Thousands of teenage girls waited patiently in long lines to audition Saturday for a role in the next Harry Potter film.
The girls, aged 13 to 16, were trying out for the part of trainee wizard Luna Lovegood in “Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix.”
In the book, Luna is described as being an unusual character who is considered somewhat of an outsider by her classmates. The school poltergeist dubs her “Loony Lovegood.” With her wand tucked behind her ear for safekeeping and a necklace of corks, the 14-year-old wizard often appears somewhat detached from what is going on around her.
The successful auditioner will join cast members Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry; Emma Watson as Hermione Granger; and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley.
Only British and Irish citizens were being auditioned, and each hopeful had to identify herself with a passport or birth certificate, and a proof of address.
Elisabeth Shue can leave Las Vegas but apparently she can’t get out of the nursery.
Shue is pregnant with her third child, US Weekly reported on its website, citing her manager, David Seltzer.
Shue was to have started filming a Joel Schumacher thriller called “Number 23” but has dropped out of the project because of her pregnancy, US Weekly said.
Shue, 42, received an Oscar nomination for her role in 1995’s “Leaving Las Vegas.” She and her husband, Davis Guggenheim, have an 8-year- old son, Miles, and a 4-year-old daughter, Stella.
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Mel Brooks‘ “The Producers,” which went from Hollywood comedy classic to Broadway musical sensation, is to open in Danish – the first non-English version of the show.
The musical, carrying the original English name, will run at Copenhagen’s Ny Teater from Jan. 26 until the end of May. After seeing the musical in New York in 2002, manager Niels-Bo Valbro decided his downtown theater should have it.
“It was the most witty performance ever written,” he told the AP.
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Certain legal filings in the sexual assault lawsuit filed against comedian Bill Cosby will remain sealed for now.
Last week’s decision by Philadelphia U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno Jr. covers some documents that contain extensive portions of depositions by Cosby and his accuser.
The 68-year-old Cosby is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting the plaintiff at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in early 2004. Attorneys for Cosby say the comedian gave the woman Benadryl after she complained of stress and sleeping problems.
No trial date has been set in the civil lawsuit.
Yo Yo Ma will become U.N. peace ambassador
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said world-renowned cellist Yo Yo Ma will take on a new role as a U.N. peace ambassador.
Annan met the 50-year-old musician Thursday and told reporters afterward, “He will be a peace envoy.” Ma was born in Paris to Chinese parents and was a child prodigy on the cello when he moved to the United States at age 7. By the time he graduated from Harvard University in 1976, he was already an internationally acclaimed cellist.
One of the most sought-after cellists in the world, Ma has won more than 12 Grammy awards.
