LOS ANGELES — Court records show musician Ben Harper has filed for divorce from Laura Dern after nearly five years of marriage.

The Grammy Award-winning Harper signed and filed the divorce petition Friday in Los Angeles. He is seeking joint custody of their two children and says the couple separated in January.

No additional details were included.

Dern has appeared in “Jurassic Park” and other films.

The divorce was first reported by the celebrity website TMZ.

Mirren suspiciously convincing as a spy

NEW YORK — Helen Mirren is so good at playing a veteran spy in “RED” that her co-stars are starting to wonder whether she’s really acting.

The movie’s ensemble cast, which includes Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman as retired CIA operatives, has reached a consensus that Mirren is the most likely to be a real-life undercover agent.

“She’s just there listening to what you’re saying, taking notes, and all of a sudden you feel a little stabbing pain back here, and you’re on the floor,” Willis jokes.

As former sniper Victoria, the 65-year-old Mirren wields a semi-automatic as gracefully as she arranges flowers. The Oscar-winning actress admits she was nervous about becoming an action star, but said working with Willis eased the transition.

“(He’s) a huge movie star, but he’s also an incredibly down-to-earth, welcoming, hard-working geezer,” she said. “He’s a good geezer, and personally, I love a good geezer.”

Mirren said she looked to domestic diva Martha Stewart with her “gracious intelligence combined with a steely determination” to create her lethal-yet-elegant character.

Willis said “RED,” which opens Friday, packs in the action, comedy and romance. But he acknowledges, “At the end of the day I’m just waiting for that shot of Helen on that .50-caliber machine gun, tearing it up.”

Director Stone worried about Douglas’ health

 

BERLIN — Director Oliver Stone said Tuesday he is concerned about the health of actor Michael Douglas, who is battling throat cancer.

Douglas, who reprised his role as stock trader Gordon Gekko in Stone’s latest film, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” is in a “precarious” state of health, Stone told reporters here.

Douglas was supposed to accompany Stone on a promotional tour in Europe, but he remained in the U.S. for further cancer treatments. Douglas, 66, did attend the film’s premiere in New York three weeks ago.

New York-based publicist Allen Burry said Douglas finished his treatments last week. “Doctors were very pleased and have scheduled no more treatments,” he said.

Burry said Douglas has a six- to eight-week period of recuperation.

Stone’s newest film is a sequel to the 1987 “Wall Street,” for which Douglas won an Academy Award.

Familiar sidekick for Conan

 

NEW YORK — When Conan O’Brien debuts his new late-night talk show Nov. 8 on TBS, he’ll have an old friend and colleague by his side.

Andy Richter will serve as the sidekick on “Conan.”

Richter said he’s “thrilled” to be working with O’Brien, and he’s most excited about “getting out of the house again.”

O’Brien said, “This decision was made without my authority. I will get to the bottom of this.”

Richter and O’Brien first joined forces in 1993 on NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”

 

Copy the Story Link