Sideways Golden Globe nominee Paul Giamatti isn't exactly a household name, but the folks at NBC think he's famous enough to host Saturday Night Live. He'll emcee on Jan. 22, when the musical guest will be Ludacris, backed by (of all people) pop-punkers Sum 41.
Giamatti has had starring roles in movies before (notably, 2003's indie hit American Splendor), but he's still probably best known for playing Howard Stern nemesis ''Pig Vomit'' eight years ago in Private Parts. That seems to be changing, however, with the growing popularity and awards-season kudos for Sideways. ''This movie has caught on way more than I expected. I'm comfortable in my life, and I'm just a little worried about not being comfortable anymore,'' Giamatti told England's Guardian this week. He says people come up to him now on the street and blurt out a signature line of his Sideways wine snob Miles: ''I am NOT drinkin' any f---in' MERLOT!''
''All of a sudden it's more intense on the press line and it kind of bums me out. It definitely seems like there's more crazy — crazier — people coming up to me and saying, 'My friend made a tape of his fish singing and, dude, you gotta listen to it.' Crazy f---er last night gave me his chatline number: 'You gotta call me, man!' Some woman came up to me after the Critics' Choice awards and gave me cookies, talking all this crazy s--- about birds and flowers, and it was creepy. And me, I like crazy people, but I like being able to study them from a distance.''
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