Tony Sirico does not play a mob boss on “The Sopranos,” but when “Paulie Walnuts” makes an offer, apparently most of the show’s cast cannot refuse.
Among the 400 guests at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital gala were James Gandolfini, Steve Schirripa, Steve Van Zandt, “Sopranos” creator David Chase, Michael Imperioli, Edie Falco, Aida Turturro, Jamie-Lynn DiScala, Lorraine Bracco, Robert Iler and Dominic Chianese. The Long Island event – cocktails, dinner, cigars and an auction of “Sopranos” memorabilia – raised $465,000 for kids with cancer, the New York Daily News reported.
Gandolfini said he “donated my Italia jet scooter I use to get around Manhattan to auction off here. I went to buy a new one for myself. They don’t make ’em anymore. So now I gotta go bid and buy my own scooter back!”
B-movie maker Bryan Michael Stoller managed to persuade Michael Jackson to appear in “Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls,” recently released on DVD. Jackson plays “Agent M.J.,” a shadowy figure collaborating with the Vatican. Jackson’s scenes were shot at Neverland Ranch, creating unexpected problems for Stoller.
Among DVD bonus features, Stoller said “(Jackson’s) staff brought us soup, so we were sipping soup and talking, and these two elephants walk by outside. Michael’s continuing to sip his soup like a fly flew by, and I turn to Michael and look at him and … he looked at me and laughed.”
Johnny Depp is taking this “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” a little seriously. The actor told the Sun in London, “In some cruel way I’ve become dependent on (sticky toffee pudding). If it’s on the table, it’s gone in two seconds – then after the second round I’m sick with worry about the calories.”
– Compiled by Greg Henry from wire and Internet reports
