Amsterdam’s Metro News has Suddenly Tolled Actress Carice van Houten’sCareer!

Amsterdam, NL—I read a rude and troubling story in Amsterdam's Metro News this morning.  It said that that the Netherlands’s most accomplished and award winning actress Carice van Houten is past her prime and probably won’t be able to make waves in Hollywood.

First let me say that van Houten looks young, wonderful and works out religiously to stay fit.  This beautiful and talented Dutch actress still has exactly what it takes to take Hollywood by storm.

Currently van Houten plays the role of Melisandre in HBO’s Game of Thrones.  

She has starred in a terrific Paul Verhoeven film, Black Book as a Dutch Resistance spy and hero.  Along the way she made several other films.

If there is something unfortunate about van Houten’s Game of Thrones role is that hoods, capes and a long red wig cover her.  That made van Houten nearly unrecognizable to American journalists when she walked the Red Carpet for the show’s third season premier in Hollywood last year.   

Not only can van Houten act but also she can sing as she did in Black Book.  Musical director Anne Dutton created a period musical score for that film that van Houten really brought it to life.

Today's Metro’s article cites current and somewhat accurate research showing that acting roles seem to dwindle for women past their 34^th year.  Then the Metro jerk rudely reminds us that van Houten is 37!

There are a few exceptions to these unwritten film career rules like actresses Glen Close and Meryl Streep. 

There is an undeniable sexiness and charm maintained by van Houten that should keep her fresh for many more years.  I hope  her manager Janey van Ierland (Nummer19) and agent, Tracy Brennan, (CAA) will aggressively continue to market her to film producers and casting directors rather than to give in to a false prophecy.  

When it comes to leading ladies van Houten performs right at the very top.  Casting directors and producers should keep their eyes open to make their films really sparkle with van Houten's amazing talents.  Van Houten can really make a good film great. 

You will be seeing van Houten in upcoming American films such as Incarnate from Blumehouse Productions. 

Two other known projects are in development, Broken, from Paradoxal and a biopic film; Garbo where the lookalike van Houten will play that legendary actress.

I hope to see van Houten take the lead role in a script I have written about a young woman who was wrongfully convicted of murder spending 23 years on Arizona’s Death Row.

It would be indeed tragic if Hollywood does not fully exploit Van Houten’s entire gift as an exciting and energetic performer.  The losers would be the deprived audience and Hollywood’s financial investors.

AN UPDATE!

As that Amsterdam rag, Metro was suggesting van Houten was finished real entertainment news was published by Hollywood’s Variety!

In Berlin a deal is being inked for a biopic film called, RACE on 1936 Olympic legend Jessie Owens who picked up four Gold Medals right before Adolf Hitler’s own eyes.

The film will star newcomer UK actor, John Boyega as Owens and he will be joined Jeremy Irons and Geoffrey Rush in this film.  The director is going to be Stephen Hopkins.

Presently they are fighting to bring Carice van Houten in to play Hitler’s pioneer filmmaker; Leni Riefenstahl.

Riefenstahl created a cinematic masterpiece filming the 1936 games with camera techniques that are still copied and used today in Hollywood.

Riefenstahl is a rich historical character who aligned herself with the Nazis to enabled her to make films with bottomless budgets.  

Riefenstahl's work was so well done that when the war ended they wanted to try her as a war criminal. 

Thankfully cooler heads prevailed and Riefenstahl was able to continue her work, unfortunately without the budgets she was used to having.

I know this will have a terrific script and can’t wait to see the film.

Actors and their Roles

Los Angeles, CA—Aside from being a licensed investigator and an investigative TV news producer, I’m an actor and a member of SAG-AFTRA since 1997.

I watched the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman play his very diverse roles with absolute envy.  Hoffman walked away with an Oscar for playing Truman Capote.  Capote was a flaming Gay toad with a real gift for writing that was very comfortable with his bizarre persona.

Hoffman by all accounts was a straight guy with a longtime girlfriend with three children.  He simply had a gift to make any character he played really believable.

Hoffman became his characters, bringing real life to the words written in a film script.  That took tremendous discipline that was very inconsistent with his apparent drug addiction.

My first acting coach at Arizona State University made it clear to me that if I was afraid to look foolish or strange before an audience I’d be better off not acting.   I thought of how I really only wanted to play the roles of the cool guys!  Boy was she ever right!  I simply had to let go of any ego.   

When you’re an actor it’s the casting directors decide what you are going to play.  Most often when you get picked for a role it’s not the one you auditioned for! 

I never once turned down a role.  I got some strange ones indeed.  I played roles such as the testosterone challenged Bob “Bitch Tits” in a stage production of Fight Club.  The rocker Meatloaf played that part in the film.

I played a scary sodomizer, Zed in Pulp Fiction again on stage.  The great line in this film everyone remembers is, when Bruce Willis says, “Zed is Dead.”

Last but not least, I was asked to help develop a very Conservative political and comedic TV talk show host.  However I was required to do this in drag!  It was a Sarah Palen type gun loving “lady” named Zelda McCorville.  This was before Palen became the Republican candidate for Vice President. 

Zelda was somehow resurrected later for two independent films.  Zelda’s TV talk show however never made air.  I was actually having fun in this ridicules and insane role!  

The best-published reviews I ever got were for my Fight Club role. 

I learned one thing about playing these parts, the audience really notices you!  They remember the Zany characters long after others are forgotten.

I don’t know what my next role will be but I’m prepared for anything!  Bring it on please, I need the money!

Watch here as Zelda goes to the Gun Range!

I Want to Make a Documentary Film about the Strange Case of Howard Morgan in Chicago

Chicago, IL—In February of 2005 off duty railroad cop Howard Morgan was shot by Chicago police officers at least 25 times.  Somehow Morgan miraculously survived but currently sits convicted in an Illinois prison for many more years than he has left on this earth.

I wrote about this strange case when it happened. There are still many more questions than answers. 

Something awful happened during that traffic stop in the Lawndale neighborhood that led to a horrific firefight.

Chicago police officials could not seem to find a motive for their claim of Morgan’s attack on their officers. 

The only thing that ever made sense to me was a sudden misunderstanding that provoked the firefight.

I don’t for a second accept the idea Morgan simply went from law-abiding citizen and former Chicago cop, to a railroad policeman and then finally became a mad dog killer.

This case never made sense to me.  It needs to be reinvestigated and I want the job.   I want to do this investigation as a documentary filmmaker.

I will interview the cops, lawyers, and jurors.  I will read the testimony transcripts so I may determine if reasonable doubt existed and if justice was somehow derailed. 

We must remember that Morgan should never have to prove innocence, just establish reasonable doubt of his guilt. 

This case is racially charged because the officers involved were white and Morgan is an African-American.  I think that race unreasonably over shadowed and tainted the case.

I’m convinced that the African-American community had agitated so much over this case injecting race into their efforts was anything but helpful to Morgan.  It simply hopelessly divided the community.

This case should have been treated as it was, a frightening confrontation at night with an armed off duty cop.  Something went terribly wrong.  Once one officer began to fire shots sympathetic firing began by everyone in the heat of the moment.

Did the cops somehow believe Morgan was a dangerous and armed police impersonator? Back then it was a serious felony for anyone but a sworn officer to carry a firearm.  Whatever Id Morgan may have displayed would not have looked like Chicago police identification.

Had the uniformed Chicago cops ever admitted fearful over-reaction or mistake they’d have been prison bound so they had little choice on how to proceed in an unforgiving world.

More than anything I want to understand Morgan’s elusive motive. That of course assuming he had one.  

I’m convinced a well-made documentary film could shed new light on this very troubling case.

I have no intention to crucify the Chicago cops involved and want the audience to hear their side of the story. 

I simply don’t believe that race or hate motivated an unprovoked on Morgan either.  I want to answer the nagging question of just what went wrong in those split seconds in the early morning darkness in that high crime neighborhood?

If a new trial is warranted I’d like to see that happen.

My Chicago cop friends will have to accept that I will be fair to everyone. 

What I need is the funding to do this documentary film. 

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, We Hardly Knew You!

New York, NY—Becoming a successful actor is incredibly difficult for most even if they have talent.

Just getting a decent manager and or agent is a major task.  An actor without an agent is unemployed.

Aside from my investigative and media work I'm an actor.  I did my best work in community theater. 

I’ve had a SAG-AFTRA membership card since 1997.  I did a few forgettableTV spots and  films before a serious hearing loss problem sidelined me.  I have great hearing aids now but my age is not helping me to get motivated again. 

46 year-old Phillip Seymour Hoffman made to the RED Oscar Carpet winning as Best Actor for his role in Capote.  His career was on fire!  

Hoffman was also successful producer and director.  He was currently filming for the Hunger Games franchise. 

Hoffman confessed addiction problems and did a stint in rehab.  His premature death seems to indicate this was an accidental overdose of drugs.   But that is only a guess by NYC police officials that revealed he was found with a needle in his arm.  It will take weeks for toxicologists to tell us what poisons he had in his blood.

Hoffman appeared to be at least 15 years older than he should.  Perhaps drugs played a role in that too.  

It’s heartbreaking to see a talented and successful actor destroy a great life.  I know so many terrific actors today that fight so hard for small paying roles.  Many of them will be shaking their heads in disbelief. 

Hoffman like most of us had demons and I’m sure depression played a part.  He sought help but apparently it was too little too late. 

This kind of thing should make all of us understand that we are our brother’s keeper.  We must help those around us understand they are needed. 

Hoffman’s manager and agent must be devastated by this loss.  Hoffman left behind a partner Mimi and three children. 

Hoffman had many more roles to play, parties to attend and friends to meet.  That’s all over now and may he rest in peace.  

Divorce, Guns and Public Court Records

Chicago, IL—Before 1969 divorce was no simple process in most jurisdictions.  The laws were designed to make divorce difficult with the idea that couples could solve their differences and continue to responsibly raise their children.

There had to be specific grounds and the most popular was “extreme cruelty”. 

There was abandonment and adultery, however they were much more difficult to prove.  The petitioner had to prove that the marriage had not only failed but was dangerous! Without what we’d today call terroristic threats, a divorce would not be granted.

The lawyers would all tell their clients, “Don’t worry it’s only a formality, just sign here or no divorce.”

If you go to the court clerk’s office and pull random case files they’re all carbon copies of each other.

“The Respondent has repeatedly pulled a handgun on Petitioner threatening to kill her” was written right at the top of nearly every petition!

The respondent in most cases also wanted the divorce and simply failed to appear in court to guarantee the divorce was granted by default. 

The petition was always made under oath meaning that in all but an insignificant few cases perjury was committed.

The lawyers and judges all knew the petitions were perjured but they all played along in an exercise of pragmatism. 

I have had a few clients over the years ask me to obtain their parents divorce records to satisfy curiosity after they’d hear extreme cruelty was the basis for the divorce.  It would affect how they regarded their fathers.

In a very large percentage of these cases there was never a gun kept in these homes!

Finally in 1969 the no-fault divorce laws swept the nation to end the filing of these outrageous documents.

Thankfully I’m old enough to know how things were done.  I would have to reassure my clients that their fathers were not deranged gunslingers.  Sometimes it was a tough sell because it made a perjurer out of their mothers.

I can’t help but wonder how many divorce filings led to the rejection of security clearances, job rejections or promising romances after various background investigations.