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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > July > 25 > Entry
A hometown thrill for star of ‘Hairspray’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As he chatted up various media outlets across Atlanta Tuesday, “Hairspray” actor Elijah Kelley still hadn’t fully processed the film premiere his hometown of LaGrange threw for him over the weekend. The salute to the Troup High School grad who portrays Seaweed J. Stubbs in the hit movie musical attracted more than 5,000 locals to the festivities.
“I’m still trying to bask in the glow of it before I have to go back to Los Angeles and be all common again,” the 20-year-old joked to Buzz. “It was wild to see old classmates and all those girls I had crushes on turn out like that. I got a little choked up, to be honest. To me, having the approval of the people in LaGrange is way more important to me than what any critic might say. If your cousin or that particular girl tells you it was just OK, that would have hurt me deep.”
To research the role set in segregated early 1960s Baltimore, Kelley says he talked to aunts and uncles. They showed him photos from the era detailing signs which read: “Blacks Only” and “Whites Only.”
Explained Kelley: “I learned there were a lot of rebels out there determined to fight for integration. It was so exciting to portray a character like that. And kissing Amanda Bynes wasn’t the hardest thing in the world, either.”
Still, Kelley’s wardrobe, notably his trousers, was a bit constricting.
“Those tight pants were life-altering!” he says. “If I had been in them a couple more months, Mom would have had to look elsewhere for grandkids.”
And acting opposite John Travolta in drag?
“Oh, man. John is the coolest dude ever,” Kelley raved. “You would just get used to his Travolta-ness and then he would show up on set as a woman. But you just forgot it was him. I actually called him ‘ma’am’ once by accident. I guess that was my LaGrange upbringing coming out. But he was a very believable, curvaceous and voluptuous woman. And I gotta admit that I feel a little weird for saying that, too!”
Catching a scent at Zoo Atlanta
Constance Babbleon, our scribbling equivalent over at Zoo Atlanta slid us an advance peek of her latest Plains Tattle column due to be posted today at Zooatlanta.com. As you’ll recall, the fictional online scribe is providing zoo watchers a weekly update on the zoo’s new additions, the warthog couple Vern and Shirley and those ultra high-maintenance meerkats as they get settled into their new habitat. According to Constance, the boys and girls have begun living together. Sort of. Burbled Babbleon: “Big, FAT … SCOOP! It’s not girls’ day out Chez Meerkat anymore. The boys have moved in right next door to the girls, but they’re not sharing the same quarters yet. And get this: The girls know the boys are there, and the boys know the girls are there, but they can’t see each other yet. Rumor has it they can smell each other and that’s how they know (personally, I’d be horrified if I knew I had a new neighbor because I could smell him).” Personally, we love the disclaimer that is inserted beneath the column: “The views expressed by Ms. Babbleon are not intended to represent those of Zoo Atlanta’s keepers, curators or animals.”
Celebrity docket
Back in May at the Atlanta premiere of “Georgia Rule,” Buzz recalls nodding sagely as Jane Fonda addressed the ongoing personal problems of her talented co-star Lindsay Lohan, saying: “We all need to wrap our arms around her and just love her.” When the BuzzBerry began blowing up early Tuesday morning with reports of Lohan’s latest DUI/drug possession arrest, the thought occurred that perhaps we all should have hugged the troubled actress a little tighter.
Or, at the very least, hired her a car and driver.
Lohan was arrested early Tuesday when police booked her on suspicion of drunken driving and cocaine possession in Santa Monica, Calif.
Lohan attorney Blair Berk said her client had relapsed and was again receiving medical care. Lohan was released on $25,000 bail. A court date is scheduled for Aug. 24.
All day Tuesday, celebrity Web site TMZ.com owned the latest Lohan saga. Snarky celeb site Gawker.com described TMZ.com’s coverage with the headline: “Lindsay Lohan’s DUI Arrest Is TMZ.com’s 9/11.”
But our fave tribute had to be the instant video retrospective, “The Lindsay Lohan DUI Slideshow” posted on Youtube.com. Set to Chuck Mangione’s cheesy ’70s hit “Feels So Good,” the clip craftily combined images of Lohan’s latest mug shot, gossip site headlines and photos of “The Muppet Show” lab assistant Beaker.
As Defamer.com artfully phrased it: “The combination of Beaker’s joyous presence and Mangione’s soothing trumpet makes us think everything’s going to be OK.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“You’re adopted.” — “Gilmore Girls” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino joking to TV critics about the final two words she had written for her fictional alter ego Loralei Gilmore to deliver to her daughter Rory in the CW series finale. Sherman-Palladino left the show prior to its conclusion this year. This coming season, she’s overseeing the new sitcom she created for Fox, “The Return of Jezebel James.”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Estelle Getty is 84. Actress Barbara Harris is 72. Supermodel Iman is 52. Actress Illeana Douglas is 42. Actor Matt LeBlanc (“Friends”) is 40. Actor D.B. Woodside (“24”) is 38. Actor Brad Renfro is 25.
Contributing: News services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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