BlackBook Magazine

The 32-year-old actor doesn't much care for red carpets or bright lights. Not his scene. Still, it's best not to ask what he did last night.

“Ben Covington” broke hearts everywhere as Keri Russell’s love interest on the J.J. Abrams Dean & DeLuca dramedy, “Felicity.” Scott Speedman then went on to ravage women—and garner serious box office clout—as Underworld’s brooding bloodsucker. Next month, he can be seen hiding away with Liv Tyler in this summer's scarefest The Strangers. He shows up for our meeting ten minutes late, dressed casually. He smiles knowingly and, rubbing his eyes, says, "Sorry for the delay. Traffic, and all that. Also, we were out last night until after two." Instead of the usual self-promotion expected from Hollywood stars, he discusses our shared Canadian background. Obviously proud of his work, he'd rather let it speak for itself. Below, however, he opens up about life in the limelight, half-naked vampires, and the toughest women in show business.

She may be a timeless style icon—and know how to work a pole—but Dita Von Teese is as down-to-earth as the girl across the street.

There she is, lounging on a bed in plain sight. The sight of her, however, is anything but. Burlesque brunette Dita Von Teese started out as a ballerina. She then ditched the pirouettes, sort of, to undress alongside her best friend and a room of bottle-blonde strippers at a local club. Somehow, Teese's tenacity has seen her through her Bettie Page beginnings all the way past her failed marriage to Marilyn Manson. Below, we sidle up next to Teese to talk corsets, cheetahs, and tabloid piranhas.

The star of Showtime's hit series 'The Tudors' has two big movies in the works. (He also has four bigger brothers to keep him grounded.)

British actor Henry Cavill came thisclose to landing the title role in Batman Begins and Superman Returns. He was almost cast as James Bond in Casino Royale, until Daniel Craig’s smirk swooped in. He even tried buying a house last year, but “the deal fell through right at the end.” Nothing stuck. Defeated, the extremely private star considered quitting Hollywood when he was offered the plum role as rakish commoner Charles Brandon, Jonathan Rhys Meyer’s Number Two, on “The Tudors.” What's more, the face of Dunhill fragrance recently wrapped Joel Schumacher's latest picture, Creek. "It's based on a Nazi occult experiment, which has been buried for over 60 years," he says, not without self-awareness. Also on the horizon is Woody Allen's cinematic return to New York, starring Evan Rachel Wood and Larry David, which is currently in production. Below, the young king takes his throne.

Eva Amurri is Susan Sarandon's daughter. It's a big deal, to be sure. Even bigger, however, is her jaw-dropping performance as virginal Maureen in director Vadim Perelman's latest drama. Below, the second generation proves she's got what it takes to be a first-rate actress.

By the time I approach the 20th floor of Manhattan's Regency Hotel, I've downed about seven large coffees. My hands are shaking something terrible. My heart is racing, and all I can think is, I've just spent twenty minutes in the same room as Uma fucking Thurman. My day was, well, sort of complete. And then I met Eva Amurri. Angled comfortably on a couch in the suite's living area, she flips through the New York Post absentmindedly. She no longer has the plastic cup of gummi bears she'd been carrying with her earlier that day. "Great bow tie," she says, as I reach out to shake her hand. I flush red. She looks every bit her mother, but it seems obvious and condescending, so I pass on the opportunity to lob a compliment back her way. She's stunning in person, so far from the dowdy, born-again Christian named Maureen she plays in Vadim Perelman's The Life Before Her Eyes, starring, yes, Thurman. In it, Evan Rachel Wood is Diana, a rebellious, life-affirming presence who, together with Maureen, finds herself at the mercy of a high school shooter. Unlike other films of its kind, Before Her Eyes focuses on friendship and love. Violence, while intrinsic to the plot, is pushed aside in favor of blooming adolescence. It's something the 23 year old can relate to, as she steps out from her mother's shadow in one of the most challenging films of the year. Hyperbole? Maybe. But, read on, because maybe it's not.

For years, actor Willem Dafoe has captivated audiences with roles that push the boundaries of the craft. In Anamorph, the chameleon continues. Here, he spills his guts over everything.

“Oh, the script girl. I'll eat her later.” It’s a perfect moment. With that one delicious line from Shadow of the Vampire, Willem Dafoe bares his camp fangs, and, immediately, we're at his mercy. The words are ridiculous, deliberately so. But as they spill from Dafoe’s crimson mouth, they are somehow elevated, not into the sacred, exactly, but far from the profane.

And this has always been his secret weapon. Throughout what has become a breathtaking career, the 52-year-old, two-time Academy Award nominee has managed to imbue even the most cartoonish of characters with cerebral depth. To wit: In Anamorph, a neo-noir inspired by the French policier genre, Dafoe plays a troubled cop trying to solve a series of murders based on the concept of anamorphosis. As one would expect, it’s a heady brew of introspection, epiphany, and J. Alfred Prufrock impotence. Below, Dafoe takes us on a trip to the dark side.

He sleazed his way into homes across the country as Scott Templeton on the electrifying fifth and final season of HBO’s “The Wire.” He changed the face of independent American cinema with his homespun tale of relationships lost and found in The Station Agent. And now, with The Visitor, writer-director Tom McCarthy is crossing the border into mainstream film. Sort of. As one might well guess, it’s a trip.

“Care for a moss ball?” asks Tom McCarthy, smiling, as he waves me over to the nearby couch in his suite at Manhattan’s Regency hotel. He lobs the stupid sphere back and forth between hands, contemplating its absurdity, before tossing it back into a display bowl. The affable writer-director-actor is here to promote The Visitor, his return to the director’s chair after 2003’s critical treasure The Station Agent. To suggest that McCarthy’s latest film is a near-perfect exploration of friendship and diversity would be saying too little. It stars Richard Jenkins of “Six Feet Under” fame as Walter Vale, an economics professor whose reticent malaise has eclipsed his passion for life. When coerced into speaking at a conference in New York, Vale packs his bags and returns to the Manhattan apartment he left years earlier. But there are now two illegal immigrants living in his place. What should then devolve into a logistical nightmare somehow blossoms, through music, into a series of unlikely friendships. A decidedly tragic film, The Visitor explores the lifelessly sanitized purgatory of immigration detention centers across America. It’s also heartwarming at times, funny at others—which seems appropriate, given that its director, who is here to talk about his passion, can’t seem to get his mind off those damn balls.

When the movie Heathers came out in 1989, it was a eureka moment for many teen fans—finally, a dark comedy about high school! Because, let’s face it, high school is dark. Heathers catapulted Winona Ryder’s acting career, and Daniel Waters became one of the most sought-after screenwriters in Hollywood. He went on to write many big budget studio movies like Batman Returns, Demolition Man, and the “loved in Denmark and Spain” Hudson Hawk. Waters’ refers to this chapter in his career as the “failing-upwards-montage.” “I got involved in doing rewrites for big action movies,” said Waters. “I was creating movies that didn’t appeal to the people who liked Heathers and didn’t appeal to action movie fans either. I felt like it was more of a job than actual writing. I said to myself that I had to stop and get back to that warm place of naiveté where I wrote Heathers.” The result: the devilishly dark and wickedly funny Sex and Death 101.

On their debut album Lay Down the Law, the Britpop revivalists do, well, just that. Frontman Matt Bishop explains (en route to see Drillbit Taylor).

Matt Bishop isn’t a control freak. Not exactly, anyway. From acquiring his first guitar at the age of three, and recording the band’s demo entirely on his own in his sister’s pink bedroom, to handpicking the members of the band via blind dates, the lead singer of the Britpop band Switches knows exactly what he wants, and seems to know exactly how to get it. With an American tour under their belt, an upcoming performance on Jimmy Kimmel (we gave him pointers), and solid album reviews, maybe he can relax a little. Sure, unless you’re double parked. Below, Matt Bishop speaks candidly about Switches’ debut album, Lay Down the Law, his love-hate relationship with mankind, and his list of musical heroes—all done while driving to the movie theater as his girlfriend holds the phone next to his ear.

Well, not exactly, although we do subject him to the hot seat: First, so which stars have you worked on? Second, tell us about your practice. Third, so which stars have you worked on?

Dr. Gary Alter doesn’t need to show you his for you to show him yours—seeing the most private of parts is part of his job description. As one of the few doctors in the country who is Board Certified in both plastic surgery and urology, Alter specializes in the kinds of procedures that starts with a “G” and ends with an “enital reconstruction.” He’s a featured surgeon on the E! Channel reality show “Dr. 90210” as well as a frequent guest on the radio program “The Adam Carolla Show.” We spoke to the doc from his office in Beverly Hills about his profession and tried to rustle some names along the way, but Alter wasn’t blabbing… something about a license and losing it.

The Hard Rock is getting some work done. A $1 billion property facelift and expansion of the destination resort is bringing the Vegas game to a whole new level. What exists is being updated—from the suites to the hallways and common areas—and expanded (Nobu, existing casino). What’s to come will entice both seasoned gamblers and Strip newbies alike. AGO, the recently opened Robert De Niro-backed Italian eatery, will be joined in June by Wasted Space, a new rock bar/live music venue with the help of Carey Hart (pictured left with Shalala) and Jason Giambi. New construction will include: two new towers (approx. 1,000 new rooms), one of which is an all-suite tower with private entrance, private valet, co-ed-style spa, restaurants, gaming area, bar and two-story villas; celebrity-designed suites; new concert venue with 4,000 seats and sky boxes; 3.5 acre pool expansion with topless bathing area, or “European-style,” as they like to call it; private gaming pit with porn star Tera Patrick. Interested? Phil Shalala, who at 34 is the youngest marketing VP in Vegas, is spearheading the Hard Rock revolution. In New York, he talked about his vision for the brand, partnering with celebs like Wilmer Valderrama, and where a Vegas man goes on vacation.