02:53 AM EDT 03/06/2012
Christian Bale
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Octavia Spencer, Christopher Plummer Win Supporting Actor Oscars
Originally posted 02/26/2012 09:25PM
Octavia Spencer and Christopher Plummer have new fireplace mantel adornments – Oscars!
After a splashy opening with host Billy Crystal and bestowing honors in technical categories, the 84th annual Academy Awards finally got down to the business of presenting its first acting honor Sunday night. Octavia Spencer, whom Las Vegas oddsmakers gave a 70-percent chance of winning, did just that, taking the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her turn as the rebellious maid Minnie Jackson in The Help.
"I'm freakin' out," said the actress, who received the first standing ovation of the evening. Choking back tears, then finally unable to control their flow, Spencer, 32, said she needed to thank all her families: the one in her native Alabama, the one in L.A., her Help family. She also thanked the Academy for letting her sit next to the hottest guy in the room – Tate Taylor, director of The Help.
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Christian Bale Takes His Family to Cirque du Soleil
Originally posted 11/22/2011 05:55AM
Christian Bale spent quality time with his family in Las Vegas – taking in Cirque du Soleil's Ka at the MGM Grand with his wife Sibi and their daughter. The group enjoyed popcorn and water during the performance before heading backstage to meet the cast. According to a source, the Dark Knight Rises actor was very complimentary and gracious during the backstage meet and greet. – Mark Gray
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Oscars' Five Best Moments
Originally posted 02/28/2011 08:15AM
This year's Academy Awards are already just a memory, but Hollywood's annual glamour fest provided some poignant and funny moments along the way.
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Natalie Portman, Colin Firth Are Top Oscar Winners
Originally posted 02/27/2011 11:40PM
The Oscars paid royal tribute to The King's Speech, honoring the drama about King George VI as Best Picture and shining gold upon its Best Actor Colin Firth, Director Tom Hooper and Screenplay writer David Seidler.
"I have a feeling my career's just peaked," Firth said on the stage of Hollywood's Kodak Theatre Sunday night, at the 83rd annual Academy Awards.
The British actor was so excited he admitted to "experiencing stirrings … in the abdominal region that are threatening to turn themselves into dance moves."
Natalie Portman, as the troubled dancer in Black Swan, was named Best Actress. "This is insane," she said in her speech. "I truly, sincerely wish the prize tonight was to work with my fellow nominees. I am in such awe of you."
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Marion Cotillard Joins Anne Hathaway, Christian Bale for Batman 3
Originally posted 02/14/2011 05:00AM
Gotham City is about to get a French accent. Already set to star Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and Christian Bale returning as the Caped Crusader, the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, is also welcoming a formidable femme fatale: 2008 Oscar winner Marion Cotillard.
While it still remains to be seen whether the French star, 35, will play a romantic interest or a rival superhero to Hathaway's character of Selina Kyle – also known as Catwoman – the addition of Cotillard comes as a surprise, reports Monday's Le Parisien newspaper.
Sources also tell PEOPLE that the La Vie en Rose Oscar winner, who is expecting a baby in April with her French actor-director beau Guillaume Canet, signed onto the Batman project Saturday in Paris.
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Screen Actors Guild Awards 2011
Natalie Portman, Colin Firth Take Top SAG Awards
Originally posted 01/30/2011 10:15PM
Black Swan's Natalie Portman and The King's Speech's Colin Firth, along with The Fighter's Melissa Leo and Christian Bale, might just as well clear their mantels.
They all took home Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night, a reliable prognosticator of the Feb. 27 Oscars.
Among those she thanked, Portman singled out her parents, "who taught me to work the hardest and never to be an a--hole, that wasn't acceptable."
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Katey Sagal, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer and More Pick Up First Globe Wins
Originally posted 01/16/2011 08:30PM
Golden Globe virgins rejoice – it was your night.
Glee's Chris Colfer scored a major win early Sunday night at the Golden Globes, taking home best supporting actor for his role as Kurt Hummel in Fox's hit, which later earned top honors in the TV category – the award for best series comedy.
"I think I dropped my heart between Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, so if anyone sees it, please give it back," he said as he excitedly picked up the award. Praising his cast who "deserve this as much as I do," Colfer, 20, spoke of his role, as an openly gay teen, as a positive example for kids who have been bullied in school.
His costar Jane Lynch was named best supporting actress for her role as coach Sue Sylvester.
"The greatest thrill is I get these 14 year-old-kids coming up to me vibrating out of their bodies saying how happy Glee makes them," Lynch, who won the Emmy for the same role, said in her funny acceptance speech.
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Christian Bale Holds Back Tears While Praising His Wife
Originally posted 01/15/2011 02:30PM
The Fighter star Christian Bale has no problem playing the tough guy in many of his films. But when the cameras aren't rolling, the actor has a soft side.
Bale, 36, held back tears while talking about Sibi Blazic, his wife of more than a decade, backstage at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, where he won best supporting actor for his role in the boxing film, which also stars Mark Wahlberg.
"I get choked up about that stuff," Bale told reporters Friday. "It's everything because I truly believe you can't celebrate [success] without having your partner with you."
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Did You Spot Conan O'Brien's Sister in The Fighter?
Originally posted 12/20/2010 11:45AM
In The Fighter, Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale claim the most screen time, but there's no denying their slew of sisters' scene-stealing abilities.
What you might not have realized is that one of the Eklund women has a famous brother in real life, too. Kate O'Brien, sister to late night TV host Conan O'Brien, plays Phyllis "Beaver" Eklund in her acting debut.
"I work at a school and someone said, 'They're casting [The Fighter], you should go down, you look Irish Catholic,' " Kate O'Brien told PEOPLE. "I'm one of six, so it wasn't that hard for me to look like I might have more siblings [in the movie]."
• Reporting by ANNE DRISCOLL
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Christian Bale's Latest Transformation
Originally posted 07/30/2009 08:45AM
Christian Bale is at it again – the actor has downsized his physique for his new role as a drug addicted boxer in The Fighter.
Known for his uncanny ability to re-sculpt his body for his movie roles, the Welsh-born actor, who just last month looked handsome and healthy, has gone to extremes to portray fighter Dicky Eklund, opposite Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams.
"I will adjust to what is needed. But only if I have quite an obsession for the role," Bale told PEOPLE in 2005.
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