"I fell in love with the book, as dark and twisted as it is"

Relinquishing the tabloid queen throne for the simple life

There is a feral glint in the gaze of Emile Hirsch that conjures up the same spark of the scalawag in Jack Nicholson. Stylistically, the Hirsch that took on Into the Wild is the younger brother of back roads Jack in 1969’s Easy Rider. Both actors seem to belong to a physical and artistic open range. Sure, they will show up for premieres buffed and polished, but those airings are perfumed with an attitude that says flirtatiously, “What do you dare me to do?” Their natural habitat is more blue horizons than red carpet -- more open bathrobe and overgrown hair, less creased pants and being on time for brunch.

How best to spend a surfeit of talent is a problem shared by few, but in the case of Justin Timberlake, is a dilemma that grows like his curly hair -- overnight and exponentially. He sings, he dances, acts, produces, and then there is the daily task of simply being JT. In his multi-digital existence, Timberlake’s counterpart in the classics is none other than analog icon Frank Sinatra. Whether he was behind the microphone or in front of the camera, the transitions were seamless, his very Frankness evident in every blue-eyed wink.

As Vincent Chase, the skirt-chasing superstar on HBO’s enduring bro-com Entourage, Adrian Grenier cuts the kind of swath through Hollywood pioneered by Warren Beatty, the original sexual firestarter. But the bond between these two symbols of success extends far past the reach of dark, tousled hair and shirts open to the waist.

James Dean and James Franco share a common given name, and Prince James played King James in a biopic that won Franco a Golden Globe in 2002. The two are now linked forever, but fate dove in before the agents ever placed a call. It was a casting choice far bigger than the triumph of comparable facial features and skin tone: Franco was the right person to star in that portrait because, like Dean, he is too complex, too aggressively artistic to be contained by an 8x10 glossy.

Startlet Amy Adams's BlackBook interview.

The 'Twilight' star's BlackBook interview.

To put it bluntly, former Nickelodeon mascot Josh Peck has grown into one of the dopest comedians of his generation.

The New Vamp: Bookish babe Kristen Stewart sinks her teeth into the lead role of the bestselling, bloodthirsty 'Twilight'.