Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane has signed up to star in the music drama Burlesque.

The 37-year-old actor, who is best known for his role as Dr Mark Sloan in the US show, will join Christina Aguilera and Cher for the movie.

The film centres around the journey of an ambitious small-town girl, played by Aguilera, who finds love and success at an LA burlesque club run by Cher’s character.

Dane will be playing the part of a charming businessman who offers to buy the club from Cher’s character and falls for Aguilera, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Dane is the latest star to join the cast of the movie, which will also include Stanley Tucci, Cam Gigandet, Kristen Bell and Alan Cumming.

He then laughs out loud and insists: “I really don’t!”

The tattooed 21 year-old is hitting back at recent criticism that he is a Hollywood troublemaker after he was left fighting for his life after being stabbed at a party.

But Clark, the grandson of Hollywood legend Clark Gable, says he doesn’t care what the critics say about him.

Instead he is determined to prove them wrong and fulfill the legacy his famous grandfather left behind when he tragically died at the age of 59 in 1961.

Clark never met his grandfather but the resemblance to the Gone With The Wind actor is uncanny.

He has the same brooding good looks and at 6ft 3in tall is even taller than his 6ft 1in grandfather.

He also has the same intense presence as he speaks out for the first time about the stabbing two months ago which left him in intensive care after his lung collapsed.

The attack left him close to death but as he recovered he claims he finally realised that he wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and become an actor.

Speaking at his Malibu home for the first time since the attack, Clark revealed: “The press reports about the stabbing didn’t really bother me but I just don’t want people to think that I am some kind of Hollywood brat.

“I have this great legacy that I’ve been left by my grandfather, that is amazing to have been born with.

“The stabbing has pulled me out of that other life that I was living and made me realize that I needed to wake up and use what I was born with.

“I realised that I needed to use this name that I was born with and follow in my grandfather’s footsteps.

“He was a legend. One of Hollywood’s greatest actors and I need to uphold that legacy.

“The criticism about me, or me cashing in the name, doesn’t bother me at all as I am not out there like other celebrity children or grandchildren.

“I’m not in Hollywood. Before the stabbing no-one knew who I was, or that I even existed!

“People have a false sense of who I am but I don’t think they should as they don’t know me.

“I don’t mind people knowing I am Clark Gable’s grandson but people need to know that I am not him.

“I am going to be doing my best to be myself.

“I want to make him and my father proud but I don’t want to be a clone. I am my own person.

“I want to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps the best way that I can. I am taking it one day at a time.

“I would love to be an actor. I don’t know if I could ever be on the level my grandfather was but I don’t mind if people make the comparison.

“But I don’t think people will compare me that much because I am my own person.

They are going to realize that once they see me on screen.”

Clark has begun taking acting lessons while he recovers from the stabbing.

He has also done some modeling work and appeared in a couple of commercials.

But now his goal is to make movies and hopefully one day become as famous as his grandfather.

He added: “I know the Clark Gable name is going to open some doors for me but I don’t want people to think that I am just using it and taking it for granted.

“I am not going to go out there and get loads of movie straight away because of the name, or going a win loads of Oscars.

“I am myself, my grandfather was his self. He had the fame, I got the name.

“That’s what I want to communicate to people.

“Even though my name is Clark Gable, I am still going to have to work to prove that I am good, perhaps even work harder because there is that legacy there that I have to live up to.

“I would love to play the Rhett Butler role from Gone With The Wind – just for the catchphrase.

“I love that catchphrase: “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn’.

“But right now it’s just one day at a time for me. I am still recovering from the stabbing and am on anti-biotics so I need to take things a bit slower than usual.

“But I’m taking acting lessons and having some coaching and learning everything first.

“I’ve done a couple of little commercials but nothing major yet.”

Clark is lucky to alive and able to take acting lessons after he spent nearly a month in hospital after the attack.

It happened two months ago at a party in Calabasass, just north of Los Angeles when he went to help a friend who was being threatened by four other men.

Clark explained: “I went outside the party and a bunch of guys were standing around my friend and one of them had a knife to his throat, so I ran and tackled the guy with the knife.

“I don’t know exactly when I was stabbed but I tackled him to the ground and I think that as I got on top of him someone came up behind me and stabbed me then in the side.

“I didn’t realize that I had been stabbed at first. I just thought someone had punched me really hard in the side.

“The fight had been broken up and those guys took off.

I walked inside the house and all of a sudden I felt this warm trickle down my back.

“Being stabbed doesn’t feel how everyone thinks it feels.

“When you cut yourself with a knife or scissors and you get that instant pain, it didn’t feel like that at all. Instead it was like a hot burning sensation.

“Then I walked into the house and collapsed and started bleeding profusely.

I tried to wrap something around my waist and I couldn’t. Someone in the house called 911 and the paramedics got there within five minutes.

I was in the ambulance and was stable. But then all of a sudden my lung collapsed.

“I couldn’t breathe. I stopped breathing. And I was still bleeding everywhere.

“I was airlifted to UCLA Hospital in Westwood and I was there for seven days.

Heather had found out what had happened through my sister.

“After seven days I was released and sent home. Everything was great and I felt great.

“But by the time I got home I was sweating. The next morning I woke up with a 104 degree fever and a full recollapsed lung.

“I was rushed out of my house by an ambulance after my dad called 911 at 6.30 in the morning.

“I was taken to hospital again and was there for another three weeks.

“I had extensive surgery. I had got pneumonia and I had to have all the pneumonia in my left lung taken out.

“After my surgery I had three test tubes coming out me, plus my stab wound was stapled shut.

“It was a nightmare. I couldn’t believe that it was happening.

“I kept thinking it was a dream and I would wake up. But I did wake-up. The whole thing was a wake-up call and happened for a reason.”

Clark also revealed the stabbing led to him being reunited with his girlfriend, Heather Chadwell, 34.

The couple, who were introduced by Clark’s sister Kayley, had split a few months earlier, mainly because of the 14 year age gap.

But once Heather, who has appeared on such reality show as Rock of Love and Charm School with Sharon Osbourne, heard about the stabbing she went to the hospital.

The pair have been inseparable since and Heather has helped nurse Clark back to health.

The couple are now also planning a reality show about their life together and Clark’s bid to become an actor.

Heather, who did not believe he was Clark Gable’s grandson when they first met, revealed: “I was in shock when I heard about Clark being stabbed.

“It really scared me. I didn’t know what was going to happen.

But I knew I needed to be strong for him and so I headed straight to the hospital and was then at Clark’s side the whole time he was in the hospital.

“I think the stabbing saved his life. He was surrounded by some wrong people and we were on a break.

I had not talked to him in a while, I knew he wasn’t happy though. I kept worrying and worrying about him.

“I’ve been looking after him since he got out of the hospital and it’s taking a while for him to get back on his feet and back to his full strength.

“But now we’re back together and are planning a reality show together, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

While the couple are waiting to film their reality show, Clark is spending his time getting better – and going on casting calls.

Clark said: “I was aware of my grandfather when I was about six years old.

“My own father sat me down and told me about him and showed me some of his movies – Gone With The Wind, Stagecoach and I think The Misfits.

“If I can be anywhere near as good as actor as my grandfather, I would be really happy.

“AT the moment I am still recouperating as I came out of the hospital 17lbs lighter, so I just need to get back to my full strength.

“Now that I look back on it, it’s like it all came together for a reason.

It all lined up perfectly to where I was meant to be stabbed that night.

I think it saved my life. It happened for a reason.

“It was a blessing in disguise because ever since this happened things in my life have only got better and better.

“I know I am going to make my grandfather proud.”

Renee Zellweger is the apple of Bradley Cooper’s eye, according to a New York newspaper.

The latest reports had the pair growing distant after a steamy European sojourn that saw them passionately embracing inside a historic church.

But the New York Daily News claims it’s all back on and that Cooper is on the verge of making things official. A source said: “It’s very serious. As soon as his mom gives the sign-off, he’s going to propose. Renee’s and Bradley’s previous marriages [to Kenny Chesney and Jennifer Esposito, respectively] both ended after only four months. They have that in common – it’s one of the things that brought them together.”

The pair is now planning to break bread over Thanksgiving with Cooper’s parents in Philadelphia. The source continued: “Things have been heading in this direction for the two of them for a while but this definitely solidifies how serious they are. Renee says she’s nervous, and she’s really hoping it goes well. She’s very excited.”

The romance is “quite serious. Renee and Bradley are crazy about each other”, the source added.

2012 star Thandie Newton said she has ‘never dated an actor’ and stopped using her sexuality as a tool in relationships a long time ago.

Newton, 37, married writer Ol Parker in 1998 and they have two young daughters together: Ripley and Nico.

The RocknRolla star appears in the new disaster movie 2012 alongside John Cusack, but she said she has never had a relationship with another actor.

She said to UK magazine In Style: “I’ve never dated an actor, just had the odd fling. Isn’t that weird?

“I don’t flirt with people – a long time ago, I stopped using my sexuality to have a relationship with people.

“I don’t think you really get a sense of me, sexually, and that’s why I have really great relationships with straight men.”

Actor Mickey Rourke has credited his five dogs for getting him through the dark periods of his life.

The 57-year-old actor had a high-flying acting career during the 80s but then turned down lead roles and ended up losing credibility when he made a number of bad movie choices.

He said: “My dogs really helped me get through the dark times. I lost everything at the same time – my wife, my career, my house, my credibility – and all I had left was the dogs plus just two or three people who stuck with me.

“I was living under the mat – being known and then being known for being out of work, for having fallen from grace.

“You go and buy a pack of smokes and people say: ‘Hey, didn’t you used to be that actor?’ So it was a very shameful place, and the dogs [he has had eight chihuahuas] were my friends.

“A lot of people you meet out there turn their backs on you once you’re down, but the dogs don’t. The one dog I loved, Loki, died last year, and she is deeply missed but with me in spirit.”

The surprise announcement of co-hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin for the Oscars next year hid the declined invitations of actors Robert Downey Jr and Ben Stiller, according to a report.

Academy Awards organisers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman were reported to have asked Downey Jr and Stiller, a pair of dark comedians, to share hosting duties for the 2010 bash, which rose in viewer popularity this year on the back of Hugh Jackman’s hosting.

Jackman, too, indicated he did not want to go back for a second consecutive round as host. This year, he used old-fashioned showbiz routines and a business-like approach that viewers found fresh and enticing for the most part.

Jackman is instead preparing for his next cinema turn in the movie Real Steel. The Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences announced its co-hosts.

The 82nd Academy Awards will take place on March 7, 2010.

Source: Splash News

Hollywood couple Courteney Cox and David Arquette have teamed up with an American jewellery manufacturer to create their own range for charity, according to reports.

The pair are spearheading a drive to raise money for children suffering from epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a rare genetic condition that affects the skin.

They reportedly decided to raise money after a friend’s child fell victim to the condition.

Arquette said: “There is a beautiful child named Brendon, the son of one of our dear friends, Andrea Pett Joseph, who was born with epidermolysis bullosa or EB.

“We were not aware of the condition until it affected us personally but, of course, once we got to know this incredible child we wanted to do whatever we could to help.”

The Satya EB Charity Collection features a range of affordable butterfly-adorned pieces, and proceeds will help fund treatment and medical research for EB sufferers.

The Boys Are Back actor Clive Owen has said fans will be surprised to know that he does the washing-up in his house.

Clive, 45, lives in Highgate, London, with his wife Sarah-Jane and their two young daughters, Hannah and Eve.

He said: “You may find it surprising but I do the washing up, all of it. Always have done, it’s just an accepted thing, one of ‘Dad’s chores’.”

Clive’s new movie is based on the real-life story of a father who gets back in contact with his sons after the death of his second wife.

He said: “It’s the first film that I’ve ever made in my career that I would let my daughters watch.

“They remain completely unimpressed with what I do for a job. Whenever they read something about me, they always roll their eyes and sigh: ‘If only they knew what you’re really like.’”

Hollywood star Kevin Costner has not brought his family on his European tour as he is afraid of the risk of swine flu.

Kevin, 54, has six children and his two youngest children – sons Cayden, two, and Hayes, eight months – are with his current wife Christine Baumgartner.

He said: “It is unusual that my family are not here because they usually are always with me. But I have been worried about swine flu and didn’t want my small children with me this time on this trip.”

The actor is in Germany with his country band Modern West and he revealed his wife Christine suggested he should take the trip to fulfil his music dream.

He added: “I wanted to bring my music to the people. And since my ancestors emigrated to America in the 17th century, I wanted to return to Germany.”

Sean Penn has had a meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, discussing a possible movie about an American anthropologist.

Chavez said the pair met privately and discussed making a movie out of the 1953 novel The Lost Steps by Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier. The book tells the tale of an American composer and anthropologist who journeyed into the jungle.

Actor/director Penn arrived in Venezuela from Cuba, where he had gone as a journalist to reportedly seek an interview with ailing Fidel Castro, 83, for Vanity Fair magazine.

Chavez said the pair discussed politics and Penn told him he would soon have a meeting with US President Barack Obama. Chavez said he had asked Penn to tell Obama he should take action to earn his Nobel peace prize and halt plans for the US military to increase its presence at Colombian bases.

“They gave him the Nobel Prize – very well, now he should earn it,” Chavez told The Associated Press.

A Hollywood director has hailed Matt Damon for being easy to work with.

Steven Soderbergh, best known for Sex, Lies and Videotape, said he needed an actor who was fast on his feet for the upcoming comic thriller The Informant! He said Damon, whom he directed in Ocean’s Eleven, was an instant choice for a part that required a substantial weight gain.

“In this case, having worked with him was a huge benefit because we had to move so quickly. It was such an odd story and it required a certain kind of performance,” Soderbergh said at the movie’s London premiere.

“I think an actor I’d never worked with before – if they showed up and saw on the call sheet that they had to do eight pages that day – that they might be a little upset, whereas Matt knows that’s just the way we work. There’s no question that our history helped make this a smooth operation.”

Damon piled on an astonishing 13.6kg for the part of whistleblower Mark Whitacre. Soderbergh says Damon revelled in the transformation. “He puts on 30 pounds, he puts on the fake hair, the moustache, the glasses and the suit – you don’t really have to do much more than thinking about your character when physically you feel and look like that. So I think he really had fun doing it – he looked like he had fun.”

Source: Splash News

Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon has admitted that it’s sometimes “really difficult” to live so far away from her family.

Reese, 33, lives in LA with her children Ava and Deacon, but she is from Tennessee where her family still live.

However Reese, who is dating actor Jake Gyllenhaal, admitted that she tries to recreate a little bit of the south in California.

She said to InStyle magazine: “We spend the weekends outside LA, in Ojai, where I have a farmhouse. We have chickens and we grow cucumbers and tomatoes. I love it. It reminds me of where I grew up in Tennessee.”

However Reese admitted that it doesn’t compare to her old life in the South, she said: “Sometimes it’s really difficult for me, being far away from home. I never imagined that my children wouldn’t grow up next door to my brother’s children.

“Or my mom and dad wouldn’t constantly be around. At least I have a lot of Southern friends in LA – I gravitate toward them.”

Source: Splash News

George and Brad were the first same-sex couple to appear in the show’s 43-year history on Tuesday night.

During the show George also revealed he can’t get out of bed until he is given a green tea and a newspaper by Brad.

The 72-year-old Heroes actor, who married his partner last September, told host Carnie Wilson: “I wait for my green tea and morning paper in bed every day.”

He also said they would rather settle down watching the Survivor show over old 1960s episodes of Star Trek, because they’d “watched enough of that already”.

George and Brad won a special celebrity edition of the show and a $10,000 donation to the Japanese American National Museum.

They answered more questions correctly about each other than the other two real-life celebrity couples who took part. They were up against Damien Gurganious and Nicole Brewer from American TV show The Biggest Loser and star of the US TV show The Brady Bunch, Christopher Knight and Adrienne Curry of America’s Next Top Model fame.

The Newlywed Game traditionally pits newly married couples against each other to see how much they do – or don’t – know about themselves as a couple.

Elton John

The actor, who plays Roger Sterling in the hit TV drama, is angry at the $346m sanitation department plan.

It would see a garage complex built near the city’s West Side Highway to store the city’s garbage trucks.

But neighbours say that the SoHo depot will increase traffic and risk pedestrian safety.

“There are a lot of families in the neighbourhood, and they haven’t been taken into account in the designing of this facility,” said Slattery.

“The air quality, the traffic, the noise (are all) going to be affected.

“There are people who have been living here for years.

“It’s not a bunch of wealthy people who are just complaining that their views are going to be blocked.

“It’s the actual livability of the neighbourhood.”

Musicians Lou Reed and Michael Stipe and actors James Gandolfini, Kirsten Dunst, Paul Bettany and Casey Affleck already oppose the scheme.

Couple Retreat star Vince Vaughn has revealed he proposed to girlfriend Kyla Weber on Valentine’s Day.

Vince, 39, proposed to Canadian real estate agent Kyla in February this year, however he spoke to her about it first to make sure she’d say yes.

He said during an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show: “Have you seen these things where these people ask people to marry them in really public ways and then the people say no?

“You think they would have had a little talk before they went to that extreme. Then you start to wonder, ‘Did they go to such a big public display to corner the other person so they couldn’t say no’?

“I knew we had talked about it. I knew we were both kind of in agreement with it.”

Vince went on to say how it became a question of “when do you ask?”

Then when Valentine’s Day came, he said: “I figured this is not a ship to be missed because I will not forget this date.

“So Valentine’s Day was the day that I asked her.”

Source: Splash News