement of her own.

"Thank you all for helping me through this time with your enormous love & support," she tweeted, along with a happy photo of herself with Monteith.

"Cory will forever be in my heart."

Monteith and Michele had starred on "Glee" since its 2009 premiere, portraying the unlikely pair of jock Finn Hudson and overachiever Rachel Berry. Their evolving relationship and its eventual romantic turn was a bedrock storyline on the Fox comedy, and their off-screen lives soon mimicked those of their characters.

The pair publicly began dating in 2012, and Michele stuck by his side whenMonteith voluntarily entered rehab earlier this year.

"I love and support Cory and will stand by him through this," she said when he sought treatment for substance addiction. "I am grateful and proud that he made this decision."

According to E!, the actress recently said in an interview with Marie Claire Mexicothat Monteith showed her just as much support.

"(H)e is the best person I know, he has made my life so incredible and I am so thankful for him, and not only to have him as a partner but also as a coworker," Michele reportedly said. "It is important to have someone that supports you and encourage you, someone that makes you feel that you are unstoppable, that you can do anything in the world because you have him."

On July 13, Monteith was found dead in a hotel room in Vancouver, Canada. A coroner later ruled that the actor died from a mixed drug toxicity that included heroin and alcohol.

'They're going to kill me,' Michael Jackson told son

Prince Jackson Speaks...
By Alan Duke

Michael Jackson often cried after talking to AEG Live executives as he prepared for his comeback concerts, his oldest son testified Wednesday.

"After he got off the phone, he would cry," Prince Jackson testified. "He would say 'They're going to kill me, they're going to kill me.'"

His father told him he was talking about AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips and his ex-manager, Dr. Tohme Tohme, Prince said.

Prince, 16, began his testimony Wednesday morning in his family's wrongful death lawsuit against Jackson's last concert promoter, AEG Live.

His first 30 minutes on the stand were filled with videos and photographs of Jackson with his children, but then the questioning by Jackson lawyer Brian Panish focused on the last weeks of his father's life.

Prince testified that Phillips visited Jackson's rented Los Angeles mansion and spoke aggressively to Dr. Conrad Murray the night before his father's death.

"He was grabbing his elbow," Prince said. "It looked aggressive to me. He was grabbing by the back of his elbow and they were really close and he was making hand motions."

He couldn't hear what Phillips was saying to Murray, he said.

Michael Jackson was not there because he was at his last rehearsal, Prince said. He called his father from the security guard shack telephone to let him know Phillips was there. His father asked him to offer Phillips food and drink.

Prince said that was his last conversation with his father.

"Sorry kids, your dad's dead"

Prince recounted the day his father died four years ago. He saw his father "hanging halfway off the bed, his eyes were rolled back," when he ran into the bedroom where Dr. Murray was doing CPR in a futile effort to revive him, he said.

Paris followed him up the stairs, "but we kept pulling her down the stair," he said.

"She was screaming the whole time saying she wants her daddy," he said.

At the hospital later, Dr. Murray told them "Sorry kids, your dad's dead," Prince testified.

Prince was 12 when the pop icon died, but he said his father confided in him about whom he trusted and didn't trust and what he feared as he prepared for his comeback concerts.

Michael Jackson's three children -- Prince, Paris and Blanket -- and their grandmother Katherine Jackson are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which contends AEG Live is liable in Jackson's death because the company hired, retained or supervised Murray, the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Murray told investigators he gave Jackson nightly infusions of the surgical anesthetic propofol to treat his insomnia. The coroner ruled the singer died of an overdose of the drug.

AEG Live executives allegedly created a medical conflict of interest that pressured Murray to pursue the dangerous treatments so Jackson would be rested for rehearsals, while ignoring warning signs that his health was failing, Jackson family lawyers argue.

AEG Live lawyers contend that it was Jackson who chose and controlled the doctor and that company executives had no way of knowing what treatments Murray was delivering.

Prince Jackson's 16th birthday gift: A career

AEG Live lead lawyer Marvin Putnam's cross-examination of Prince lasted just 25 minutes. It centered on trying to discredit his testimony about Phillips' visit to his home and about cash payments that Prince said his father gave Murray at times.

Prince stood by his story about the Phillips and Murray encounter, although he conceded it could have been two nights before his father's death and not the last night.

The toll of losing their father

Prince's testimony gave Jackson lawyers a chance to show jurors the emotional toll suffered by Jackson's children, which they would have to put a dollar figure on if they conclude AEG Live is liable in their father's death.

"I can't sleep at night," Prince said. "I have a hard time sleeping." The death left him "emotionally distant from a lot of people" for a while, he said.

He's missed sharing with his father "the first day of going to school, having the first girlfriend, being able to drive," Prince testified.

While Paris Jackson's suicide attempt and hospitalization was not brought up in court -- and it is unclear if jurors learned about it in the news -- Prince did speak about his sister.

"I think out of all of my siblings she was probably hit the hardest because she was my dad's princess," he said.

Prince said the questioning of Paris by AEG Live lawyers over two days in March was painful for her. "She had some problems before, after and, I assume, during," he said.

"She definitely is dealing with it in her own way," her brother said.

Paris, who was 11 when her father died, is not available to testify in person in court because she is hospitalized for psychiatric treatment.

While he and his sister no longer want to celebrate birthdays because "it's not the same without" their father, Blanket, now 11, does, Prince said.

"Right now, I don't know if Blanket realizes what he lost," he said. "He was so young. He is still growing up just like I am and he doesn't have a father to guide him."

AEG Live attempted to compel Blanket, the youngest child, to testify, but the judge rejected its request after a psychologist said it would harm the boy.

Changing the world?

Jurors watched a home video of Michael Jackson questioning his three children about how they planned "to change the world" when they grow up.

Prince testified that the video was made at Christmas.

"What's Christmas mean?" Jackson is heard asking his children.

"Love," Blanket responded.

"Who's Blanket going to be to change this world?" Jackson asked.

"I don't know," Blanket, who appeared to be about 5 at the time, answered.

"What does Paris want to do? Be honest search your heart," Jackson said.

"Help the poor," she answered. Paris also said she would like to be a gymnast.

Prince told his father he aspired to be a movie director and architect because he liked "making things."

Private details revealed

Prince, who said his grade point average is 3.68 at the private school in Sherman Oaks, California, at the end of his sophomore year. He is a member of the National Honors Society and received artistic awards at school, he said.

Marc Anthony Sings “God Bless America” For MLB All-Star Game

Twitter Loses Its Damn Mind After Marc Anthony Sings “God Bless America” For MLB All-Star Game (via BuzzFeed.com)

Here is a Marc Anthony explainer for those who are confused.

Adrian Carrasquillo 

First, a primer. This is Marc Anthony. You may know him because of his high-profile marriage to Jennifer Lopez, which ended in 2011. He’s a New Yorker, born and raised.





2. He first performed at Madison Square Garden in ‘92. He is the top-selling salsa singer in history but also had English-language crossover success, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 charts and being a part of Total Request Live’s “Top 99 of 1999” show.



3. He performed at the Democratic National Convention in 2012 and at the president’s Inaugural Ball earlier this year.





4. Now he does stuff like make hilarious videos with Pitbull. Hilarious and successful, because this video has 417 million views. Which is all to say, Marc Anthony is a mainstream guy.




5. So when the All-Star Game came to Citifield in Queens, New York — which is literally one of the most diverse places on Earth — the Puerto Rican Anthony was chosen to sing “God Bless America.” Diversity, New York, America, right?



6. Wrong.





7. He’s actually Puerto Rican! Born and raised in New York, which is one of the 50 states in America.




8. Ahh, classic mistake. The issue of identity. Some prefer Latino, others Hispanic, many would say Puerto Rican-American, Puerto Rican or American. Not Spanish.







9. Pure class.





10. Unfortunately, no.





11. Many obviously came to the defense of Anthony, but since the reasons to do so are so obvious, here’s a comment from Tony Hernandez, the founder of the Immigrant Archive Project, who brings some perspective.








12. So to recap: Marc Anthony likes to sing, dance, and wear shiny suits. He’s also American and can sing “God Bless America” in packed stadiums or at home in New York and it’s totally cool. You might even say it’s quintessentially American.

James Franco in The Wizard of Oz

'Oz: The Great And Powerful' Gets Synopsis, New Details

Though the Yellow Brick Road didn't lead to Anaheim over the weekend -- instead, it was snaking through the film set in Detroit -- director Sam Raimi and star James Franco sent over to the D23 convention a video that gave a quick first look and some new information about their upcoming "Wizard of Oz" prequel.

Titled "Oz: The Great and Powerful," the film, which began shooting last month, casts Franco as Oscar Diggs, a huckster magician who gets swept up in a storm and delivered to the beloved land of Oz. Boasting a cadre of major co-stars -- his assistant will be played by Zach Braff, while the land's witches include Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz -- and a director who specializes in epic, special effects-driven films, the project is in its early stages, but still offered some concept art for the fans and press members in attendance.

Here's a snippet of ComingSoon.net's detailed summary of those early pieces of art and video:

Concept art included several images of the lush, emerald green hills of Oz, with the yellow--but not always bricked--road winding it's way throughout. The impossible geography of Oz showed through as well, with arching rock formations seemingly miles long and a mountain shaped like an elephant. Pictures of the Emerald City showcased an art deco influence.

Disney also re-released an official synopsis for the film, which is due out March 8, 2013.

Walt Disney Pictures' fantastical adventure "Oz The Great and Powerful," directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum's beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he's hit the jackpot--fame and fortune are his for the taking--that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity--and even a bit of wizardry--Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

Hilary Duff Announces Pregnancy

Hilary Duff Announces Pregnancy

A baby's on the way for Hilary Duff and husband Mike Comrie. The actress announced she's pregnant on her official website Sunday.

In a special first anniversary post, Duff, 23, wrote how she can't believe how fast time has flown by with Comrie, who plays ice hockey for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and added the happy news.

“We also want to share the exciting news that… BABY MAKES THREE!!! We are extremely happy and ready to start this new chapter of our lives," she wrote.

News of her pregnancy comes as a surprise, considering she recently told Access Hollywood that she feels she's too young to have kids just yet.

“We talk about it. Yes, we’re excited to do that, but I think I want to work a little more. I’m tossing around the idea of making another record… We want it, and we’re excited for it but think it can wait a while longer… He is supportive of me. We both are excited to do that, but he knows I’m still young," she said.

Duff, who got her start on the Disney Channel's "Lizze McGuire" series, married Comrie on August 14, 2010.