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She may be remembered as one-half of “Two Beckys,” but The Conners star Lecy Goranson will always be the Becky Conner, as the actress who originated the role of Roseanne and Dan Conner’s oldest child on Roseanne when she was just 14 years old.

Through the 1988-97 original series (minus a few of seasons off while she attended college and Sarah Chalke was recast as the character), the one-season Roseanne reboot in 2018, and the just-completed seven-season Roseanne sequel, Goranson’s Becky ran off against her parents’ wishes to marry her high school boyfriend, Mark (Glenn Quinn), became a widow (after Quinn died in 2002 and his role was not recast), battled alcoholism, became a single mother, and pursued an advanced degree after giving up her dream of college when she eloped with Mark.

In The Conners series finale — spoiler alert — Becky’s years of surviving a lot of trauma and working a lot of unsatisfying,...

Veteran actor Denis Arndt, known in part for his role in the hit movie Basic Instinct, has passed away. His death is starting to get reported on by various news outlets, which have revealed that Arndt died at the age of 85.

Per Ashland.news, Arndt died unexpectedly on March 25 at his home in Ashland, Oregon. His wife of 45 years, Magee Downey, confirmed the actor's death. A cause of death was not revealed, but it was noted in the report that Arndt suffered a stroke in 2019, though he had since recovered.

Arndt was born on Nov. 23, 1939. Before he got into acting, Arndt had a stint in the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. For his service, he was awarded a Purple Heart and a Commendation Medal. He then worked as a helicopter pilot in Alaska before he took an interest in theater, leading to founding Seattle's Intiman Theatre.

Denis Arndt, the familiar character actor who appeared on L.A. Law, Picket Fences and other shows for David E. Kelley and earned a Tony nomination for his turn opposite Mary-Louise Parker in the Broadway two-hander Heisenberg, has died. He was 86.

Arndt died Tuesday at his longtime cabin home in Ashland, Oregon, his family announced.

Arndt also portrayed the newlywed husband of Mary Tyler Moore’s character on the 1988 CBS sitcom Annie McGuire — Adrien Brody played his son — and he was one of the cops ogling Sharon Stone’s Catherine Tramell in the iconic interrogation scene in Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct (1992).

Arndt started out with Kelley on NBC’s L.A. Law as lawyer Jack Sollers, who arrives in season five (1990-91) to represent the naughty Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur) in her sexual discrimination case against McKenzie Brackman.

He recurred as another lawyer, Franklin Dell, on CBS’ Picket Fences over four...

Earlier this summer we had to endure the misbegotten Summer Camp which was yet another attempt by Diane Keaton, joined by Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard, to mix comedy and later-in-life drama in an older female bonding flick. Keaton had great success in the first film that announced this subgenre, 2018’s Book Club, which smartly matched four veteran actresses including Jane Fonda that led to a more mixed-results sequel set in Italy. Fonda also found real success in the subgenre with the entertaining 80 For Brady with Sally Field, Rita Moreno and Lily Tomlin along for the ride. Thus it seemed natural that other beloved female stars of a certain age would also want to jump on board in this game attempt to reverse Hollywood’s youth obsession and provide a little something-something for aging boomers everywhere.

The Fabulous Four is the latest to try out the formula, and at least...

Whether they travel in groups of three or four, accomplished women of a certain age and their wacky adventures are having a movie moment. The latest entry in this subgenre is a frothy outing that sometimes falls flat, but at least The Fabulous Four doesn’t oversell its theme of friendship or its aha moments of catharsis.

Whatever the feature’s shortcomings, its title is not false advertising; there’s nothing ho-hum about the central quartet of characters, longtime friends who gather when one of them decides, on very short notice, that she’s getting married. As with Book Club, though, the fabulosity is more about the actors — in this case, two true icons (Susan Sarandon and Bette Midler) and two supreme masters of quippery (Sheryl Lee Ralph and Megan Mullally). The opening credits are a valentine to all four.

Director Jocelyn Moorhouse is no stranger to powerhouse female casts,...

The trailer for “The Fabulous Four,” starring Bette Midler, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Megan Mullally and Susan Sarandon has dropped, wedding bells galore.

Per the film’s logline, “‘The Fabulous Four’ is an uproarious comedy about a group of life-long friends who travel to Key West, Fla., to be bridesmaids in the surprise wedding of their best college girlfriend Marilyn (Midler). Over the course of one outrageous trip, sisterhoods are rekindled, the past resurfaces and there are enough sparks, raunch and romance to change all their lives in unexpected ways.”

The trailer sees Marilyn remarrying just two months after her husband died, Lou (Sarandon) coming out of her cat-lady shell and Kitty (Ralph) questioning Lou about a kegel ball Marilyn gave her. The four gear up for Marilyn’s wedding, although not without some bumps in the road, like Marilyn getting dethroned on TikTok by Lou.

The film comes from Southpaw Entertainment and Hantz Motion Pictures,...

Sad news today as it’s been reported that Melinda Dillon, best known for her roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and A Christmas Story, has died at the age of 83.

Melinda Dillon played Jillian Guiler in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a mother whose child is abducted by aliens. She was cast in the role just three days before filming began on the recommendation of Hal Ashby, who had directed her in Bound for Glory. Dillon’s performance would earn her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She also played Ralphie’s mother in Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story, memorably telling him that he would shoot his eye out if he got a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. She received another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Sydney Pollack’s Absence of Malice.

Melinda Dillon, the two-time Oscar nominee known for her roles in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “A Christmas Story,” died January 9 in Los Angeles, according to an announcement from her family. She was 83.

Dillon was born in 1939 in Hope, Arkansas. Her stepfather was an army veteran, and she grew up on military bases around the country and in Germany before graduating from the Hyde Park High School in Chicago. She studied acting at the Goodman School of Drama and began her career performing improv at The Second City.

In 1962, Dillon played Honey in the original Broadway production of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” The performance earned her a Tony nomination at 23 years old. Over the course of her career, she picked up two Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her turns as a mother whose children are abducted by aliens in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind...

Melinda Dillon, a two-time Oscar nominee for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice who also played Ralphie’s mom in A Christmas Story, has died. She was 83. Her family said she died January 9 in Los Angeles but did not give other details.

Dillon and Richard Dreyfuss in ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind,’ 1977

Dillon probably is best known for playing a mother whose young son is abducted by the aliens in Steven Spielberg’s 1977 epic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. She and Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) inexplicably are drawn to Devils Tower in Wyoming as they struggle to make sense of what has happened to them. She earned a Supporting Actress Oscar nom for the role.

She also played the mother of the young lead Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) in the 1983 holiday classic A Christmas Story, memorably warning the boy who wants a Bb rifle that, “You’ll shoot your eye out!

Netflix’s series adaptation of Australian novel Boy Swallows Universe has unveiled its cast, and first images from the shoot have been released.

Travis Fimmel, Simon Baker and Phoebe Tonkin topline an ensemble cast for the eight-part limited series, which is based on Trent Dalton’s book and is now in production in Brisbane, Australia.

Deadline first revealed news of the project in May 2019, and Netflix boarded it earlier this year.

2022 Netflix Pilot & Series Orders

The book, set in the violent working-class suburban fringe of Brisbane in 1983, follows Eli Bell, an articulate 12-year-old boy, and his mute brother Gus. A synopsis for the novel reads: “Eli Bell’s life is complicated. His father is lost, his mother is in jail and his stepdad is a heroin dealer. The most steadfast adult in Eli’s life is Slim — a...

Australian filmmaker P.J. Hogan has come full circle with his award-winning international hit comedy “Muriel’s Wedding.”

Not only is Hogan observing the 25th anniversary of the release in the U.S. this March, he was in New York in prepping pre-production on “Muriel’s Wedding: The Musical” before the coronavirus restrictions hit. The stage version scored a warm response from critics and audiences when it opened in Australia in 2017.

“It’s still very relevant — even more so,” said Hogan in a recent phone interview. “It’s all about self-esteem.”

Written and directed by Hogan and produced by his wife, filmmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse, “Muriel’s Wedding” was like a breath of fresh air. It not only launched Hogan’s career and fortified Moorhouse’s, “Muriel’s Wedding” also changed the careers of its stars Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths.

Collette played the zaftig, socially awkward Muriel Heslop, who lives in the quiet Gold Coast town of Porpoise Spit.

Jocelyn Moorhouse at the Raising Films Australia Screen Industry Forum. (Photo credit: Rosie Keogh)

Writer and director Jocelyn Moorhouse was the keynote speaker at yesterday’s Raising Films Australia Screen Industry Forum at Aftrs. The forum, held off the back of the organisation’s survey report, ‘Honey, I Hid the Kids!: Experiences of Parents and Carers in the Australian Screen Industry’, aimed to identify workable actions to address the needs of and issues faced by, parents and carers working in the Australian screen sector. Moorhouse’s speech is republished here with permission.

Hello everyone. It is an honour to be invited to speak to you today. I am a writer and director of movies and television. Some of the films I have either written, produced or directed include Proof, Muriel’s Wedding, Unconditional Love, How to Make an American Quilt, Peter Pan, Mental and The Dressmaker. I wanted to...

Loren Dean is joining Clint Eastwood’s next film The Mule as a DEA agent in the film which Eastwood will be producing, directing, and starring in. The Warner Bros.’ movie is based on a 2014 New York Times Magazine piece by Sam Dolnick and follows Earl Stone (Eastwood), a man in his 80s who is broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he is offered a job that simply requires him to drive—easy enough but, unbeknownst to Earl, he’s just signed on as a drug courier and just hit the radar of hard-charging DEA agent Colin Bates (Bradley Cooper). Dean will be playing DEA agent Brown, alongside fellow agent Cooper in their hunt for Stone. Eastwood will produce via his Malpaso banner, along with Imperative’s Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas.

Dean can next be seen in the upcoming New Regency feature Ad Astra, written and...

Kate Winslet can do anything ... except save this movie from quirky overkill. The Dressmaker, based on a 2000 novel by Rosalie Ham, gives the actress a hell of a role. She's Tilly Dunnage, a 1950's fashionista who's decided to return home to dusty Dungatar (an apt name), the small Aussie town that spawned her. Tilly got run out of Dungatar 20 years ago, when she was just a 10 year-old, for allegedly murdering her schoolmate Stewart Pettyman. Everyone believes she bashed the kid's skull in – including her snaggle-toothed old mum, Molly (Judy Davis,...

Western remake “The Magnificent Seven” (Sony) faces off against animated “Storks” (Warner Bros.) for #1 this weekend. But ranking is less important than how much the two movies pull in audiences. This fight pits the latest iteration of the venerable Hollywood western against a new example of the dominant genre ruling the 2016 box office.

Last weekend’s three duds and a big drop in Top Ten box office can be explained by retread projects that lacked appeal. However after a quick start to the season where six out of seven initial wide releases disappointed (Clint Eastwood’s “Sully” will end up grossing more than the other six combined), this week sees only two new wide releases.

That’s actually a sign of strength, since both look appealing enough to boost numbers. It’s an interesting combo, with both films having potential but neither guaranteed to open as well as “Sully” ($35 million), although both cost more.

The Dressmaker is hitting on September 23rd, and if you haven’t heard much about it, make sure you put this one on your calendar.

The trailer will hopefully convince you on its own, possibly because of the cast, and possibly because of the quirky story, but if you aren’t immediately on board, don’t overlook the husband and wife writing/directing duo behind the camera.

Jocelyn Moorhouse directs from a script penned by her and her husband, P.J. Hogan, and you’re probably a fan of a fair amount of their work. The Dressmaker looks to be just the sort of film to capitalize on their talents.

Moorhouse doesn’t have a huge list of credits, but she did direct How to Make an American Quilt, which is a woefully undervalued film, especially if you look at specifically for the direction.

Hogan is much better known, writing and/or directing Muriel’s Wedding,...

Jocelyn Moorhouse and producer Sue Maslin.

Jocelyn Moorhouse has joined this year.s Vivid Ideas program, appearing in an .In Conversation. event presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta).

The event will be held June 16 at Event Cinemas on George Street.

Moorhouse.s most recent film, The Dressmaker, received five Aacta Awards, including the Aacta People's Choice Award for Favourite Australian Film, and quickly became one of the most successful films of all time at the Australian box office.

Moorhouse also directed Proof, starring Hugo Weaving and Russell Crowe, and produced Muriel's Wedding, which made stars of Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths.

Internationally, Moorhouse directed Anne Bancroft and Winona Ryder in How to Make an American Quilt, and Michelle Pfeiffer, Colin Firth, Keith Carradine, Jason Robards, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jessica Lange in A Thousand Acres.

Topics to be discussed during Directing The Dressmaker: In...

Australian filmmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse has had an odd career. After making an auspicious home-turf debut with 1991’s Proof — about a blind photographer, his housekeeper and his best friend (played by Russell Crowe) — she offered up gloppy back-to-back slices of deep-dish Americana: one sweet (the Winona Ryder-led ensemble piece How to Make an American Quilt), one sour (her adaptation of Jane Smiley’s novel A Thousand Acres, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange). Following an 18-year hiatus, Moorhouse is behind the camera — and down under — again, though it would be a stretch

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HBO’s mini-series fever continues after the grand success of “True Detective” with “Olive Kitteridge”, based on the best-selling novel by Elizabeth Strout and starring an impressive line-up that includes Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins and Bill Murray, whose continued presence soon after the Toronto International Film Festival's Bill Murray Day is more than welcome. The mini-series spans the 25-year relationship between a middle school teacher named Olive (McDormand) and her husband Henry (Jenkins) who live in the small town of Crosby, Maine. In true HBO fashion, the first teaser for the show gives very little information about its content and lets the images speak for themselves. But if you're keen to know more, the series premiered at Venice a week or so ago, where our correspondent Jessica Kiang raved about it —you can read that review right here. The show is written by Jane Anderson (“How to Make an American Quilt...

From Oscar-winning to Homeland and more, here's what the cast of My So-Called Life have been up to over the past 2 decades...

Twenty years has passed since we were first introduced to the characters of My So-Called Life, twenty years! Where has the time gone? And more importantly when did I get so old?

While most of you won’t really care too much what I’ve been up to since the show finished, let’s take a look at what the actors have been up to in the years since the cancellation of what is frankly the greatest teen TV drama ever.

Claire Danes (Angela Chase)

After breaking out in My So-Called Life, Danes focused on her film career first with a leading role in 1995’s Little Women and then supporting roles in smaller but interesting films like Home For The Holidays, How to Make An American Quilt and...

Reel-Important People is a monthly column that highlights those individuals in or related to the movies who have left us in recent weeks. Below you'll find names big and small and from all areas of the industry, though each was significant to the movies in his or her own way. Maya Angelou (1928-2014) - Author and poet. Her classic book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was adapted into a 1979 TV movie. She also scripted the film Georgia, Georgia and scripted Down in the Delta. She appears in Poetic Justice (see below), How to Make an American Quilt, Madea's Family Reunion (pictured above), Porgy and Bess and the documentaries Under African Skies and Good Hair. She died on May 28. (CNN...

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She profoundly affected the world with her singing, acting and writing throughout her long and blessed life and sadly Maya Angelou has passed away.

The prolific poet was found to be dead when her caretaker checked on her this morning (May 28) and she had cancelled appearances due to poor health as of late.

Angelou, who wrote the much-loved 1970 poem “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,” was a professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University since 1982, though she spent much of the 1950s and 60s performing on stage and in various productions.

Maya also starred in “Poetic Justice” with Janet Jackson as well as “How to Make an American Quilt,” “Roots” and “Madea’s Family Reunion.”...

Maya Angelou, the esteemed writer of both poetry and prose, died on Wednesday. She was 86.

Maya Angelou Dies

Angelou died at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., her literary agent, Helen Brann, told The New York Times. Though no official cause of death has been released, it’s been revealed that she suffered from heart trouble and had long been in poor health.

Angelou is perhaps best known for her book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (1969), which offered a look at her childhood growing up in the Jim Crow South in the lines of her lyrical prose. Angelou went on to publish six more memoirs – Gather Together in My Name, Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas, The Heart of a Woman, All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes, A Song Flung Up to Heaven and Mom & Me & Mom.

As for her poetry, the poem she wrote...

Ja from Mnpp here - have you guys heard about The Dressmaker? It's the new movie from Jocelyn Moorhouse (How To Make An American Quilt, Proof), which she adapted from a 2000 novel by Rosalie Ham, and it's about a woman who returns to her small hometown after being accused or murder; there she sets out to 1) make amends with her eccentric mother, and 2) show the town's ladies the power of excellent haute couture, and 3) get revenge on the people who wrong her, and 4) falls in love with Liam Hemsworth. Okay I am getting a little ahead of myself there with the Hemsworth thing since I haven't mentioned any of the rest of the casting, which is the real meat and potatoes...

... since the stylish accused-murderess is being played by Kate Winslet and her eccentric mother is being played by Judy Davis. Excuse me I'm sorry you're supposed to always type...

It’s nearly time for Cannes, and the lead-up to one of the industry’s biggest events comes more casting news. Today we’re hearing that Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games) and Isla Fisher (Now You See Me) have signed on to star alongside Kate Winslet and Judy Davis in period drama, The Dressmaker.

While no further details have been released on which roles the pair will tackle, the plot itself sounds like the stuff of awards gold. Based on the novel by Rosalie Ham, the story follows Tilly (Winslet), a woman who returns to her hometown after she and her mother fled (because she was accused of murder) when she was a child. No doubt her return is bound to ruffle the feathers of her detractors – whom she wows with her big city wit and unusual fashion. It’s not long before Tilly’s on a revenge kick to...

From the first-time actor to the band leader coming off a hiatus, the nominees for Best Supporting Actor contain some exciting, quickly-rising stars. Here are the film roles that marked the beginning of these five actors' careers.  Jared Leto, Nominated for "Dallas Buyers Club" - "How to Make an American Quilt" (1995) Even before his lead singer status in band 30 Seconds to Mars, Leto popped up in a handful of short-lived TV series, a 90's sex-and-cars TV movie, and in "My So-Called Life." But before "Fight Club" and "American Psycho," he starred in a chain of small films, the first of which was "How to Make an American Quilt." A bundle of stories are told to a young bride-to-be, (Winona Ryder), one of which is a forbidden romance in Colonial America. He's got the sweet boyish thing down here, probably getting a lot of recognition at least in part for those popping blue eyes.

Next year, Titanic and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind star Kate Winslet will venture into young adult sci-fi territory with a role in the adaptation of Divergent starring Shailene Woodley. But that doesn't mean she's leaving behind unique dramas for blockbuster territory. THR has word that Winslet has signed on to star in The Dressmaker, a new film from Australian writer and director Jocelyn Moorhouse (How to Make an American Quilt). The drama is said to be stylish with comedic undertones as it follows Tilly Dunnage (Winslet), who returns after many years in Europe to her Australian outback hometown. But this isn't your average return trip home as Dunnage has revenge on her mind. With a story described as Unforgiven with a sewing machine, the talented dressmaker is coming home after she ran away as a child, somehow being accused of murder. In addition to revenge, Dunnage also hopes...

Kate Winslet will star in The Dressmaker, a drama about a couturier who, after years abroad, returns to her small Australian hometown — where she was accused of murder during her childhood. According to THR, Judy Davis will play Winslet's "eccentric" mother, who is perhaps keeping secrets about her daughter's past. The Dressmaker, based on Rosalie Ham's book of the same name, comes from writer-director Jocelyn Moorhouse (How to Make an American Quilt), who describes the film as "Unforgiven with a sewing machine." Time to have more movies that can be described as "[Something] with a sewing machine." "Jaws with a sewing machine," maybe. Or "Casablanca with a sewing machine."...

Kate Winslet and Judy Davis are set to team for Jocelyn Moorhouse's bittersweet tragicomedy feature "The Dressmaker".

The story is an adaptation of Rosalie Ham's novel. Set in the 1950s, it tells the story of a talented couture dressmaker who returns home from Europe to a small town in country Australia with revenge on her mind. Davis will play Winslet's estranged mother.

Sue Maslin ("Japanese Story") will produce, and shooting begins in Victoria early next year with the Wimmera and Mallee regions currently being considered.

The project is the first film Moorhouse has directed since 1997's "A Thousand Acres," though she has produced numerous films since then along with helming stage plays like the recent "Sex With Strangers".

She is best known for 1995's "How to Make an American Quilt" and one of Russell Crowe's early breakout works - 1991's "Proof". She was to shoot the project...

You can count on one thing when a period drama is announced. It’ll likely star one of the English K’s. Keira Knightley or Kate Winslet. Having turned her hand to nigh on every on-screen profession, Kate Winslet has signed on to star in and as The Dressmaker.

Based on the novel by Rosalie Ham, the English Rose will take the lead in the 1950s-set period thriller. She will play Tilly, a woman once ostracised by her community. After being accused of murder she returns home to exact her revenge. Here’s the book’s official blurb from publisher Duffy and Snellsgrove:

Dungatar is a small country town, where the townspeople’s eccentricities are many and varied – from Sergeant Farrat’s predilection for cross-dressing, to pharmacist Almanac’s retributive scheme of potion dispensing, not to forget the affairs and assorted dark secrets. But none of these can compare to...

• If Jon Favreau’s Chef was ever in danger of receiving adequate financing, he can probably breathe easy now. Robert Downey Jr. has signed on to join the independent comedy. Downey Jr. and Favreau have worked together for years on the Iron Man franchise. Favreau plays the role of Happy Hogan, and also directed the first two films. In Chef, which Favreau wrote — and will direct and star in — a recently fired chef tries to regain control of his craft by opening a food truck. Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara is also set to star. [Deadline]

• Kate Winslet will star in the period film,...

They're practically the same age, with names so similar they give dyslexics seizures, and both have played love interests of Julia Roberts. But Dermot Mulroney and Dylan McDermott are not the same person. We swear.

The two actors have both had steady careers, with Mulroney sticking mostly to character roles on the big screen ("Zodiac," "J. Edgar") while McDermott found fame on the boob tube starring in hit shows like "The Practice," "Dark Blue" and Ryan Murphy's current FX series "American Horror Story."

What would happen if these two went toe-to-toe for nine electrifying rounds in our ring of pop culture minutiae? With McDermott set to join Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis on the election trail in "The Campaign" this week, there's no better time than the present.

Best Movie Role

Dermot Mulroney: Randall Hertzel, "About Schmidt" (2002)

Dylan McDermott: Secret Service Agent Al D'Andrea, "In the Line of Fire" (1993)

Advantage: Mulroney,...

Screen Nsw has announced the 2011 participants for the script development workshop Aurora: Dust, Dog Eat Dog, On the Jellicoe Road, Falls Creek and One Hundred and Fifteen.

The selected filmmakers include a new project from Melena Marchetta (writer, Looking for Alibrandi), Michael Robertson (producer, Black Water/Road Train/The Reef) and the debut of editor Veronika Jenet as a producer.

The 2011 edition of Aurora includes a project from South Australia. The advisors will be Us producer Anne Carey (The American, Towelhead and The Savages); writer Andrew Bovell ( Lantana, Blessed, Head On and Edge of Darkness; producer/director/writer Jocelyn Moorhouse (How to Make an American Quilt, Peter Pan, A Thousand Acres, Proof and Muriel’s Wedding); and British producer Olivia Stewart (Brassed Off and Velvet Goldmine).

Former Aurora projects include Animal Kingdom, Somersault, Little Fish, Black Balloon, Prime Mover and Accidents Happen, and the upcoming Burning Man and Say Nothing.

Welcome to Back Stage's exclusive guide to this year's Screen Actors Guild Award nominees in film and television. Here, you will find a write-up of every nominee for SAG Awards in 2011. Be sure to look for continued coverage of the awards race at our awards blog, "Behind the Scenes." The 17th annual SAG Awards will be broadcast live Sunday, January 30, on TNT and TBS. Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Television Movie Or Miniseriesclaire Danes"Temple Grandin"Claire Danes so convincingly becomes Temple Grandin that it's almost inconceivable that the actor was the face of 1990s teen angst as Angela Chase in the short-lived but beloved "My So-Called Life." Danes is so brave and daring in her performance as the woman who changed the face of autism—singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" at her college graduation—it's no wonder the real-life Grandin felt proud to be affiliated with the HBO project,...

We've been looking at each Meryl Streep Oscar nod and its competitive field. Previously: 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 87, 88 and 90.

When The Bridges of Madison County premiered in summer (a rare Eastwood berth, indeed) it seemed like Streep might finally win her 3rd Oscar the following Spring. She'd been away from the awards race in what seemed like forever. Hilariously, that "forever" absence had only been four consecutive years (1991-1994) but for Meryl, that's an eternity. In fact, a four year absence had never happened before and has never happened since all these years later. By the end of the 1995 film year, a really actressy one, the story was a lot different and the race was suddenly all but sewn up for Sarandon with only Streep and Stone as dark horse possibilities.

1995 the nominees were

Susan Sarandon, Dead Man WalkingElisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas *Nathaniel's pick. This performance kills me.*

Sharon Stone, Casino

Meryl Streep,...

British-born film star known for her roles in Great Expectations and Spartacus

Jean Simmons, who has died aged 80, had a bounteous moment, early in her career, when she seemed the likely casting for every exotic or magical female role. It passed, as she got out of her teens, but then for the best part of 15 years, in Britain and America, she was a valued actress whose generally proper, if not patrician, manner had an intriguing way of conflicting with her large, saucy eyes and a mouth that began to turn up at the corners as she imagined mischief – or more than her movies had in their scripts. Even in the age of Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor, she was an authentic beauty. And there were always hints that the lady might be very sexy. But nothing worked out smoothly, and it is somehow typical of Simmons that her most astonishing...

2010 SAG Award Prediction Best Cast in a Motion Picture The Hurt Locker — Christian Camargo, Brian Geraghty, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner Many consider the Screen Actors Guild’s Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Award as SAG’ best film equivalent. Generally speaking, that ain’t true. A "cast," or "ensemble," is exactly what the name implies: a group of performers interacting with one another in a movie. SAG Award voters, whether when selecting their nominees or winners, have almost invariably followed that "Outstanding Cast = Outstanding Group Acting" concept. For instance, among past SAG Award nominees in the Outstanding Cast category have been How to Make an American Quilt, Marvin’s Room, Boogie Nights, The Green Mile, Chocolat, and Bobby — [...]...

NEW YORK -- Fine Line Features has tied the knot on a deal to bring Meg Wolitzer's 2003 novel The Wife to the big screen for writer-helmer Jane Anderson to adapt and direct. Anderson's screenwriting credits include Andrew Bergman's It Could Happen to You and Jocelyn Moorhouse's How to Make an American Quilt. She also has written and directed the HBO projects Normal and If These Walls Could Talk 2. Published last year by Simon & Schuster, Wife -- set in the literary world -- follows the faithful wife of a famous New York novelist who decides to leave her husband on the eve of his receiving a major book award. The life-altering decision unearths the many dark secrets of their marriage.