Ledger Pop Journal - Celebrity News & Sports

DEAR STACY: Please give some information about Brenda Song, who's in "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody." Age? Where from? Other credits? Thanks! -- Teri C., Bloomfield, N.J.

DEAR TERI: The 18-year-old up-and-coming actress, who also stars in the current Disney Channel movie "Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior," hails from Carmichael, Calif., outside Sacramento. She now lives in the L.A. suburbs with her parents and two younger brothers. Having acted professionally from the age of 6, she's racked up many credits, ranging from guest roles on shows including "Judging Amy" to a recurring part on the Disney Channel's "Phil of the Future" -- to numerous commercials, to roles in features including Hilary Duff's "A Cinderella Story." She stands 5 feet 1 and three-quarter inches and is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

What's up with Heath Ledger?

DEAR STACY: What's up with Heath Ledger? Has he fallen off the planet? -- G.P., Cleveland

DEAR G.P.: The "Brokeback Mountain" star had said he was going to take some time off to be with his and Michelle Williams' baby daughter, Matilda, and that's what he did. Now, both he and Williams are cast in "I'm Not There," filmmaker Todd Haynes' feature in which seven characters embody different aspects of Bob Dylan's life and music. Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Julianne Moore and Richard Gere are also in the movie expected to roll this summer.

DEAR STACY: Please give the 411 on gorgeous Channing Tatum of "She's the Man." -- Monica C., San Pedro, Calif.

DEAR MONICA: Alabama-born Tatum, 26, is definitely on the ascendant. He stars in Touchstone's "Step Up," which is set for August release, as a juvenile delinquent sentenced to do community service at the performing arts high school he vandalized with some friends -- only to get drawn into the students' world by a beautiful aspiring dancer. He also has a yet-untitled Paramount picture from director Kimberly Pierce in the making, in which he plays a soldier who returns home to Texas, then refuses to return to battle in Iraq. A familiar face through his considerable modeling career, Tatum has done dozens of commercials, including spots for Mountain Dew, Nautica, Abercrombie & Fitch, Emporio Armani, Gap, Pepsi and American Eagle. Also among his acting credits are the movies "Coach Carter" and Robert Downey Jr.'s upcoming "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints."

DEAR STACY: Can you give an update on Joey Slotnick of "Nip/Tuck"? -- Paula M., Cleveland

DEAR PAULA: Slotnick has a role in the September release feature "The Black Dahlia," about the sensational 1940s murder case of Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Short with Josh Hartnett, Hilary Swank and Scarlett Johansson. Formerly on "Boston Public," he appeared in episodes of "Nip/Tuck" during the show's first two seasons, but wasn't aboard for the third. Slotnick often shows up guesting in series such as "Ghost Whisperer" and "Law & Order: SVU."

DEAR STACY: What is next for the "Charmed" actresses now that the show is over? -- Jenna M., Pine Plains, N.Y.

DEAR JENNA: Rose McGowan is set to star with Freddy Rodriguez and Josh Brolin in "Planet Terror," an hour-long zombie movie by director Robert Rodriguez, which will be released packaged with Quentin Tarantino's "Grind House" slasher movie by Dimension Films next year. She also has a role in the Sept. 15 release, "The Black Dahlia." Holly Marie Combs is also anticipating a September debut -- the birth of her second child. She and her husband, former "Charmed" key grip David Donoho, already have son Finley, age 2. Alyssa Milano has been taking a breather and hasn't made her next work plans official as of this writing.

DEAR STACY: I love the show "Bones." Can you tell us more about the woman who plays Angela? -- Dana B., New York

DEAR DANA: You're referring to 28-year-old Michaela Conlin, who hails from Allentown, Pa. Conlin's life as an actress began when she was a kindergartener, and auditioned for, and won, the title role in a local theater production of "The Gingerbread Man" -- "thereby becoming the world's first 5-year-old Eurasian Gingerbread Woman," as her bio from her former series "MDs" puts it. Conlin's mother is Chinese and her father is Irish. She was in other Pennsylvania theater productions through her childhood and teen years, before moving to New York to earn her B.F.A. in acting at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She also counts the short-lived series and "The D.A." -- and the big screen "Love the Hard Way," starring Adrien Brody -- among her credits.

DEAR STACY: What has Eddie Murphy been doing? -- Jack W., Bronx, N.Y.

DEAR JACK: Murphy's got a full dance card -- with a role in December's big-screen release "Dreamgirls" recently wrapped, and the comedy "Norbit" (in which he plays a man being forced to marry a ghastly woman, who he also plays) in production. He's back to supplying the voice of the beloved Donkey in "Shrek the Third," due next year, and has several other projects, including a Brett Ratner heist flick with Chris Rock, in the works.

SEND YOUR QUESTIONS to Stacy Jenel Smith at Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Due to the large volume of mail, personal replies cannot be given.