TV
Hungry for an appetizer of Lost scoop as you impatiently starve for the
start of season 5, which bows in early '09? Then feast on this: Exec
producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof tell EW they've just completed
casting of two major new characters joining their saga next year. Last
week, Michael Ausiello reported the addition of New Amsterdam alum
Zuleikha Robinson. This week, we'd like to introduce you to Saïd Taghmaoui, a French thesp most recently seen in the Don Cheadle thriller
Traitor. He'll play Caesar, a mystery man who...um...well, that's all we
got. But the producers say the actor's skill set fits the part. ''He has
an innate intelligence, intensity, and danger we really responded to,''
says Lindelof, who declined to specify whether Caesar is good or bad.
But know this: Robinson's Ilana is associated with Caesar, and Cuse
likens her to Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight. ''There was
something very unsettling about the way the Joker kept telling different
stories about his background — something very similar to what we had
planned for Ilana,'' he says. Look for a delayed introduction for the
duo, with Caesar in particular playing ''an important part of the setup
for the final act of the show in season 6,'' according to Cuse. And FYI:
Zuleikha rhymes with You-Like-A, while Saïd sounds just like Lost's own
Sayid. In fact, Taghmaoui also played — get this — the Iraqi soldier who
tortured Mark Wahlberg in Three Kings. Should theorists be looking for
hidden meaning in this seemingly coincidental linkage? ''No,'' says
Lindelof. ''Just...no.'' Oh, okay. But how about the theory that Smokey
is... [Click] Hello? Hello?! — Jeff Jensen
Movies
Fans of the fabulous foursome, we've got good news: We seem to be one
stiletto-heeled step closer to a Sex and the City movie follow-up. ''When
I finished, I didn't have a thought in my head about a sequel,'' says
writer-director Michael Patrick King. But he says that all changed once
the film, which earned $153 million domestically, screened
worldwide. ''It doesn't feel done to me at all. It feels like it
generated a whole new burst of enthusiasm for these characters.'' Still
in the negotiation stage, King won't divulge any scenarios for the film
(''If I tipped my head right now, ideas would come pouring out''), but
hints at a possible release date. ''The summer after next might be right.'' — Lindsay Soll
Music
Katy Perry may have covered ''Like a Virgin'' at the 2008 MTV Video Music
Awards, but Jordin Sparks was living it — loudly. Attending the
show for the first time, the American Idol winner went off script after
being agitated by host Russell Brand's repeated mocking of the Jonas
Brothers' promise rings. ''It's something I feel strongly about,'' she
says. ''I wish I would've worded it differently — that somebody who doesn't
wear a promise ring isn't necessarily a slut — but I can't take it back
now. It was a split-second thing. Still, I don't regret it.'' Neither do
the Jonas sibs, who complimented Sparks moments after the rant. As for
Brand, he and Sparks shared a laugh postshow. ''I have nothing against
him at all,'' says the singer, who insists she's not turned off by the
experience. In fact, she'd happily go back. That is, ''if I get an
invite.'' — Shirley Halperin
We ooze news on our Hollywood Insider blog.
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