4B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN ENTERTAINMENT
SPORTS
TUESDAY, MAY 9, 2006
Chervl Gerber/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Actresses Jennifer Garner, left, and Reese Witherspoon play with Tyla Conner, second from left, and Ashanti Charlton, while visiting a FEMA trailer park where the girls live Monday in New Orleans. Garner and Witherspoon were among a delegation of 40 prominent Hollywood and Washington women to visit the area, sponsored by the Children's Defense Fund.
Delegation for children visits New Orleans
BY STACEY PLAISANCE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS — In a gutted building with no interior walls, exposed pipes and no air conditioning to stave off the Louisiana heat, Reese Witherpoon, Jennifer Garner and Cicely Tyson chatted with children who had lost their homes, then watched as they sang, danced and worked on art projects.
The movie stars were among a delegation of women touring devastated parts of the city Monday to meet with families and children trying to adjust to life after Hurricane Katrina.
"I don't think you get a real clear perspective unless you
come down and see it," Witherspoon said after chatting with students at a "Freedom School" set up by the Children's Defense Fund to help young storm victims.
"The children need attention right now," said Witherspoon, this year's best actress Oscar winner for "Walk the Line."
The visit was part of an effort by the fund to bring attention to the needs of storm victims, particularly traumatized children. The group plans to open more than 20 such schools in communities along the Gulf Coast: 13 for Louisiana and nine for Mississippi.
The New Orleans school is in
don't think you get a real perspective unless you come down and see it."
don't think you
Reese Witherspoon
Actress
part of the city inundated with 5 feet of water after Katrina hit Aug.29.Many homes sit empty and deteriorating, and piles of storm debris still line sidewalks.
About 1.2 million people younger than 18 are living in areas rendered disaster zones by Katrina, and as many as 8 percent, or 100,000, are expected
to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, according to various estimates.
Some experts say the mental health toll may be much higher. Of the first 1,000 children screened by the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, 27 percent displayed symptoms of trauma, including nightmares, flashbacks, heightened anxiety and bedwetting.
"I've been shocked and heartbroken," said Garner, star of TV's "Alias" and the film "Elektra," who cried when the children danced and sang "Something Inside So Strong" by South African singer Labi Siffre.
Romijn's sitcom still uncertain
ENTERTAINMENT
LOS ANGELES — Rebecca Romijn is used to the blue jokes.
BY BRIDGET BYRNE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
"Yeah, I have to talk about blue makeup a tremendous amount," she says of her role as the shape-shifting, blue-hued mutant, Mystique, in the "X-Men" films.
"But I know how much people love those movies and I'm really happy to be part of them, so for the most part, I'm happy to talk about it," she adds. "The Last Stand," the third installment of the widely followed "X-
Meir Francis,
arrives Memorial
Day weekend.
Production on Romijn's new WB sitcom "Pepper Dennis" was halted for several
Although "Pepper's" midseason debut was highly anticipated — the WB ordered a full 13 episodes — its ratings have been disappointing and Romijn has been working overtime to promote more interest in her show.
Romijn said the series first appealed to her because, "I was dying to do a comedy."
months while the statusque actress was filming "The Last Stand." So when production resumed on the romantic comedy, in which she plays the title role of a TV reporter, it was decided that Pepper would offer a wink and a nod to Mystique.
"Pepper's covering a thwarted bank robbery and ends up with a bag of money and the dye pack hasn't been detonated yet," Romijn explains. "When it is, it ends up all over Pepper. Then we cut to her in the shower and you saw all the blue paint going down the drain. It was a little bit of letting go, moving on."
beyond that" about the fate of the sitcom, which airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EDT.
"We're on a very tough night. Our little show is out there kind of singing for its supper as it were," explains Harberts in a not-so-subtle reference to Fox's hugely popular "American Idol," which leads Fox to Tuesday-night domination.
Yet co-creator Gretchen J. Berg appreciates the promotional efforts of the WB, which will soon merge with UPN to form the CW network.
"We are slugging away here," says co-creator Aaron Harberts, adding that he knows "nothing
The WB's "in a tough position because the network is made up of people and a lot of them
don't know what's next for them and the fact that they've been supportive of the show and excited about it really means a lot to us."
the series first appealed to her because, "I was dying to do a comedy."
Romijn said
Reading the pilot script, she thought, "OK, this girl's craaaazzy. I like her. She sounds fun. I want to hang with her." So she "begged" for a meeting with the show's creators.
"She projected power and confidence and poise, which I think necessary to being a reporter," says Har伯erts. He said a lot of young actresses he met "came off as a bit presumptuous and obnoxious," but Romijn's demeanor seemed exactly right. "She's a woman, not a girl."
Romijn, 33, was born in Berkeley, Calif., and was a successful model in the U.S. and Europe before her acting career took off.
She also did some TV reporting in the late '80s, conducting interviews on the MTV fashion series "House of Style."
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