Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh, the husband-and-wife team who starred together in Henry V and Dead Again (both directed by Branagh), had to spend time apart last year. He was in Hollywood editing Dead Again while she was back home in England to star in Howards End, which opened to rave reviews last month. "It's healthy to go off and work separately, but we do like to be in close vicinity," says Thompson, 33. "We're good for each other. I go in and goose Ken up a bit. He quiets me down when I'm rushing around like a maddened wasp."
TUBED OUT
According to the Television Bureau of Advertising, 98 percent of all American homes have TV sets. Count out actress Mare Winningham, though she has appeared in some two dozen made-for-TV movies and stars in Intruders, a CBS miniseries airing next Sunday and Tuesday (May 17 and 19). "I can continue to work in television because I'm not aware of how insidious it is," jokes Winningham, 33. "I can think what I do is OK." That may be fine for her, but how do she and her husband, Bill Maple, keep their five children (ages 3 to 10) entertained? "There's a lot of music in our house and a lot of coffee-table performance art going on," she says. "I replaced the whole TV-Nintendo thing with that. The children have really good imaginations. Of course, I don't expect to get thanked until they're in their 30s."
ROOM OF ONE'S OWN
Drew Barrymore, the adorable Gertie of 1982's E.T., now plays a conniving temptress in Poison Ivy, her first feature film since going public three years ago about her drug and alcohol problems. "I've kept myself intact with the footwork I need to stay sober and live a sober life," says Barrymore, 17, who has her own house. But the teenager hasn't quite cut the cord to her mother, Jaid Barrymore. "She's my best friend. I could have stayed with her until I was 30 and had a great time, but I wanted a place of my own. I'm my own boss, and there's no one to tell me to brush my teeth and go to bed. Great! On the other hand, there's no one to tell me to brush my teeth and go to bed. I still sleep over with her a lot. It'll be 2 A.M., and I'll call her and say, 'I can't sleep. I'm coming to crawl in bed with you.' "
THE KING AND I
Famous people are famous for registering at hotels under oddball aliases, but singer Richard Marx may be taking it a bit far. Marx, 28, whose single "Hazard" is now on the charts, says, "I register as a different Elvis Presley movie character on every tour. I've been everyone from Clint Reno to Tulsa McCauley. Elvis was my hero, as far as charisma and performing goes, ever since I was a kid. I used to curl my lip and do the routines when I was 10 years old. It's something I've never outgrown. I've remained a fan and avid collector." Which of his Elvis collectibles gets Marx all shook up? A signed copy of Elvis's second album, given to Marx in North Dakota by one of his own fans on his last tour. "Besides my wedding ring and an earring my wife [actress-singer Cynthia Rhodes] gave me with a gold B for Brandon, our son's name, it's the only possession I care about."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
