Beck/Smith Hollywood

Life As We Know It: Katherine Heigl, Clagett triplet, Josh Duhamel

Josh Duhamel, who has “Life as We Know It” opening Oct. 8, says working with kids isn’t so bad.  He stars with not only Katherine Heigl and Josh Lucas in the rom com, but also with the precocious Clagett triplets as the baby.

“We got lucky because there were three of them,” he tells Entertainment Weekly, in a wide-ranging interview in the issue hitting stands tomorrow (10/1). “Brooke was the little starlet.  Brynn was the feisty little one—you never knew what you’d get.  And then there was little Lexie,  who without a doubt every time on set would just scream bloody murder—which comes in handy in a movie like this because there’s a lot of moments when you need a baby to cry.”

Josh also dishes the inside skinny on such need-to-know actor truths as imbibing before shooting a scene in really cold water.  In his current, limited release flick “The Romantics,” his groom-to-be character is seen taking a drunken dip in the ocean with pals. The lesson of the nighttime shoot, he tells EW:  “It’s irresponsible NOT to drink whiskey before you jump into the Atlantic in December.”

And, on working with director Michael Bay, with whom he’s currently shooting the third ‘Transformers” film: “I learned to stay out of his way…Just to be there and do as you’re told and shut up.”

And then there are Duhamel’s notes on taking realism too far.  Recalling the filming of his 2006 “Turistas,” about kidnapped American tourists, he reveals:  “We had the bright idea to go barefoot, like [the bad guys] stole our shoes, too! Like, ‘Let’s make this s- – - real!’ About half a day into shooting we realized it was a huge mistake, but we couldn’t go back because we had already shot a bunch of stuff.”  Ouch.

Morena Baccarin ABC photo

Last season, “V” fans at Comic-Con and elsewhere kept asking the show’s stunning, sexy head alien, Morena Baccarin, whether her Anna character was going to eat a rat — something that those bad folks from outer space have been seen doing on the sci fi cult favorite.   Now, with “V” production back in full swing for a November return, the Rio de Janeiro-born actress says, “It turns out I am.  It’s done in a very different way than before.  It’s pretty gross.  It was a long, hard day at work.”

Certainly this highly-anticipated bit was done via movie magic.

“A certain part of it was, but I still had to handle a huge rat all day,” she says.

Fortunately, Baccarin was still fresh from her production hiatus when the rat business went down.  She spent much of her time traveling to promote “V” in Europe and in Latin America.

“I went back to Rio and to Sao Paulo.  I got to spend time with my family and be there while the show was airing.  To be known in my homeland — it was incredible,” she relates.  The Brazilians showed her “a reaction of pride.  It was the sweetest thing I ever experienced.  I did a talk show there that I grew up watching.  It was so surreal and wonderful,” adds the beauty, whose mother is Brazilian actress Vera Setta, and whose father, Fernando Baccarin, is in TV news.

She certainly had the chance to brush up on her Portuguese.  “I do speak it.  I don’t know about flawlessly.  I don’t speak it that often anymore,” she says.

Baccarin also enjoyed the European leg of her promo trek.  “In Barcelona and other cities, suddenly there were locals following me everywhere.  We’re a Number 1 rated show in Europe.”

Morena’s enjoying the fan attention at this point.  And though the “V” troops lead a rather insular existence while the series is in production in Vancouver, she’s okay with not having a big social life at this stage of the game.

“You work so hard to achieve success in your life and career.  Now is the time to just jump in, enjoy it and do great work,” says Morena.  Even if it involves eating rats.

Tony Danza AE photo

Whatever else, Tony Danza certainly deserves credit for allowing the good, the bad and the unflattering to show on his Friday (10/1)-debuting A&E reality series, “Teach.”  The former “Taxi” and “Who’s the Boss” star had the cameras with him for his full semester of teaching English at an urban Philadelphia high school – and it wasn’t pretty.  Viewers will see 10th graders complaining that he talks too much, asking impertinent questions, worrying that he’s incompetent, and saying they didn’t have a clue who he was.  They will see Tony crying.

How did he deal with this ego bruising?  “I never thought about anything except trying to be a good teacher,” he tells us.  “I very rarely even considered the show.  I don’t mean to denigrate it, dismiss it or discount it.  I thought the show would only be good if I was good teacher or a real car wreck.

“By the way, I felt a tremendous responsibility to these kids, to the other teachers, and to the school.  It was overwhelming.  Hence the crying.  I became the crybaby of all time,” he goes on.  “The kids call me crybaby.  You start to care so much, it breaks your heart every minute.”

He’s learned, “When you’re a performer, you think of yourself all the time – how’s my hair, my body, my face?  When you become a teacher, you have no time to think about yourself.”

As Tony explains on the show, he hopes to shine a light on the demands and difficulties facing teachers in these days of electronics-toting teens.  He earned a teaching degree before becoming a TV star and, at 59, wanted to do something meaningful.

Divorced in 2007, the father of four children (the eldest born in 1971, the youngest in ’93) says his family “was a little bit, like, befuddled” by his plan.  “But they know me.  I’ve always admired teachers.  Even on ‘Who’s the Boss’ — Tony Micelli became a teacher at the end.”

This week, Tony will be doing promo chores in New York and Philadelphia, and says “I just might pop down to the school and say ‘Hi’ to everybody.  I’m missing it very badly right now.”  He’s also missing acting.  “I’m shopping agents,” he reveals.  As for the future of “Teach,” there are seven installments ready to air, and more in the can, according to Tony.  “The hope is that the show goes well and we get to go all the way through commencement.”

Richard de Klerk, Repeaters

Indie film hottie Richard de Klerk (“Cole”), whose new “Repeaters” thriller has been widely compared to “Groundhog Day,” tells us that the G-word “did come up on the set and it has to. You can’t argue with Bill Murray and an amazing film.  But I think enough time has passed that we can take another look at the premise.”

Certainly “Repeaters” takes the idea of characters caught in a day that repeats over and over — and takes it in an entirely different direction from the 1993 rom com.  In “Repeaters,” there are two young men (Dustin Milligan and de Klerk) and a young woman (Amanda Crew) in drug rehab.  And, as de Klerk says, “it gets into the whole moral compass of a person.”  With all the normal laws of time and society are suspended, will a person act honorably, embrace immorality or completely flip out?

Suffice it to say, de Klerk, who is also a producer on the feature, had a lot to work with as an actor.  The film drew raves at the recent Toronto Film Festival.  “It was unbelievable.  I was so grateful,” he says.

Now, “We’re patiently awaiting word from our sales agents.   We don’t rush into something might not be the perfect fit.”

De Klerk’s next project is a documentary close to his heart, “Miles4Justice” that has to do with the organization that stages sailing events to draw attention to human rights issues.

Patricia Wettig ABC photo

Now that the cat’s out of the bag that Patricia Wettig’s Holly Harper character on “Brothers & Sisters” will be suffering a loss of memory in the new season, Wettig lets down and talks about the arc.

“It’s really fascinating to play, I’ll tell you. I’m enjoying it. I’m not much of a business person myself, so it’s hard to find the business part of Holly,” she tells us. “That didn’t come easily to me. But I’m actually having a great time playing this.”

In other “Brothers & Sisters” news, Wettig’s daughter, Roxy Olin, has been back in L.A. from her New York base for awhile, and Wettig has been savoring some togetherness time.
Does this mean the return of Roxy’s “Brothers & Sisters” character, Michelle – who was once expected to be the surrogate for Kevin and Scotty’s (Matthew Rhys and Luke Macfarlane) baby? We left off where that wasn’t going to work out and they might adopt.

“She’s going to be on it. I can say that. I don’t exactly how they’re going to incorporate it yet,” answers Wettig.

The Wettig-Olin family imprimatur is, of course, all over the acclaimed ABC drama that launches its fifth season tomorrow (9/26). Patricia stars, husband Ken Olin executive produces, son Cliff is a writer on the show and Roxy appears on it. In New York, however, Roxy is one of the fashion PR foot soldiers of Kelly Cutrone, palling around with Whitney Port on MTV’s “The City.”

The reality/drama dual career is an unusual arrangement, to say the least — especially since so many actors consider reality TV the enemy.

“I know. I think at first people were going, ‘Wait a minute – you can’t let your daughter do a reality show,’” says Wettig. “You know what – why not? We’re in a time where there is a crossover. Roxy is having a great time doing that show and she’s also a talented actress. I like ‘The City.’ I like to watch it. Ken is on it with her. It’s fun to watch them doing a scene together.”
Any chance that Paticia will also show up on the series?
“Oh, I said to Roxy, I doubt it, but I wouldn’t say that 100 per cent. I think I’m too much the actress, I’m always playing these parts. And I’m too busy right now.”
Indeed.

Rocky Carroll CBS photo

Look for a major two-part storyline ahead on “NCIS,” in which “we’re going to deal with Cote de Pablo’s character, Ziva, and her father, who is the head of Mossad,” reports the series’ Rocky Carroll.  It’s so big, it will also tie in with Carroll’s other show, “NCIS Los Angeles.”

Playing NCIS Director Leon Vance, the boss on two series, “People have the idea that I practically have to Medevac from one set to the other, but it’s not that way.  The fact my shooting schedule is not nearly as grueling as others’ is what makes it possible for me to go back and forth.  I like to say I have the greatest part-time job in television,” says the amiable Carroll.

He says he feels lucky indeed, in fact.  “I’ve been in Hollywood 20 years now and I’ve done five different shows as a series regular for one network.  Not a lot of people can say that.  There are Emmy and Academy Award-winning actors who are on the Where Are They Now list who’d give their arm to be working.”

Carroll adds philosophically, “When you’re a young guy on a hot show, and you have the attention of the entire town, you think that’s the world.  Hollywood is the world’s greatest party, but one day you find out your name’s not on the guest list anymore.  Mark Harmon has been on the guest list for decades.  That’s rare.”

The well-liked veteran actor feels that career longevity hinges on this:  “You’re only as good as your reputation.  It’s a small town, and once you’ve done a few things, they already know you before go in.  If you have a great reputation – you show up on time, you’re collaborative, you do the work, you make it an enjoyable experience – that takes you a long way.  If you don’t, well, I know some of the most talented people in this industry who walk around wondering why they have trouble getting work.  It’s their reputation.  You think the heads of studios and networks don’t talk to each other about what someone’s like to work with?  They do.  It’s the same in any field.”

Kevin Jonas, Chelsea Staub, Joe J., Nicole Anderson, Nick J. Disney Channel photo

Among the friends and fans cheering for Kyle Massey in “Dancing with the Stars” is fellow Disney Channel name Chelsea Staub.  The “Jonas L.A.” actress has come to know the former “Cory in the House” star pretty well, seeing each other at a lot of Disney events, supplying the main voices for the Channel’s “Fish Hooks” animated series, debuting tonight (9/24) – and spending a week together in Nicaragua last month.

“We were there for Feed the Children,” recounts the beautiful blond 22-year-old.  “That actually brought us together on a level I haven’t experienced with a lot of people.  We saw a lot of poverty, a lot of kids struggling, first-hand.  It was eye-opening.  I was glad to have Kyle there to talk about it.”

Lacey Schwimmer, Kyle Massey ABC photo

Chelsea says that she and Kyle visited a feeding center at a school, then each accompanied a child who was being helped by the organization to show “how Feed the Children helps them.  We went to their homes and spent a day, saw what a day is like for them, really immersed ourselves in the whole thing.”

Their trek on behalf of the embattled organization, (which is working to move beyond controversy involving its fired president and founder, Larry Jones) was documented on camera, but Chelsea says she’s not sure in what form it will be presented.  “We came back a couple of days before the Emmys and it was really surreal — culture shock — to suddenly be in this world of dresses and parties.  It was amazing to see Kyle there,” notes Chelsea, whose philanthropic bent previously showed itself in the Haiti fundraiser she put together early this year.

“It’s awesome that Kyle’s doing ‘Dancing with the Stars.’  I will definitely be there for at least a couple of live performances,” she declares.  On “Fish Hooks,” a high school-set comedy but with animated fish – she voices theatrical Bea the goldfish, while Massey voices cool, fun-loving fish Milo.

MEANWHILE:  Chelsea is awaiting word on the Jonas Brothers’ Disney Channel hitcom.  “I can’t believe we’re already coming up to the end of the season.  We had a blast filming it, and we’re so proud of the final product,” she says of the show in which she costars with Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas and Nicole Anderson.  “Everything about it felt good; it was a great time for us.”

So, is it over?  “I think that’s kind of an open question,” she says.  “We’re in an interesting position because the show was pushed back a year due to the writer’s strike and the boys touring.  So now we’re two years in when we expected it to be four.  Are we done now?  Do we come back next summer?  I’m one of those, I would be happy either way.  It’s such a great show and I’ve loved every second of it.  If they wanted to go on I’d say yes in a heartbeat.”

Martha Plimpton Fox photo by Matthias Clamer

Martha Plimpton laughs at the notion, advanced by a TV blogger, that her new “Raising Hope” has nowhere to go with its premise of a 24-year-old slacker trying to take care of his baby as a single dad, with help from his ne’er do well family.

Four shows into filming, she says, “It’s going great, really fun.  The possibilities are endless, really, when you’re dealing with family life.”

Their low socio-economic position adds to their appeal, for her.  “I like the fact that we’re playing people who are jerry-rigging their lives.  It’s like they’re using duct tape, staples, anything they can get their hands on to make it work.  The opportunities for comedy are endless in that sense.

“And also, it’s all coming from a warm and loving place,” adds the brilliant performer, who won Tony nominations in 2007, ’08 and ’09, among her many other accolades.  “These people don’t bicker with each other out of irritation.  There’s a lot of heart, a lot of sweetness to the show.  I feel like we earn all the ridiculousness of it and whatever darkness is there.”

The 39-year-old daughter of actors Keith Carradine and Shelley Plimpton was playing young adult roles herself just the other day, wasn’t she?  And now she’s playing a grandmother?  Did she have any concerns about being tagged with the G-word?  After all, as she herself notes, “Hollywood tends to age actresses very fast.”

Plimpton responds, “In this instance, no because that’s the joke of it.  In our context, that’s the joke of the show.”   She admits, “I didn’t relate at all to being the mother of a 24-year-old, and I didn’t relate even more to playing a grandmother. But we’re seeing that my character also doesn’t relate to being the mother of a 24-year-old.”

She says she didn’t hesitate to go after “Raising Hope” since 1) she wanted to work with creator Greg Garcia, and 2) “It’s the first time I’ve read a pilot where I’ve actually laughed out loud.”

And she’s not even thinking about film and stage projects right now, says the actress, whose big-screen credits range from “Running on Empty” and “Parenthood” to “200 Cigarettes.”

“My whole outlook about my work and life is that I want to have a good time, and I don’t want to get bored.  This show is fun and new and challenging for me.  I’d like to see how things pan out with it before thinking about anything else,” she says. “ I’m really committed to seeing that we get off on the right foot.”

Yvette Nicole Brown NBC photo

“Community’s” Yvette Nicole Brown heads to Ohio this weekend, where she will be honored with a Distinguished Alumna Award from her real-life alma-mater, the University of Akron.  She’ll also speak to students there.  The school could not have made a better choice.

Besides her talent for being funny, the sparkling personality has a gift for encouraging others in their dreams – and is a walking testimonial to the power of hard work and education.  While attending UA on scholarship, she worked in the dean’s office, pledged a sorority, served as a school ambassador and led campus tours, was a radio DJ — and carried a full load.

These days she’s still working hard (“Community” returns for its new season tonight), but certainly has more financial leeway than back in college days.  She can, for instance, indulge her penchant for Muppets.

“I will not tell you right now how many Kermits are in my house,” she confesses.  “Every incarnation of ‘The Muppet Show’ I have watched.  I love what they embody:  believe in your dreams, take care of each other, build a community, be responsible, don’t make excuses.  It’s all solid stuff.”

We’re sure that when Kermit realizes Yvette is a fan, he’ll be very proud.

Will Sasso CBS photo

Fans of “MadTV” no doubt remember Will Sasso’s hilarious imitation of William Shatner playing Captain Kirk on “Star Trek.”  Now, Sasso’s on Shatner’s “Bleep My Dad Says,” debuting tonight 9/23).  His impression, he says, “hasn’t come up.  I don’t think Bill knows I do an impression of him.  Frankly, it’s something I can tell you I’ve been trying to keep from him.  I sort of see that as something that may draw a line between us as actors,” confesses the funnyman.

However, Sasso has resigned himself to the fact that Shatner is going to find out.

“It was just an overt caricature of Captain Kirk, not really Bill at all,” adds Sasso, an irrepressible mimic from childhood on.  Being around Shatner every day, surely Sasso has burnished his impression by now.  “I’ll do it with maybe one, two people around.  It’s something I have no practical use for,” he says.

Sasso says he’s been convinced of “Bleep My Dad Says” having an excellent chance for success ever since the first time he and the company did their show before an audience last spring.  “It was the first time a lot of people saw what Shatner was going to be doing with this role – this immediate marriage of material and Shatner’s style, his Shatnerisms, if you will.  He’s so comfortable and playful with the audience.  Bill will sit on a joke and hold it until he feels ready to let it pop, and the audience is like they’re on springs waiting for it.”

Sasso also says that although the profanity has been toned down from the show’s real-life roots on Twitter, “It’s not exactly clean.  There’s times we’re saying stuff I literally can’t believe we’re saying on television.”