4B the university daily kansan
wednesday, may 12, 2004
entertainment
Actress in 'Sopranos' joins cast of 'Friends' spinoff
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — As every fan of The Sopranos knows, Adriana LaCerva is living on borrowed time.
A while back the sexy mafia moll made the wrong friend—an undercover FBI agent—and has since been forced to squeal to the feds about Tony Soprano's gangster family.
ster family
Since then the hit drama — in its fifth season on HBO, Sundays at 8 p.m., has found Adriana racked by conflict and guilt.
"What am I doing?" she moaned to her FBI contact. "I'm being ripped apart here, snitching on people."
or people.
Worse: She knows if Tony discovers she's ratting him out, who cares if she's the fiancée of his beloved nephew, Christopher?
Adriana's going to disappear real quick.
But even in the best-case scenario, Ade, along with the series, will be history after next season's slate of 10 episodes — whenever
that is, given the show's propensity for long breaks.
In March this fact was bumming out Drea de Matteo, the actress who has made an art form out of whining "Chris-tuh-fuhr." She peered beyond The Sopranos and fretted, "There's not really much money for me to make in the film business."
At that interview, she looked very unlike Adriana in jeans and buggy sweater, and — in stark contrast to Adriana's flashy manicures — with nails free of polish and clipped short as a child's.
and applauded.
"The kind of projects I like," de Matteo went on, "they're not moneymaking projects."
Maybe another TV series?
"I've been on the best television show, so to go anywhere beneath that wouldn't feel right to do right now."
Even if it were a high-profile sitcom? "Not yet," she declared.
How things change. Next week, when NBC unveils its fall schedule for advertisers at its gala "upfront" presentation, de Matteo will be on hand as a late addition to the cast of perhaps next season's highest-profile new sit-com; the Friends spinoff Joey. She'll be on display right beside its star, former Friend Matt LeBlanc.
After the media siege triggered by last week's Friends finale, many viewers had no trouble relating to the California construction worker whose brain was pierced by nails fired from a high-powered nail gun.
Fortunately, he survived. So shall we. And, who knows, Joey
shall we. And, who is the— which inherits the Thursday-at-7 time slot of its celebrated forebear — could out to be lots of fun.
Anyway, de Matteo is psyched about her new gig, as she made clear during a follow-up phone call last week.
can has week.
"It was very, very unexpected," she said. "I never even had the chance to think about it."
She will co-star as the older sister of dimwitted would-be actor Joey Tribbiani, who, post-Friends.
"I play a hairdresser — or should I say 'hah-uhr-dressuh'?" de Matteo laughed. "My character is very similar in look and accent to Adriana, but sharper and tougher."
moves to L.A. to further his career
— and moves in with her.
Despite the apparently comfortable fit, "at first, I didn't think I was the right choice for the part," she says. "For one thing, I had never done a sitcom."
A New York native with a film degree from NYU, the 32-year-old de Matteo had found scattered work in theater and films when she landed a one-day, oneline role in an early Sopranos segment as a passing fancy of Christopher's. But Christopher proved smitten with Adriana. So were the producers. Adriana quickly blossomed into a key character.
"Adriana was the innocent," says de Matteo, and, at least until the feds got their claws into her, she was the sole character who could have walked away from the
crime life. "She is the only one who fell into the trap. The rest were already there."
were already there.
Blinded by her misplaced love for Christopher and her lack of self-respect, says de Matteo,
"Adriana ended up being the most vulnerable character on the show. People think she's tough, but it's just the accent and the hair and the makeup that makes her seem tough. She's a scaredy-cat, afraid of everything."
To hear de Matteo talk, Gina Tribbiana won't be afraid of much least of all, swapping zingers with her little brother.
But during her initiation as Gina for the Joey pilot, de Matteo confesses she was nervous.
connect these skills.
Doing sitcoms, she found, is "really, really, really hard. They're always changing the lines. You have to learn how to hold for laughs during the performance. It takes a high concentration all the time.
"But Matt's a great guy," she adds, "and I couldn't have asked for a better actor to fall into the hands of, after working with
Michael Imperioli," who, playing hothead Christopher, "is so safe for me. He's a warm soul."
When de Matteo's casting on Joey was announced a few weeks ago, there were many knowing nods from Sopranos fans. Her new role seemed proof positive: Adriana's number must be up.
Not necessarily, says de Matteo: First-season production of Joey will have wrapped when The Sopranos resumes filming next March.
Calling her new series "a natural transition," she says, "I get to walk right into another already existing family situation: the old Friends crew. And we're on the Friends stage. I have Jennifer Aniston's dressing room!"
A couple of months ago, de Matteo was anxious about being typecast as Adriana forever. But "I love playing that sort of character." she now insists.
"Besides, doing a sitcom is a huhuuuuuge challenge," she pronounces with all due emphasis. "And I'm up for that challenge."
Jessica Simpson starts national tour June 4
Clinton's book done, due out in late June
NEW YORK—As if she weren't everywhere already, Jessica Simpson is coming to a concert venue near you.
The pop music and reality television star announced a summer tour yesterday, starting June 4 in New Orleans.
The Jessica Simpson Reality Tour will feature stops across the country, including New York Chicago and her hometown of Dallas.
Dana.
The tour will end Aug.1 in Paso Robles, Calif.
This will be the 23-year-old's first tour since the success of her MTV series Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica, with her husband, Nick Lachey. Her album, In This Skin, is in the Billboard Top 20. She recently shot a sitcom pilot for ABC and has a line of fragrances and beauty products called Dessert.
The Associated Press
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Friends was a friend to the end for NBC, with the sitcom's final episode boosting the network to its best weekly showing in two years.
two years.
Last Thursday's Friends finale, which drew an average 52.5 million viewers, was the top-rated entertainment show on any network since the Seinfeld finale six years ago.
That programming firepower gave NBC its best two-year showing among total viewers and matched its highest non-Olympic weekly rating in more than four years among viewers 18 to 49.
NBC aired the most-watched drama series — ER — and TV movie — part two of the earthquake drama 10.5.
NBC's Nightly News,however,was edged out of the No.1 spot,averaging 8.7 million viewers to 8.9 million viewers for ABC World News Tonight.
NBC averaged 14.9 million viewers in prime time for the week, besting CBS' 13.2 million. NBC won handily among viewers aged 18-to-49, the demographic group it focuses on.
For the week of May 3 to 9, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: Friends, NBC, 52.5 million; Friends Clipshow, NBC, 36.9 million; ER, NBC, 28.4 million; Survivor All-Stars Finale, CBS, 24.8 million; Survivor All-Stars Reunion, CBS, 23.9 million; Tuesday's American Idol, Fox, 22.8 million; Wednesday's American Idol, Fox, 21.2 million; CSI, CBS, 20.4 million viewers; NBC Movie of the Week: 10.5, NBC, 19.9 million; Survivor All-Stars, CBS, 19.2 million.
years ago:
Friends ranks as the fourth most-watched series finale in TV history, behind CBS' M-A-S-H with106 million viewers, and NBC's Cheers with 80.4 million viewers and Seinfeld with 76.3 million.
WASHINGTON — President Bill Clinton has finished writing his memoirs and has submitted the completed manuscript to editors
NBC had more to crow about, according to Nielsen Media Research figures.
The Associated Press
The book's coverwas sent to retailers yesterday as the publisher begins taking orders for the expected best seller.
the book,
My Life, will
run an estimated
900
pages and is due out in late June. The former president received a reported $10 million to $12 million advance, and the book has a
world News Tonight
CBS Evening News was third with 6.7 million viewers. NBC's newcast has been No.1 for 60 of the last 65 weeks.
Clinton
first print run of 1.5 million copies.
"He finished late last week and right now we're completing the editing process," said Paul Bogaards, vice president of publisher Alfred A. Knopf. Knopf said the book reveals all of Clinton's "talents and contradictions."
Clinton is expected to begin recording the audio version of My Life next week. The abridged audio version is seven hours long, on six compact discs. The audio book will have a retail price of $35, as will the hardcover.
CBS had bragging rights in the reality realm. CBS' Survivor All-Stars finale and reunion show each pulled in audiences of about 24 million to finish at No.5 and 6
Besides the top-rated sitcom.
$53. as will be announced. Knopph already received over 500 requests for personal signing appearances by the former president, and are trying to schedule signings and media appearances to promote the book.
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CSW BOOK DRIVE!!
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CSW is looking for books, preferably children's books. Your donations would be greatly appreciated! Please drop donations off in the box located in the CCL (Room 400, Kansas Union).
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Students who oppose illegal immigration and unfair discrimination against Americans can join a lawsuit being prepared to challenge this unlawful decision and protect your rights.
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