Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta on the Today show

 



This morning’s interview with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John on Aussie TV’s Today show

 

 

To watch the interview, click on the video above or follow the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD-Om8RcxUg&feature=youtu.be

Now that's a birthday present! Hugh Jackman gives Amanda Seyfried a lap dance

 

Hugh Jackman sings Happy Birthday to his Les Mis co-star Amanda Seyfried. Picture: IndieWire Source: Supplied

News.com.au reports

Hugh Jackman - movie star, Broadway king, award-winning singer, and now lap dancer.

Jackman gave his Les Miserables co-star Amanda Seyfried a birthday gift she'll never forget last night after a special screening of their film in New York.

"Tonight is a special night, and I am going to sing one song. And this is a song I am not going to sing alone, because it is the birthday of Amanda Seyfried," he said getting up in front of members of the Academy and Hollywood Foreign Press.

To cries of "Oh my God!" - remember, to the ageing Broadway crowd, Jackman is hotter than Beyonce and Justin Bieber combined - Jackman ordered Seyfried to sit down and enjoy the gyrations.

"I once gave Barbara Walters a lap dance and I promised her I would never do it again, but seeing as she is not here tonight ..." he said as he opened his legs and started dancing.

Jackman also sang Happy Birthday to Seyfried, which, luckily, a writer for culture blog IndieWire caught on their phone. He also made fun of the fact that Seyfried plays his daughter in the film.

"Happy Birthday, Amanda - my daughter Cosette - Seyfried. Yes, it’s one of those father daughter relationships... Happy birthday to yooouuuu!"

Seyfried, who turns 27, was then presented with a chocolate birthday cake. "I was just thinking that my 27th year is probably going to be best because it was brought in in such a way that my hero, Mr Hugh, got to stretch his cords one more time for me," she said.

Jackman deserves an Oscar for that performance alone.

To see Jackman in action, go to: http://www.indiewire.com/embed/player.jsp?videoId=e4208f60-3d85-11e2-960c-22000a1d0930&width=480


Or click on the video below:

A Rebel with applause

Aussie comedian Rebel Wilson. Source: Herald Sun

Vicky Roach, The Sunday Telegraph, reports

Four scenes were all it took for Australian comic Rebel Wilson to make Hollywood sit up and take notice.

"I remember thinking: Is that enough to get any kind of attention?" says the former Sydneysider of her scene-stealing Bridesmaids cameo.

Not for most struggling wannabes. But Wilson is not most struggling wannabes.

For a start, her plus-size figure marks her apart from the thin starlets that are the dominant species in her adopted city.

When Wilson walked into the offices of super-agency William Morris Endeavor on her second day in California, it was her normalness that got her noticed. "In Los Angeles there are, like, thousands and thousands of super-glamorous people everywhere and I just look like a real person," Wilson says.

"I remember (the people at William Morris) looking at me and they were like, 'we don't have anyone who looks like you on our books'. So I got offered representation immediately."

Wilson makes the most of her physical differences in Pitch Perfect, the fun, smart, Glee-inspired college comedy that co-stars Twilight's Anna Kendrick.

Having lost 15kg in 15 weeks during her time as a Jenny Craig ambassador, the producers asked her not to shed any more weight before filming.

"Well, my character is called Fat Amy so I did have to be fat for it," she says.

The antipodean freshman, who auditions for her university's all-girl a cappella group, has coined the unflattering moniker for herself "so twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back".

Pitch Perfect is a terrific vehicle for Wilson's upfront brand of humour, much of it improvised with Adam DeVine, who plays the leader of the rival a cappella group, and who also has a comedy background.

While Wilson's current "It Girl" status clearly breaks Hollywood's body mass index rules, the constant focus in Australia on her size has sorely underestimated the performer's comedic and business acumen.

The actress credits her background in Australian television - in SBS comedies such as Pizza and Bogan's Pride - as helping her match wits with Saturday Night Live veterans such as Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, and Little Britain's Matt Lucas, with whom she now shares a house in Los Angeles. "Appearing on Thank God You're Here was terrifying. But if I hadn't had those experiences (in Australia) I wouldn't be as confident to step on set with those superstars of American comedy," she says.

Wilson would like to think of herself as blazing something of a trail in Hollywood.

"Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe, who I love, are clearly dramatic actors. I feel like I am making way for Australians in comedy," she says.

Having got her first break, Wilson capitalised on the opportunity with roles in five movies back to back. She is currently producing a TV pilot called Super Fun Night for ABC.

And the success of Pitch Perfect helped her secure a deal with Universal to write, produce and star in her own feature.

"Writing ... will be my weekend job," she says.

If Wilson's showbusiness career ever takes a downward spiral, the 26-year-old can always fall back on her law degree. But she isn't planning on a career change soon: "I am sure things are going to get crazier and crazier in the US and I'll do lots of good stuff and eventually move into dramatic roles."

Pitch Perfect opens Thursday.

Action no drag on Jai's run

Up and coming Aussie actor Jai Courtney (left) and Joel Edgerton (r) on the set of "Felony". Pic: Mark Rogers Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

He did three months playing a villain to Tom Cruise's go-to action hero and is tipped to be the one to take over the Die Hard franchise.

But Australia's newest Hollywood action hero and the movie biz's "man of the moment" Jai Courtney is keen to flex a different kind of acting muscle, telling Confidential last night that he hopes to one day play a woman.

The 26-year-old Sydney boy, who is red-hot on the back of a glut of major roles, premiered his latest in Bondi where he walked the red carpet for Jack Reacher in which he stars alongside Cruise.

"These movies all just came along at once so it was somewhat out of my control," he said of his impressive run. "But I don't want to box myself in to a particular genre and just do action.

"I want to dress in drag."

Courtney said he treasured working with ultimate action man Cruise (who shot the film several months before his split from Katie Holmes).

"I definitely wanted to sponge up as much as I could from Tom," Courtney said. "I spent a lot of time on set when I didn't need to because the atmosphere was so awesome. We had a ball."

The film's director Christopher McQuarrie said he had no qualms casting a young, inexperienced actor opposite such a celluloid force as Cruise.

"We knew from the start Jai was perfect," he said.

"He gave such a strong audition and without instruction too. He has a good presence."

McQuarrie said of Cruise: "At one point we were working seven days week, sometimes up to 24 hours a day.

"He's incredibly professional and will do whatever it takes to keep a movie on time and on budget. He works so hard."

Courtney, meanwhile, is rumoured to be poised to take over from Bruce Willis in the Die Hard franchise after playing his son in the upcoming instalment, A Good Day To Die Hard,

"I have heard that and I did play John McLean Jr," he said. "But there certainly weren't any whispers of that on set at the time. We'll have to see what happens."

Byrne off singles circuit

Actress Rose Byrne in Hollywood. Picture: Dan Steinberg, AP Source: AP

The Daily Telegraph reports

After years on the singles circuit (and publicly denying any romantic interests) Aussie actress-extraordinaire Rose Byrne is in a relationship with one of Hollywood's hottest actors.

The Damages beauty has gone public with Boardwalk Empire star Bobby Cannavale who plays blood-thirsty psycho killer Gyp Rosetti in the cable gangster series.

The unlikely duo arrived together to a screening of Brad Pitt's new crime movie Killing Them Softly - directed by Aussie Andrew Dominik - in New York recently and later snuggled up in a booth at the after-party. It's understood she and Cannavale have been quietly dating for several months.

Prior to their courtship, Cannavale, 42, was married to actress and screenwriter Jenny Lumet before they split in 2003. The have a son, Jake, 17. After their divorce, he dated actresses Annabella Sciorra, Alison Pill and Sutton Foster while Byrne most-famously dated Aussie actor and director Brendan Cowell before their high profile break-up in early 2010.

She had previously dated writer/director Gregor Jordan (who directed her in Two Hands) but has been largely single since her split from Cowell.

It's a boy for Antonia Kidman

Heavily pregant and glowing, Antonia Kidman has been enjoying taking her youngest son Nicholas to the Beach. Source: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reports

It’s a boy for Antonia Kidman and husband Craig Marran, with newborn Alexander Norman Kidman Marran arriving into the world three weeks early.

Weighing a "healthy three kilos", the child arrived in the early hours of Monday morning in Sydney - three weeks earlier than expected.

Kidman, 42, told Confidential she and husband, banker Craig Marran, 44, are “thrilled” by their new family member who “caught us by surprise arriving earlier than anticipated, with Craig and [daughter] Sybella jumping on a flight from Singapore and arriving this morning.”

The Singapore-based couple, who met in 2009, share another child, Nicholas, 22 months, while Kidman also has four children - Lucia, 13, Hamish, 11, James, 9 and Sybella, 5 - from her marriage to first husband, Angus Hawley.

"It is with great delight Craig and I are thrilled to advise that Alexander Norman Kidman Marran arrived safely in the early morning of the 3rd of December weighing a healthy 3kg," Kidman said in a statement.

"Alexander caught us by surprise arriving earlier than anticipated with Craig and Sybella jumping on a flight from Singapore and arriving this morning.

"Alexander’s brothers and sisters are all excited and we are looking forward to spending a wonderful family Christmas together.

"We want to thank everyone for their kind wishes at this special time in our lives.”

It’s understood more details of the new arrival will appear in WHO on Friday as part of an exclusive deal.

Kidman revealed to the mag that she was unsure how to “rationalise having six children,” but believes taking a step back from her career has made her more equipped.

“If I was still the worker bee like I was in Sydney, I just couldn’t do that.”

Cover choice not bazaar

Source: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reports

Arguably the most memorable photo of 2012 missed out on winning Magazine Cover Of The Year at the Maggies last night.

Much was made here and abroad over the June edition of Harper's Bazaar, with Nicole Kidman and daughter Faith Margaret in a portrait originally taken for Kidman's "personal album" during the Terry Richardson photo shoot.

The image won the fashion and beauty category but best cover went to a forgettable January issue of Grazia, with Miranda Kerr as Wonder Woman.

Christmas is the (new) word for Danny and Sandy

This Christmas…reunited: Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta

Christine Sams, The Sydney Morning Herald, reports

John Travolta reveals how a desire to honour his late son sparked a new album with Olivia Newton-John.

John Travolta has revealed he teamed up with Olivia Newton-John to record a festive album in a bid to ease some of the devastation he feels about the loss of his son Jett at Christmas.

Travolta and Newton-John have recorded together for the first time in 30 years for their album This Christmas which includes a new track by John Farrar, the writer behind their Grease smash hit You're the One That I Want.

But aside from celebrating their iconic roles in Grease, their decision to work together was motivated by Travolta's desire to honour his son, who died in January 2009, aged only 16.

Travolta said Christmas is never an easy time of year for his family. "Doing something for him makes it easier, because you're doing something, you're proactive, you're raising money for the foundation that represents him,” Travolta said.

He said guest artists including Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett and James Taylor were happy to be involved, knowing proceeds of the album are going to the Jett Travolta Foundation and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne.

“It felt effortless,” Travolta said. “And everybody hopped on board effortlessly, we called Barbra and Tony and James and they all knew my son, so they just wanted to do this from their heart.

Travolta said he was inspired by Paul Newman in relation to raising money under Jett's name.

“Paul Newman did it through food, the Scott Newman foundation was to raise money for his son's foundation. People find different ways . . . I'm most comfortable doing it this way because I love to sing and I don't get a chance to do it a lot,” Travolta said.

“To join Olivia again, where we've succeeded at this level, to do that is a beautiful opportunity. I can't believe it.”

Both musicians, who spoke to Fairfax Media over the phone in a joint interview, are clearly thrilled to be working together again for the right reasons – and to acknowledge the influence Grease has had on popular culture.

“It came together in this really pure way, it has pure intentions. We still have little kids coming up to us who are discovering the movies; it's like three generations who love the movie, who are going to be thrilled to see Danny and Sandy, as they think of us, together again,” said Newton-John.

“For us, it's a wonderful way of giving back to causes that we care about and we're also giving the fans back something that they might like to see us do. Hopefully they'll like it as much as we hope they will.”

Grease fans have waited three decades for Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson to team up again, so there is plenty of anticipation about how the new music will be received.

Travolta said they were both “excited” ahead of the global release on Wednesday of the video for the new Farrar single I Think You Might Like It.

“That's the one we chose firstly to do the video to and it comes out tomorrow morning worldwide,” Travolta said. “As Olivia said, the Grease fans are waiting for us to be together. This is a tip of a hat to Christmas, but it is a tip of the hat to Grease as well as a Christmas song. You're going to see a lot of Grease overtones in it and I think it's just enough, it's fun.”

Both stars said they have remained firm friends since making the movie, but were never keen to cash in on its success, just for the sake of it.

“We don't like to rush things,” Newton-John said, with a huge laugh. “Thirty years, well, maybe."

Travolta says needlessly plugging themselves as Danny and Sandy was never their style.

“Olivia and I are not aggressive people in that way, meaning we don't push ourselves on people. Grease was so big, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. The biggest musical in history plus the biggest pop duet in history. If you do anything trying to take advantage of that too much, people don't respond to it. But if you wait a long time, like we have, and it's really organic . . . Christmas is as timeless as Grease is . . . it feels more acceptable to present ourselves in that way.”

“Olivia and I have always wanted to work together again and you know, but unless it's right and organic, it feels like you're forcing something and I didn't want anyone to feel that way,” Travolta said.

The idea for a Christmas album, which includes guest appearances from a number of artists, came from Travolta, as the pair were texting each other.

“You're the One That I Want was named best duet of all time and I wrote John a text going 'hey, guess what' and 'Merry Christmas'. So he texted me back 'that's awesome, that's great for us',” Newton-John said.

“And he was talking to his family about listening to Christmas music . . . so he texted me back saying how about we do a Christmas song and I said yes, not thinking anything would come of it. Then we ran into each other about three weeks later – at a Qantas event of course – and John said how about we do a whole Christmas album and I thought that was a wonderful idea, I wish I'd thought of it. Then I said how about we do it for our charities and that was the clincher.”

Travolta said he hoped the Christmas music would be enjoyed by fans for years.

“As Olivia said, it's that gift that keeps on giving. I still listen to Johnny Mathis and that was [recorded in] 1960,” Travolta said.

It's clear beyond the Christmas album sales, Travolta and Newton-John wanted to something to mark the Grease legacy given the bond they will always share because of the film.

“Oprah Winfrey said to me 'of all the movies you've done, John, what's the one you'd put in a time capsule?' And I said Grease and she said 'Grease? Really!” And I said it's the biggest musical in history and it's given people such joy and it's number one movie, my most successful movie, too. So why wouldn't I want to share that with whatever future generations, down the centuries? That's the one I can guarantee [will have] the most positive effect on others,” Travolta said.

Newton-John said she was still amazed by the success of the film. “And who knew when we made this, that it would still be giving so much pleasure to people.”

She admitted she still has the famous skintight black trousers from the film's final scene. “They're in my closet . . . and the jacket,” she said.

“You still have yours?” Travolta exclaimed, during the joint interview. “You are so smart,” he added to Newton-John.

“I think mine went to donations earlier,” Travolta said. “I get to own wardrobe but I tend to just give it away.”

The pair said they are happy to watch the film again themselves, with Newton-John saying she is now far enough removed from the project to watch it without analysing her performance.

“It came on [television] on the tour bus recently,” she said. “I sat there with my band and we were watching it and I really got to watch it without critiquing myself, because it's so long ago now, I've let go of that. And I thought 'this is a fun film'. Every second was full, there's never a dull moment in that movie, it just keeps moving, it's got such energy. I can see why people like it, I stood back from a little bit.”

Travolta said Newton-John texted him afterwards, in what was a funny moment between the pair so many years on.

“She texted me saying 'boy, you were cute!' She fell in love with me again, I liked that part of it,” he added, with a laugh.

Travolta and Newton John's album This Christmas is out now through Universal Music.

Nicole and Sunday life-changers for Urban

Nicole Kidman Keith Urban and their daughter Sunday Rose on the way to the airport / SnapperMedia Source: news.com.au

The Daily Telegraph reports

In an emotional interview at the weekend, Keith Urban thanked his wife Nicole Kidman for turning his life around and revealed why the couple named their first child Sunday.

Urban said Kidman has brought him a profound perspective.

"I wouldn't say it was a life-changing moment because it was more than that," he told London's The Mirror.

"It was when my life started. Before then I didn't really know what I was doing. Now I know exactly what I'm doing and it all makes sense.

"I feel very, very fortunate that I've met somebody like Nic and we share the same kind of ideology."

The 45-year-old added that the pair always knew what to call their firstborn.

"For me, Sunday used to be the loneliest day of the week because nobody's hanging out on a Sunday.

"They're all with their families and I used to dread Sundays.

"But when I met Nic, it became my favourite day of the week because we always spent it together.

"Nic had the same feeling so we said that if we had a child we should call her Sunday."

Guy Sebastian records The Police classic Message in a Bottle for charity

Guy has recorded The Police classic 'Message in a Bottle' for The McGrath Foundation. Picture: news.com.au Source: news.com.au

Kate Midena, news.com.au, reports

It's been a big year for Australia's favourite Idol, Guy Sebastian.

On the back of the release of his seventh album Armageddon, Guy has achieved more number one singles than any other Australian male artist in Aussie music history - and news.com.au got to see exactly where the magic happens.

Gyprocked, wallpapered and decked out by the man himself, Guy's studio is where he recorded most of Armageddon, including the emotion-charged song Get Along, written before he and wife Jules' first child Hudson was born.

"Yeah it's a tough song to sing, I think anything that has to do with my kid makes me pretty emotional. And I guess you can't sing songs with words like ‘Dear God, Dear Soul, Dear Mohammed, Dear Mary, can we get along?' without it happening, there's just so much tied in to that.

"There's lyrics in there that people might skim over, like the second verse which says "some set fire to crosses", as in the KKK; "some fight to ride the bus they choose", that's to do with the whole Rosa Parkes incident, so the lyrics are quite interlaced with a lot of back story as well. As I'm singing them I know what I mean and that's why I tend to get emotional."

The studio also happens to be where he worked on his latest project - a charity song for The McGrath Foundation and Mount Franklin.

"We decided to record The Police classic of Message in a Bottle - which is obviously in line with the message campaign that Mt Franklin and the McGrath Foundation are running - and it meant that I could do my own spin on it, giving it an islandy, reggae type treatment. But I didn't want to change it too much. Sting is the master!

"Obviously this is supporting breast cancer, it's so common and affects so many families. I've been affected myself with family so it just makes sense for me to be involved.

"The proceeds all go to charity which is amazing - it's the first time that I've been involved in something where literally every cent that can be is donated. I'm paying for the recording of it here in the studio which means there are no costs to recoup or anything like that so it just worked for everyone."