Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn Help 'Big Love's' Douglas Smith on His Music
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
Jan 8, 2009
Douglas Smith, who plays Ben, the eldest son of Bill Paxton's "Big
Love" family on the HBO show that also returns Jan. 18, has a dual
career going as an up-and-coming musician, with a band that goes under
the moniker of "his orchestra." They've been featured on Lifetime's "Rita Rocks" and supply theme music for ABC Family's forthcoming "Roommates." It's not easy juggling his lives, admits Smith -- whose older brother is Gregory Smith of "Everwood" fame -- but he says his TV kin couldn't be more helpful.
Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn Help 'Big Love's' Douglas Smith on His Music (Image: Wenn)
"My band was playing at the Troubadour one night when we were shooting this big scene that was going to take the whole day," he recalls, referring to the famed L.A. club. "Everyone knew I had to leave the set by 7, and all day Jeanne Tripplehorn was like, 'Let's get going … Seven, remember? … He's got to leave by 7," recalls Smith of the actress who plays his mom.
And he got a sisterly assist from Amanda Seyfried. "She drove me all the way." Bill Paxton "is so supportive of my music. He says, 'Burn me another CD to play in my car' -- he drives a long way to work. And Grace Zabriskie, who plays Lois, she comes to more of my rock shows than anybody. She plays my grandmother. She comes with her boyfriend. She's a cool old lady. She's given me a lot of Leonard Cohen and other music that's really shaped my musical tastes."
THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: Up and comer Zoe Kazan got the chance to play Leonardo DiCaprio's mistress in the movie "Revolutionary Road," and while she was nervous about being so intimate with one of the world's biggest actors, she tells us DiCaprio went out of his way to make her feel comfortable. "It was a little scary the first day of rehearsal, and I was sitting on my hands like a schoolgirl, but he's such a great guy and put me at ease right away," says Kazan. While some didn't like that her character took his attention away from Kate Winslet's character, Kazan is understandably sympathetic. She says she likes to think of her character "as the seduced, not the kind that is out to steal your man."
AND: Young actor Christopher Carley, whose role as a priest in Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" is garnering attention, tells us his next movie didn't exactly call upon him to reach to the depths of his dramatic capabilities. "I'm definitely the punchline," he says of his small role in the upcoming comedy "Miss Nobody." "I'm in these flashback scenes as the love interest of Leslie Bibb's character." As for what he'll do now, Carley says, "I've had a bunch of meetings and that kind of stuff. I'm getting close" to making a deal for his follow-up assignment.
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