Evan Parke, an actor with a handful of television credits on his resume (most notably a recent stint on the daytime soap The Young And The Restless), just locked up a part in a major motion picture that’s due in theaters this Christmas.

Parke landed a role in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, according to Deadline. Who will he play? No idea. By this point, I thought Tarantino had locked up his major casting decisions, with Jamie Foxx in line to play Django, a freed slave having to fight to get his wife (Kerry Washington) out of shackles; Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie, a sadistic ranch owner who makes captive men fight to the death on his property, and supporting (though still significant) parts for Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Christoph Waltz, Anthony LaPaglia, Sacha Baron Cohen, Don Johnson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Man, that’s an extensive cast. I can’t wait to see how QT puts them all to use.

Parke, meanwhile, has had some big-screen success, acting in Tim Burton’s Planet Of The Apes remake as well as Peter Jackson’s updated King Kong in 2005. He has stayed busy on ABC’s Desperate Housewives and episodes of NCIS and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Needless to say, a part in the latest Tarantino film sounds like a massive step up for Parke, a chance for the actor to strut his stuff — unless, of course, QT does away with him and casts him as a slave who gives his life for Django’s cause in the opening scene. We’ll find out when the film opens on December 25.

Source: Cinema Blend

Leonardo Dicaprio should be back from Australia by now surely, the Oscar-snubbed actor has been in the southern hemisphere for the best part of the Autumn and into the winter, alongside fellow co-stars Toby Maguire and Carey Mulligan whilst they film Baz Luhrmann’s epic film adaptation of the great novel The Great Gatsby. Whilst they were no doubt expecting to be making an epic however, none of them were probably planning on the filming being quite so grand in scale as well.

DiCaprio, and indeed all the The Great Gatsby cast and crew are still in Australia, even though filming was supposed to wrap up before Christmas, as the production of the movie starts stretching well over time and — you’d presume — budget. Local press Adelaide Now have been spotting the crew around the region still, after their plans were spoiled by a wet summer down under. Trying to grab what sun they can, the Gatsby team are still, as a result, some way short of completing the filming work.

Rumors are that this is now eating into Luhrmann’s $120 million budget for the film, with some sources claiming to the Adelaide-based press that each day’s delay is costing him $1 million each time — figures that have been strenuously denied by a rep. It’s believed that set re-building is proving the main cost of the delays, with some cast members being paid extra to ensure they hold off other projects.

Source: Contactmusic

Naomi Watts has blasted the Academy Awards for snubbing her J. Edgar leading man Leonardo DiCaprio.

The Aussie beauty says she is staggered Titanic actor Leo is not among the Best Actor nominees for this month’s Academy Awards following his stirring performance as disgraced FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover.

“I think he did an incredible job and it was a brilliant performance,” says Naomi. “I was quite shocked he wasn’t nominated actually because he certainly deserved it.”

Naomi recently admitted her nerves almost got the better of her at the start of her career.

“It is a hard slog,” says Naomi. “I think I had to learn how to be myself and relax before people noticed me.

“People in America like confidence and I wasn’t like that. It made it so much harder.”

Source: ShowbizSpy

Look out Hugh Jackman — you’ve got some A-list competition in the charity coffee space.

Leonardo DiCaprio announced today that his environmental foundation is forming an alliance with coffee roaster La Colombe Torrefaction on a new new, ultra high-end coffee line, called LYON.

One-hundred percent of the net profits from the sale of LYON will be donated to environmental charities supported by the DiCaprio’s foundation.

“Raising awareness on the most pressing environmental issues of our time is more important than ever,” said Leonardo DiCaprio. “I am thrilled to be a part of this new project with La Colombe that will help aid the shift to a truly sustainable future for the planet and its inhabitants.”‘

“Coffee employs over 100 million people worldwide, most of which is slash and burn and sold cheaply,” said Todd Carmichael, CEO and Co-Founder of La Colombe. “Sustainable coffee — specifically, coffee that is traded above fair prices and grown using earth conscious methods — not only adds much needed global biodiversity, but provides support for millions of families and communities in the developing world. The impact we are having in Haiti alone, just to bring this coffee to market, has changed the lives of thousands of peasant farmers, as well as the landscape of the country.”

He added, “We are excited to be working with and supporting The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and find it, as well as its namesake, uniquely qualified to carry out our hope, to make our planet a better place.”

Reflecting the luxe quality of the brand, LYON will be sold starting today in Williams Sonoma stores nationwide, La Colombe Cafes, and select Whole Foods. You can also bypass the masses and order your own online here. A 12oz bags sells for just under $13.

Source: ecorazzi

Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed that he wants to turn his hand to directing. The Hollywood star said he would like to try working behind the cameras and would approach it in the same way as his J. Edgar director Clint Eastwood.

Speaking to GQ Australia he said: “Yeah. I do [want to direct]. And if I did direct, I would try to have the same approach to it as Clint [Eastwood] and his crew have.”

The Inception star continued to explain that there are “no frills” on the Million Dollar Baby director’s set saying: “It’s a small, tight-knit crew.”

Leonardo already has producing credits on his CV, on films such as Orphan, Red Riding Hood and The Ides Of March.

Source: RTÊ Ten

Nominee Leonard DiCaprio will not attend the SAG Awards as he heads back to Australia to film The Great Gatsby

Leonardo DiCaprio won’t be in Los Angeles tomorrow, although he’s nominated for a SAG Award as best actor. The J. Edgar star left for Australia yesterday for the set of Baz Luhrmann’s 3-D drama, The Great Gatsby. DiCaprio is up against Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Demian Bichir and Jean Dujardin for a SAG honor. A DiCaprio rep said the star had been scheduled to head Down Under before the awards were announced.

Source: New York Post

Leonardo DiCaprio is giving Sean Penn’s Haiti charity a boost by auctioning off the chance to party with him at a Hollywood bash.

The Titanic star has donated two tickets to one of his upcoming red carpet premieres, as well as passes to the after party.

The lucky winner and guest will then get the chance to pose for photographs with DiCaprio during a brief meet-and-greet session.
The Charity Buzz auction, which ends on February 9, is expected to fetch as much as $25,000 (£15,625) for the J/P Haitian Relief Organization.

Penn founded the charity to help Haitian families rebuild their lives in the wake of the devastating 2010 earthquake.

Source: Contactmusic

Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Fassbender have discovered that there’s no room for them on the nominations list at this year’s Academy Awards as the yearly event threw up its usual array of surprise candidates and high profile snubs ahead of the final ceremony in Hollywood on February 26, 2012.

Whilst the awards season so far as largely been predictable, with The Artist, Hugo, Meryl Streep and George Clooney among the films and names dominating the nominations and awards over the past few weeks, you might’ve predicted that the biggest show of them all would tip the balance a little — something it’s duly done. DiCaprio and Fassbender may have a right to feel aggrieved at their absence from the category of Best Leading Actor, with the former earning nominations at both the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards for his performance in J. Edgar whilst the latter impressed in Shame, gaining notable acclaim during last Autumn’s film festival season and also gaining Globe and Screen Actors nominations.

As it was Shame was snubbed entirely from the main honors, with legendary director Steven Spielberg also finding himself overlooked despite the positive reception to his film War Horse. So who was in? Well, as expected Hugo and The Artist both featured heavily, though there was even a surprise here as Hugo was nominated for 11 gongs of is rivals 10 — and the strongly tipped The Descendants even further back on a paltry five, behind the Brad Pitt starring Moneyball.

Source: Contactmusic

Leonardo DiCaprio has admitted he’d love to bag an Oscar — but it’s not what motivates him.

Hollywood’s highest paid actor, Leonardo has been nominated for an Academy Award three times.

“I don’t think anyone would say that they wouldn’t want one. I think they would be lying,” the star said.

But Leonardo, 37, who could be nominated again for his title role in Clint EastWood’s J. Edgar Hoover biopic, said: “I don’t think I ever expected anything like an Oscar ever, to tell you the truth. That is not my motivation when I do these roles.

“I really am motivated by being able to work with great people and create a body of work that I can look back and be proud of.

“I grew up when I was 15 when I had my first opportunity in movies. I watched every great movie for a year and a half, and since then I’ve asked myself how I can emulate such artistry.

“That’s really my motivation. I want to do something as good as my heroes have done.”

J. Edgar is in cinemas now.

Source: The Press Association