By Romeo San Vicente
Julianne Moore and Annette Bening, 'All Right'?
Julianne Moore made out memorably with Toni Collette in "The Hours" while Annette Bening dallied with suburban neighbor Kristen Chenoweth in "Running with Scissors," so their resumes are already sufficiently queer to play a lesbian couple in "The Kids Are All Right," the next project from director Lisa Cholodenko ("High Art," "Laurel Canyon"). In "Kids," Moore and Bening's children (played by Josh Hutcherson and Mia Wasikowska) set out to find their donor-dad (Mark Ruffalo). Naturally, once he enters the family's life, havoc is wreaked. Hutcherson impressed critics with his performances in "Bridge to Terabithia" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth," while Wasikowska nabbed the title role in Tim Burton's much-anticipated "Alice in Wonderland." Nice pedigrees all around then, and eager indie-film audiences will know if those meddling kids learned their lesson about sperm-donors when the movie opens sometime in 2010.
All the world's T.R. Knight's stage
Gay actor T.R. Knight had a very public break with "Grey's Anatomy," the show that made him famous, but unlike other performers who have abandoned their successful and lucrative TV careers, he's getting plenty of offers. Los Angeles theatergoers will have a chance to see Knight this fall when he plays accused murderer (and victim of anti-Semitism) Leo Frank in a stage production of "Parade" in September at the Mark Taper Forum. After that, it's off to the Great White Way, where Knight will star in a revival of the farce "Lend Me a Tenor," which will mark the Broadway directorial debut of actor-filmmaker Stanley Tucci. (A recent workshop reading of the play featured an all-star cast, including Knight, Tony Shalhoub, Alfred Molina and Marian Seldes.) "Tenor" is expected to vocalize in February 2010 and bring Broadway one more much-needed gay to shore up the ranks.
'Hysteria' for Cheyenne Jackson
Add Broadway heartthrob Cheyenne Jackson ("Xanadu," "All Shook Up") to the list of actors who prove the old career-killing wisdom wrong by getting a variety of jobs outside of gay independent film even after coming out of the closet. Yes, the fact that he's doing a guest shot on "Glee" this fall might not seem like a big surprise, but he's also got top billing in the horror shocker "Hysteria." The movie takes a group of 20-somethings attending their 10th high school reunion and puts them in a party at an (uh-oh) isolated house. What could possibly go wrong? Suddenly, old friends start killing each other – as they so often do – and the survivors have to figure out if their buddies have just snapped or if they've been possessed by the evil spirit known as "The Walker." Get ready to swoon (over Jackson) and scream when "Hysteria" pops up at your local multiplex, probably before the end of the year.
Shimizu and Larson try on 'Bob's New Suit'
Arguably the most smokin' hot butch lesbian on the planet, supermodel-turned-actress-turned-mechanic-turned-modeling-reality-show-judge-turned-actress-again (and Angelina's ex) Jenny Shimizu returns in the new drama "Bob's New Suit." It's about a working-class family that finds itself torn asunder with revelations of shocking secrets. Of course that's all they're telling us right now, so one can only imagine how the striking Shimizu fits into the plotline – but there's always hope for lesbian action. Always. And there are other notables in the cast: Candy Clark ("American Graffiti") makes the scene, as does the legendary Jack Larson, the gay actor perhaps most famous for playing Jimmy Olsen on TV's "The Adventures of Superman." (Now here's a man sitting on a fascinating memoir: his post-"Superman" life has included everything from poetry to movie producing. He even had an affair with Montgomery Clift when they both worked on the Warner lot.) "Bob's New Suit" has wrapped and should surface later this year. Hunt it down.
