Private Practice

I’m always amazed at how busy the actors from Private Practice are even when the show is in production. Now that it’s on a “hiatus” of sorts due to the writer’s strike, the actors have remained just as busy.

Taye Diggs has been doing some good deeds of the victims of Katrina of late, but that doesn’t stop him from using his acting muscles as well. According to a rumor in Vanity Fair, Diggs might just be be starring in the upcoming Chicago 7 directed by Steven Spielberg along with Sacha Baron Cohen and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Well, Mr. Speilberg… HELLO.

Roma Torre from NY1 News is praising Audra McDonald’s work in 110 in the Shade, calling it “phenomenal.” McDonald IS a talented actress. Even if she is the wrong Naomi.

But I digress!

Here’s her belting out “Simple Little Things” on The View a few months back. I think she’s talented, no doubt, but her performance on was a little too over the top. Yeah, yeah, I know Broadway IS over the top… but her voice is just too… much like watching an obnoxious kid sing “Silver Bells” on Christmas. (Like a certain cousin of mine who used to think she was Barbara Friggin Streisand. You know who you are.)

KaDee Strickland and Paul Adelstein, meanwhile, are supporting the striking writers by their participation in “Diversity Day.” Check out Adelstein’s bearded up face – the typical “I’m out of work” sign for any actor.

Speaking of which… when’s that writer’s strike gonna come to an end already?

actors from Private Practice, Taye Diggs, Chicago 7, directed by Steven Spielberg, Sacha Baron Cohen and Philip Seymour Hoffman, 110 in the Shade, KaDee Strickland, Paul Adelstein, Diversity Day, writer’s strike

Paul Adelstein’s character, Dr. Cooper Freedman, is one of my favorites on Private Practice. He brings the sheik to geek!

Before Adelstein came to Private Practice, however, he had quite a few key roles in movies and television. Many know him from his role as Agent Paul Kellerman on Prison Break. He was great in that, and so very different from lovable but dorky Cooper.

Here’s a clip that highlights his character on Prison Break:

He also starred in Memoirs of a Geisha, Be Cool, Collateral, and Intolerable Cruelty (pictured above with George Clooney). Do you even recognize him from this picture? There’s no Agent Kellerman or Dr. Cooper there!

He’s also shown below with the cast and crew from the Intolerable Cruelty premiere: Billy Bob Thornton, Ethan Coen, Brian Grazer, George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Joel Coen, and Geoffrey Rush.

His character in Be Cool was also very different. It’s a testament to Adelstein’s acting ability that he was able to pull off these characters and have them be so very different from one another. Here’s a clip from Be Cool:

Adelstein started out his acting career in the 1990 film The Grifters, with John Cusack. His other television credits include guest roles on Medium, Scrubs, Nobody’s Watching, and Las Vegas. He’s also had guest appearances on shows just about everyone has had roles on: ER and Law & Order. Why not? They’ve been around for a decade or more.

Personally, Adelstein met his wife through his acting vocation (unlike his on-screen half who frequents the Internet.) Adelstein and Liza Weil (that’s Liza with a “Z”!) married in November 2006. To two are reportedly working on a couple projects in which they’ll be able to act together. He was born April 29, 1969.

paul adelstein, paul adelstein’s acting roles, agent kellerman, adelstein on prision break, before private practice, paul adelstein’s wife, liza weil, paul adelstein’s first film role

Funny how things work out. Just when you think life isn’t going your way, something SPECTACULAR comes along instead.

That’s got to be how KaDee Strickland feels right now. After all, her short-lived series The Wedding Bells got cancelled last year and she probably didn’t know what she was going to do next.

Then along comes Shonda Rhimes… and suddenly KaDee Strickland is the new doctor we love to hate on Private Private. Plus, she gets to do some steamy scenes with Paul Addelstein besides!

But that’s not the only hunk she can smootch with and get a paycheck for doing it. She also starred in the hit movie American Gangster and had a hot and steamy sex scene with Russell Crowe. Not bad.

Speaking of American Gangster, it just got nominated for both a Critic’s Choice award and a Golden Globe. Future projects will be flinging themselves upon her doorstep now (not that she wasn’t busy before.) Let’s just hope she doesn’t leave Private Practice in order to expand her acting chops.

Now, I know what you’re saying… I’m not a fan of her TWANG so I’m not a fan of the character. Not true. Nor, is it true that I hate southern accents all together. Just hers, for some reason. It think it’s the accident combined with the Julia Roberts tone that does me in.

I had to laugh, though, when Strickland gave an interview to the OttowaCitizen.com saying she can finally talk the way she really does! Apparently they downplayed the accent in the early days of the show. Her voice seems different even on this interview she did with E! back in September:

Sheesh! That must mean there’s more to come with that voice… let’s hope Cooper can stand it better than yours truly.

kadee strickland, american gangster nominated, canceled series, the wedding bells, private private, dr. charlotte king

Several of the stars from Private Practice marched the picket lines this week in support of the writer’s strike. Amy Brenneman, Paul Adelstein, KaDee Strickland, Kate Walsh, Tim Daly, and Chris Lowell were all seen on the lines.

What do you think about the strike?

The sentiment I’ve heard has generally been positive, as most people informed about what the writers are striking for wholeheartedly support their case. Unlike many Hollywood endeavors that can seem “odd there” and demanding, this issue isn’t one of them. I support the writers, and while I’m bummed that some of our favorite shows may be affected, I understand that striking is a necessary measure.

I did, however, come across a hilariously crabby view on the strike, written as an “Ed-Op” piece by Brett Nolan for The Triangle. His view appears very “young” to me, especially given he mentions The Onion. For example:

Social Security is on the brink of collapse, the dollar is plummeting toward new lows, and Iran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons - but at least celebrity writers are showing the nasty entertainment industry who’s boss.

I don’t even think The Onion could have made up a story as asinine as this.

Asinine? What Master Nolan is all snarked up about, I have no idea. Perhaps he’s bummed Chuck might go off the air and he’ll have to study instead. Maybe he doesn’t know that the majority of those writers aren’t the high-paid big wigs (ala our very own Shonda Rhimes, who reportedly takes down roughly $5 million a year) but rather the unknown and lowly paid schmucks that toil away and don’t get the cut the big old bad producers get. That’s incidentally why the bigwig writers ARE striking right along with the unknowns… to bring attention to this cause. And isn’t THAT what a strike represents? The power of many unknowns brought together to battle those in charge?

A very Happy Birthday to Paul Adelstein, who plays Cooper on Private Practice. Paul turns 39 today.