David Fincher has announced once again that despite the fact that Scarlett Johansson seems wrong for the role of Lisbeth Salander in every way, he totally would have cast her in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo … if she wasn’t so damn hot. When will society put an end to this cruel discrimination against the extremely beautiful? Fincher told Vogue,
“Look, we saw some amazing people. Scarlett Johansson was great. It was a great audition, I’m telling you. But the thing with Scarlett is, you can’t wait for her to take her clothes off … I keep trying to explain this. Salander should be like E.T. If you put E.T. dolls out before anyone had seen the movie, they would say, ‘What is this little squishy thing?’ Well, you know what? When he hides under the table and he grabs the Reese’s Pieces, you love him! It has to be like that.”
The profile of cover girl Rooney Mara goes on to discusses the “mentor-protégée crush” between Fincher and the actress, which Daniel Craig calls “fucking weird.” This is illustrated by Fincher mumbling to Mara at a restaurant, “You can eat … You can have lettuce and a grape. A raisin if you must.” It seems this was just a joke, but thanks to Vogue‘s hawk-eyed reporting of every single thing female stars consume, we know that Mara ordered a piece of fish and barely touched it. [Vogue, N.Y. Mag]
At the Hamptons Film Festival, Susan Sarandon said she sent a copy of the book Dead Man Walking to the Pope, and threw in a (somewhat accurate) accusation of childhood affiliations with the Nazis. “[I sent the book to] the last one, not this Nazi one we have now,” said Sarandon said of Pope Benedict XVI. When the reporter asked about the remark, Sarandon repeated it. The Catholic League responded, “Susan Sarandon’s ignorance is willful: those who have hatred in their veins are not interested in the truth. The fact is that Joseph Ratzinger was conscripted at the age of 14 into the Hitler Youth, along with every other young German boy. Unlike most of the other teenagers, Ratzinger refused to go to meetings, bringing economic hardship to his family. Moreover, unlike most of the others, he deserted at the first opportunity.” [TV Guide]
Emma Watson wrote on her blog that her classes at Oxford start soon and she won’t be posting much because she’s planning on being a bookworm this semester, adopting an ill-tempered cat, and fighting the forces of evil with her best friend and her secret crush. [E!]
More good news on the Melissa McCarthy front: New Line bought the script for Tammy, which she wrote and will star in . It’s about a woman who’s laid off from Hardee’s, discovers her husband is having an affair and decides to go on a road trip with her “foul-mouthed, diabetic grandmother.” [HR]
- Emma Stone, Jason Segel, and Charlie Day will host upcoming episodes of SNL. Who wants to bet that Green Man will be making a cameo? [The Wrap]
- Gwyneth Paltrow took her kids to a public park and this is news. [The Superficial]
- Hey girl, Ryan Gosling was spotted kissing some chick who isn’t you. [People]
- Christie’s is auctioning a letter found at a liverpool yard sale in which Paul McCartney offers a drummer who isn’t Pete Best or Ringo Star an audition. It’s unclear why the drummer didn’t get the spot, but we do know he spent the rest of his life weeping anytime “Octopus’ Garden” came on the radio. [AP]
- Benji Madden has dubbed Bill Clinton, “the grunge president,” whatever that means. [RS]