David Spade Feels Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt's Pain
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
Oct 15, 2007
David Spade feels sorry for Brad Pitt. Seriously. The CBS "Rules of Engagement" funny man says of Angelina Jolie's significant other, "I don't know how he keeps his head on straight, with camera phones and paparazzi constantly aimed at him and his family, never being assured of privacy. It's like they don't have a moment when they're not being stalked. I don't know how you can live that way."
Spade got an idea of what Brad and Angelina must be going through during the recent months when he and Heather Locklear were a twosome and they found themselves targets of the tabloid media. "I have a place in Malibu," he says, "and photogs were constantly camped out there, waiting to get a shot of Heather and me. It was unnerving. It was like a small-scale feeding frenzy. I was even told that one tabloid offered to pay $50,000 for a shot of us kissing. It was nuts."
Spade has a predilection for dating actresses, and among those with whom he's been linked are Lara Flynn Boyle, Krista Allen and Teri Hatcher. He concedes there's a potential for trouble in such pairings. "Anyone who comes out here to be in the business is already starting out on some shifty ground, and that unfortunately includes me. But while some actresses are beaten down and go cuckoo over the years, some actresses are clearheaded -- and Heather certainly is."
David is such a fan of Locklear's that it was he who arranged for her to join his "Rules of Engagement" for a two-part guesting this season. In her debut "Engagement" appearance, she played the sister of Audrey (Megyn Price) "and was having marriage troubles. I snuck over to her house but wouldn't do anything with her because she was still married." He explains that in her second appearance, to air during the November sweeps, "I start to fall for her but don't make a move -- and she starts getting bored."
If "Engagement" is picked up for additional segments after its Christmas hiatus, Heather might well be a regular, tips David. And if that happens, he says, "there will probably be a romance involvement between us." And that, he says, "would be cool and funny to play off of."
THAT'S SHOE BIZ: With her third season of "Dante's Cove" launching Oct. 19, Tracy Scoggins is reveling in the admiration she's amassed as the villainess of the here! gay network horror serial.
"The only thing I have to compare it to is the cult fandom of 'Babylon 5,' although back in the day, people were so into 'The Colbys' and 'Dynasty,'" notes Tracy, who considers her very nasty high priestess character, Grace Neville, "a combination of Joan Collins and Barnabas Collins." (Barnabas was the lead vampire on the vintage "Dark Shadows," you may recall.) So how does being a sci-fi heroine compare to being a gay network fave? "It can be comparable in its level of devotion. I would say sci-fi fans pay more attention to the technical details and 'Dante's Cove' fans more to the emotion," says Scoggins, who tips that the new season will bring out more details of why Grace is so bitter.
But anyway, we wouldn't be surprised to see Grace Neville look-alikes in drag out on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood during this year's Halloween parade. "I'd love it!" Tracy declares, and then adds, "I have to make a personal admission. I have size 10 to 10 1/2 feet, I'm embarrassed to say. I give my used clothing to Out of the Closet" -- the charitable thrift stores. "I have walked down that street reveling, looked down and gone, 'Oh! Those are my shoes!'"
KNITTING UP "DAISIES": Viewers of this season's instant hit "Pushing Daisies" are going to get an eyeful of mighty interesting knit work made by Chi McBride's character, private investigator Emerson Cod. The behind-the-scenes talent responsible is celebrity knitting guru, author, designer and owner of the popular Studio City, Calif., knitting yarn emporium, La Knitterie Parisienne, Edith Eig. Eig has been a formidable force in the knitting world for years, pushing the craze to knitting fanatics from Virginia Madsen to Catherine Zeta Jones.
For "Pushing Daisies," research was first and foremost on the agenda, and Eig was up for the task, teaching Chi the art of knitting. Her expertise was further employed when she was asked to custom design and hand knit a selection of one-of-a-kind props for the show. In a matter of days, she wielded her knitting needles to stitch up items including two gun holsters in red suede yarn, 10 "money bags" (aka socks), a tissue box, coasters, a pencil holder, a coffee-mug cozy, a desk file organizer, and a warm cable-knit scarf in a gold, cream and green tweed.
ON ALL BURNERS: "Iron Chef America" chef Cat Cora says the new season of the fast and furious food competition she started filming last month will "be really wild and crazy. We're going to have some other great Food Network personalities involved in some battles, and there are going to be bigger and better challenges. We've gotta bring it bigger and better every season -- then it really heats up in the kitchen."
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