Special Coverage Comic-Con 2008Pop Culture Classics (The EW 1000)Sound BitesBox Office Game
Page 2 of 10

JULES SYLVESTER
Must Snake Charmer

AGE 55
WHY HIM Summer's most anticipated guilty pleasure, Snakes on a Plane, would just be [Blank] on a Plane without Sylvester's reptile-wrangling skills; he handled all 450 of the slithery creatures used during filming.
WORKING FOR SCALES Sylvester had a snake house on set to keep the serpents contained — and away from star Samuel L. Jackson, who didn't want to bond with the slimy thespians. ''But he sure flogged the snot out of the rubber ones,'' jokes Sylvester.
NEXT Snakes hits theaters Aug. 18; he'll supply reptiles for Casino Royale (Nov. 17) and wrangle assorted critters for next year's Ping-Pong comedy Balls of Fury.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON
Must Workaholic

AGE 21
WHY HER She's mastered the art of the ambush, surprising us with one unpredictable choice after another. Her 2006 to-do list says it all: First up, the screwball shenanigans of Woody Allen's Scoop, in which she plays a college journalist who teams up with a borscht-belt-style magician (Allen) to investigate a tip about a serial killer (Hugh Jackman). Then come back-to-back love triangles: as a mysterious dame in the noir The Black Dahlia, opposite a detective duo played by Aaron Eckhart and Josh Hartnett; and The Prestige, a thriller in which her affections are divided between competing magicians played by Christian Bale and (again) Jackman.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY ''Something Woody and I have in common is that working is what keeps us sane. I have a hard time taking time off because I don't have any hobbies. I've loved filming since I was a little kid. You get all this attention. There's still nothing better than putting stickers all over a crew member.''
PLANS B, C & D ''When I was a freshman in high school, I thought I had other things I wanted to do, like anthropology, or silly things like botany or opening a bakery. But [now] I can't imagine not being an actor.''
KIDS AND ANIMALS Starring in the upcoming Weinstein Co. comedy The Nanny Diaries, based on the best-selling novel, feels like déjà vu. ''My costar [Nicholas Reese Art] is 7 years old. I recognize something in him that I remember as a kid working in film,'' says Johansson, who landed her first movie (North) at age 8. Still, the part has its hazards. ''I have frosting thrown at me or I'm vomited on or some kind of disaster.''
NEXT Scoop opens July 28; Dahlia hits Sept. 15; The Prestige unveils Oct. 27.

THE MAYA
Must Ancient Culture

AGE Mayan culture hates it when you ask its age. (Psst! It's over 2,000.)
WHYA MAYA? Because Etruscan is sooooo 2005! Also, because of Mel Gibson's upcoming Apocalypto, a tale of vengeance set in a Mayan village in the late 15th century — performed entirely in the Yucatec Maya language.
DID WE MENTION THE ICE CREAM? In late April, Häagen-Dazs introduced Mayan Chocolate, which includes a hint of cinnamon. We know of no other ancient culture half so delicious, and we've eaten several.


Page 2 of 10