Dame Helen Mirren “prostitutes” herself “quite often”.

The 62-year-old Oscar-winning actress – who plays Grace Botempo, a whorehouse madam, in her new film ‘Love Ranch’ – thinks actors do the opposite of what women working in the sex industry do, but still have to use their assets to get work.

She explained: “The girls who work in the sex industry, they put themselves out of their bodies. An actor does sort of the opposite. People say ‘Oh, you play someone else.’ I’m always playing myself. You can only do it by going into yourself, in the deepest, most terrifying way.

“Not to say I haven’t ever prostituted myself quite often and happily. But in my heart it’s very serious.”

The British star – whose husband Taylor Hackford directed her new movie – loved working on the film because she got to act out her secret dream to be a “bad girl”.

She explained to New York magazine: “It’s amazing how quickly you get into dildos everywhere and pink-feather handcuffs. Within an hour you’re completely used to it.

“I’m still the good girl who wants to be a bad girl. But I’ll never make it as a bad girl … I’m not a prude or a moralist and I never have been, but I’m too fearful, too much of a wimp, really.”

Source: BANG Showbiz

James McAvoy is going to become a father.

The ‘Wanted’ star and his actress wife Anne-Marie Duff – who first met on the set of British TV series ‘Shameless’ in 2003 – are expecting their first child together, it was announced today (26.01.10).

The couple’s spokesman Rupert Fowler said: “We are happy to confirm that James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff are expecting their first child.”

The 30-year-old actor – who stars in new period drama ‘The Last Station’ alongside British star Dame Helen Mirren – married Anne-Marie, 39, in an intimate ceremony in 2006.

Anne-Marie – who has been nominated for three BAFTA TV awards and a BAFTA film award for ‘Nowhere Boy’ – recently spoke about how keen she was to start a family, and hinted that motherhood was something she was looking forward to.

She said: “I would love to have a baby. As soon as the big fella makes it happen, it would be brilliant. I’m not putting it off but unfortunately bodies don’t work that way.”

Source: BANG Showbiz

The comedy drama – in which Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer who travels the country delivering bad news – is up for six awards, including Best Motion Picture, Best Actor for Clooney and Best Director for Jason Reitman.

Reitman said: “I can’t put into words how exciting it is to feel and to know that I’ll be going to the Golden Globes with everyone I worked with on this film.

“This was one of those ensembles that we really enjoyed working together. We’re a tight-knit family. The idea that we’re going together is just wonderful.”

‘Up in the Air’ is closely followed by new musical movie ‘Nine’ which is named in five categories and science fiction film ‘Avatar’ and Quentin Tarantino’s World Ward II parody ‘Inglourious Basterds’ which both have four nods.

Up for Best Actress are Emily Blunt for her performance in ‘The Young Victoria’, Sandra Bullock for ‘The Blind Side’, ‘Last Station’ actress Dame Helen Mirren, Carey Mulligan for her role in ‘An Education’ and Gabourey Sidibe, who starred in ‘Precious: Based on the Novel Push By Sapphire’.

In the equivalent male category, Morgan Freeman, Tobey Maguire, George Clooney, Colin Firth and Jeff Bridges are all vying for the prize.

Commenting on his nomination, Morgan – who was nominated for his performance in ‘Invictus’ – said: “I suspect we will do a little bit of celebration, not a whole lot, you know. But it’s wonderful.”

Meryl Streep has been nominated twice in the Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical category for her roles in ‘It’s Complicated’ and ‘Julie and Julia’.

The ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on January 17 and will be hosted by Ricky Gervais.

Main list of nominees for the 67th Golden Globe Awards:

Best Motion Picture:

‘Avatar’

‘The Hurt Locker’

‘Inglourious Basterds’

‘Precious

‘Up In The Air’

Best Actress:

Emily Blunt – ‘The Young Victoria’

Sandra Bullock – ‘The Blind Side’

Helen Mirren – ‘The Last Station’

Carey Mulligan – ‘An Education’

Gabourey Sidibe – ‘Precious’

Best Actor:

Jeff Bridges – ‘Crazy Heart’

George Clooney – ‘Up In The Air’

Colin Firth – ‘A Single Man’

Morgan Freeman – ‘Invictus’

Tobey Maguire – ‘Brothers’

Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical:

‘(500) Days Of Summer’

‘The Hangover’

‘It’s Complicated’

‘Julie and Julia’

‘Nine’

Best Actress – Comedy Or Musical:

Sandra Bullock – ‘The Proposal’

Marion Cotillard – ‘Nine’

Julia Roberts – ‘Duplicity’

Meryl Streep – ‘It’s Complicated’

Meryl Streep – ‘Julie and Julia’

Best Actor – Comedy Or Musical:

Matt Damon – ‘The Informant’

Daniel Day-Lewis – ‘Nine’

Robert Downey Jr. – ‘Sherlock Holmes’

Joseph Gordon-Levitt – ‘(500) Days Of Summer’

Michael Stuhlbarg – ‘A Serious Man’

Best Animated Feature Film:

‘Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs’

‘Coraline’

‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’

‘The Princess And The Frog’

‘Up’

Best Supporting Actress:

Penelope Cruz – ‘Nine’

Vera Farmiga – ‘Up In The Air’

Anna Kendrick – ‘Up In The Air’

Mo’nique – ‘Precious’

Julianne Moore – ‘A Single Man’

Best Supporting Actor:

Matt Damon – ‘Invictus’

Woody Harrelson – ‘The Messenger’

Christopher Plummer – ‘The Last Station’

Stanley Tucci – ‘The Lovely Bones’

Christoph Waltz – ‘Inglourious Basterds’

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow – ‘The Hurt Locker’

James Cameron – ‘Avatar’

Clint Eastwood – ‘Invictus’

Jason Reitman – ‘Up In The Air’

Quentin Tarantino – ‘Inglourious Basterds’

Source: BANG Showbiz

For many years the Oscar-winning actress couldn’t see the point of getting wed, but was forced to change her mind by her husband, American director Taylor Hackford.

Helen said: “I saw marriage as losing my independence. Then, one day, I just felt it would be right.”

The 64-year-old star – who began dating Taylor in 1986 and tied the knot with him in 1997 – now loves being a wife.

She added to Women’s Weekly magazine: “I’d been with Taylor over a decade. He’d given me respect and loyalty and I trusted him 100 per cent.

“But I was terrified it would change our relationship. Then I work up the morning after the wedding, realised everything had changed and I loved it.

“I feel a shiver when I hear Taylor say ‘my wife’ and I get an enormous sense of pleasure when I say ‘my husband’.”

Before meeting Taylor, Helen dated several actors, including Nicol Williamson, Liam Neeson and Peter O’Toole.

Source: BANG Showbiz

The 64-year-old actress – who has stripped on screen in several films – insists baring all in front of the camera is “liberating” and she gets through it by refusing to think of the response from male fans.

She said: “As you get older naked stuff gets easier. It’s more to do with the role than what men in the audience think. There’s a liberation about it.”

The ‘Queen’ actress also spoke about her first encounters of sex, admitting she is still angry about losing her virginity.

She said: “It was the calumny of young men… My trustful romantic nature was badly let down, my feminism confronted… I am still p***ed off, actually.”

Despite her unsatisfying first sexual experience, Helen insists she has learned something from every man she has ever dated.

She said in an interview with Broadcast Now: “Ken Cranham, like all the men I have had a proper relationship with, left me a better person than he found me.”

Helen married her husband, American director Taylor Hackford, in 1997, 11 years after they started dating, and credits his fiery nature and honesty with keeping them together.

She explained: “Taylor can be turbulent, irrational and explosive. He has made me cry on many occasions… He is also the most unsexist man, looking women directly in the eye with no curtain of assumptions or prejudices to cloud his view. He is brave, loyal and supportive.”

Source: BANG Showbiz