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Nas: 'I’m Tired Of Marches, I’m Tired Of Talking'

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I have a son now, he’ll be three. And I’m thinking about him. He has to grow up in this society where people in high places [in the court] don’t see it important that somebody should be prosecuted for murder, just because the victim is black. And it’s a rage that goes through you that makes you want to react in all kinds of ways. I’m tired of marches, I’m tired of talking. And that’s the feeling that would come over me. But violence is not always the answer, but what do people do when there’s no justice? And someone like Trayvon, a 17-year-old, innocent smart kid killed by a coward, can now have a legacy that he would’ve never dreamed he had. Maybe he thought in football that he would have a legacy, but now his legacy can be something that can help change things, hopefully.
--Hip-hop veteran Nas opens up on the death of Trayvon Martin. (MTV News)


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Rosario Dawson’s Next Role is 'Graphic'

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Rosario Dawson is best known for her sexy role as the machine-gun wielding dominatrix Gail in Frank Miller’s graphic novel adaptation “Sin City”. So it’s only fitting that for her next project, the half-Puerto Rican, half-Cuban actress will find herself starring in another graphic novel adaptation. But this time, it's based on a graphic novel of her own.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the "Zookeeper" actress is teaming up with Gale Anne Hurd (an executive producer for AMC’s Golden Globe-nominated series, “The Walking Dead”) to bring her own graphic novel, “O.C.T.: Occult Crimes Taskforce” to the small screen.

The project, which is being developed by the A&E network with Dawson and Hurd as co-executive producers, will follow a group of investigators who patrol a district of New York populated by practitioners of black magic. Like the graphic novel, co-created by Dawson, David Atchison and Tony Shasteen, "O.C.T.," will center on the character of Sophia Ortiz, a new member of the bureau who uses magic, spells, ghosts, the undead and the unnatural. Although the project is still in the early stages of development, Dawson is being considered for the role of Sophia.

According to DigitalSpy.com, the rights to "Occult Crimes Taskforce" were previously acquired by Dimension Films in September 2006, but a proposed movie adaptation never materialized.

SLIDESHOW: Check Out These Latino Philanthropists

The Search For The Missing Woman Behind 'Mirror Mirror' Song

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This is the true story of a quest -- the quest for a song, first, and then for the woman who wrote it.

The song appears in the closing credits of "Mirror Mirror," the first of this year's two big-screen adaptations of the Snow White fairy tale. Its director, Tarsem Singh, first heard the song in the early 1970s, when he was a boy growing up in India's Punjab province.

The song was called "I Believe," and it was sung -- in English -- by a woman who might best be described as the Madonna of Iran at that time. She went by one name, Googoosh, and sported a pixie haircut presumably inspired by Mia Farrow. "As kids, we used to dance to it," Singh told The Huffington Post. "We loved it."

Three decades later, Singh played the song for his niece, who was staying with him in Montreal while he shot his 2011 film, "Immortals." "She's this clubbing girl and she loved it," he said. "Every morning when I woke up, she'd be playing it in her shower. I'd hear it in the next room. It would be Googoosh going, 'I believe, I believe, I believe in love! Love!'"

Clearly, this was a song with broad appeal -- and a special resonance for young people. So when Singh read the script for "Mirror Mirror" and decided that his film simply had to end with a musical number, it didn't take long to settle on one, he recalled: "Suddenly, I went, 'It's perfect; the movie ends with Snow White singing, 'I believe in love!'

"And then the fun started."

*****

Singh's decision set off a chain of events that spanned a year and drew in dozens of people, from studio executives to a private investigator. At the end of the trail was a woman nobody could find.

The reason for the search was simple: To include "I Believe" in "Mirror Mirror," the producers needed to secure the rights. But they had no idea who even owned those rights. "Tarsem wanted to have that song," said Bob Bowen, senior vice president of music at Relativity, which produced the film. "And then we had to figure out … how do we get it cleared? How do we license it? Who do we get to record it? And all the other production logistics that go with that."

"I just told them, 'We need this song; we need this song,'" Singh recalled. "And they couldn't get the rights. They kept saying they contacted Googoosh's people but … basically the rights belong to the Iranian government. And I said, 'That just sounds like something I don't want to believe.' I was a bit heartbroken."

Before giving up altogether, a production assistant at Relativity made a call to Koo Abuali, a former musician who had done some low-budget soundtrack work in the past and was looking for a big break. Abuali had recently moved from Los Angeles to Montreal -- where "Mirror Mirror" was being shot -- in pursuit of a love interest and, with any luck, a job on the film.

Abuali remembered getting the call on June 2, 2011: "He says, 'Um, I have a little task for you. But I honestly don't think that you're going to be able to do this.' And I said, 'If it's an opportunity, hit me with it!'"

Working with little more than the song's title and the knowledge that a woman named Googoosh had once performed it, Abuali launched a frenzied research effort. "I knew that I had a very tiny window to get in to meet with this director," she said. "And I knew that it would be an opportunity that would change my professional life."

Right away, Abuali had a stroke of luck. She tracked down Googoosh's lawyer and discovered that he was an old acquaintance from Los Angeles. But this success was followed by four days of round-the-clock frustration. She contacted the Iranian consulate, the Cannes Film Festival (where Googoosh had once performed the song) and practically everyone in the Iranian singer's circle, including her assistant, two songwriters who had worked with her in the '70s, her doctor -- and even her ex-husband, Mahmoud Ghorbani. "It was like one piece after another after another that was all adding up, but they were all leading nowhere," Abuali said.

In the end, the World Wide Web gave her the break she needed. Her Iranian friends had advised her to google transliterations of the song's English lyrics "I believe, I believe, I believe in love." Sure enough, a search for "Vabeli, vabeli, vabeli" led her to an article in Portuguese that -- when entered into Google Translate -- unlocked the mystery. The article revealed that Googoosh's "I Believe" was a cover of a song titled "Love," which had first appeared in a film called "Taking Off." It was directed by Milos Forman, the Oscar-winning director of "Amadeus" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," and had won the Cannes Grand Prix in 1971.

Better yet, the woman who performed "Love" in the movie was also the songwriter. Her name was Nina Hart; she was 20 years old in 1971 and an American. How hard could it be to find her?

*****

In 1970, Nina Hart worked as a secretary at Golden Bough Productions, a New York City music-publishing company that specialized in advertising jingles. (It gave the world General Electric's "We Bring Good Things to Life" and Gillette's "The Best a Man Can Get," to name just two examples.) Hart had grown up in Manhattan and studied at Barnard College, and her ambition was to become an actress and a singer.

"She was outgoing and she was cute," remembered Hilary Lipsitz, the founder and president of Golden Bough (which has since been renamed Sunday Productions). "She was like all those 20-year-olds in 1970, against the Vietnam war, a child of the '60s."

Everything changed for Hart on a summer day in 1970. She was walking through Central Park in her hippie-chic fringe vest, her long brown hair parted down the middle, when a female photographer approached her and asked if she'd like to audition for a film by Milos Forman. ("I took [the female photographer] because I wanted to pick up some girls for the film," Forman told The Huffington Post. "To come to any young lady and say, 'Listen, do you want to be in a movie?' would sound terrible!")

Hart jumped at the chance to meet the famous Czech director, who was in New York casting his first American feature. She played two songs for him, and he liked them enough to invite her to a massive audition sequence, when she joined dozens of aspiring singers, including Carly Simon and a then unknown Kathy Bates. Forman wound up splicing scenes from the audition throughout the film, but Hart's performance of "Love" was so strong, so searing, that he decided to use it for the opening credits. "I liked it the best," Forman said. "It's as simple as that."

Lipsitz and the rest of the Golden Bough team helped Hart record and license the song, which was copyrighted as "Love" and registered with BMI under three titles, "Love," "I Believe in Love" and "Taking Off." Shortly thereafter, Hart accepted a full-time role on the soap opera "As the World Turns" and left Golden Bough.

It was the last time Lipsitz saw or heard from her.

*****

On June 6 at 4:25 p.m., Koo Abuali's search came to an end. That's the moment she received an email from Lipsitz's office affirming, "we are the publishers of the song 'Love,' aka 'Taking Off,' aka 'I Believe in Love,' composed by Nina Hart." Now, Singh could proceed with his plans to record a new version of the song for "Mirror Mirror."

"That girl is the one who deserves all the credit," Singh said of Abuali.

But for Lipsitz, the madness was just beginning. He was desperate to find Nina Hart, for curiosity's sake, sure, but also because he wanted to make sure she received the royalties that she deserved. "Legally, we could just give the rights, but I'm protecting Nina," he said. "She's our client and it's been 40 years. We just want to make damn sure that everything is done right for her."

He and his team devoted nine months to a fruitless hunt, phoning every Nina Hart that they could find in directories across the country, searching online people-finder databases, scouring the Social Security death index, chasing every lead suggested by her slim IMDb profile, posting ads in Variety and Daily Variety and even hiring a private investigator in Los Angeles.

"The name is so common that there are probably more than 500 in the U.S. alone," the private investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Huffington Post. "Also, there are so many possibilities with women that complicate searches like this -- a marriage, a couple of marriages or more -- and you're chasing ghosts and dead ends."

"You ever hear of an old movie called 'Laura'?" Lipsitz said, referring to the 1944 film in which a detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating. "This is 'Laura.' I'm waiting for Clifton Webb."

*****

Meanwhile, just off the coast of a Florida town called Tavernier, a few miles south of Key Largo, bobbed a small sailboat named Catspaw2. The woman on board was no ordinary retiree. She had spent 35 years as a pilot for a major U.S.-based airline, but before that she had spent a year acting in a major soap opera. She had also had a short career as a professional singer-songwriter. It was very short, in fact: She had recorded exactly one song.

By the beginning of this year, Nina Hart Griffiths was dividing her time between her mother's house in Connecticut and her boat, which wasn't the most luxurious vessel at sea. "I'd been sitting on my leaky sailboat with five pans because it was leaking from the deck into the cabin, feeling very depressed," she told The Huffington Post with a laugh. "And then I got an email from my sister."

Griffiths' sister, Laurie, had forwarded a message she had received from a cousin who had caught wind of the fact that Googoosh's version of Nina's song was being adapted for "Mirror Mirror."

"One comes across odd bits on the Internet," the cousin had written.

"I took a look at it, and I looked at Googoosh … she's a lovely singer," Griffiths recalled. "And I said, 'Yeah, that is my song! Maybe I ought to make some telephone calls here!"

But she didn't -- not at first, anyway. She was busy house hunting, trying to find a place on land in the Florida Keys where she could live. She finally got around to calling Lipsitz's office on March 15, two months after reading the email from her sister. "I thought I'd have to explain myself and who I was," she recalled. Instead, "I said, 'Hi, my name is Nina,' and [Lipsitz's assistant] said, 'Oh, Nina! We've been looking for you!' Which is what anybody wants to hear, unless it's the FBI or the IRS."

The private investigator had guessed right: Nina had married and taken her husband's name (they divorced after eight years). The name change, combined with her peripatetic lifestyle and the fact that employers in the 1970s were not required to collect Social Security numbers from their workers, had rendered her virtually unfindable. "We knew we were looking for a Nina Hart who was about 61 years old," Lipsitz explained. "But her name is not Nina Hart; it's Nina Griffiths."

Griffiths, for her part, was blissfully ignorant of all the mystery and excitement surrounding her. "I'm very happy that I didn't know any of this was going on because I would've been a nervous wreck," she said. "And in this case it's just a happy surprise."

*****

Once the rights for "I Believe" had been secured, Tarsem Singh followed through on his plan to shoot a scene in which Snow White, played by 22-year-old actress Lily Collins, sings the song. The track had been remixed and rewritten, its lyrics adjusted to reflect the subject matter of the film. But the catchy chorus had remained intact: "I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe in love. Love! Love, love, love!"

Collins had never sung professionally before -- never mind that her father is the musician Phil Collins -- but Singh told her all he wanted was a "committed" performance, and he was more than satisfied with the result. Test audiences, however, were another matter. "The kids loved it," Singh said, "and then the dads … couldn't let it go by." The studio decided that the number had to go.

For a moment, it looked as if all that effort -- the time, the expense, the anxiety -- would amount to nothing. Griffiths' song was not going to appear in the film after all. But Singh wouldn't give up. He paid a personal visit to executive producer Tucker Tooley and "did my one-knee dance on him," he said. It must have been quite a performance because "Mirror Mirror" now ends with the heroes dancing to Collins' jubilant and exotic rendition of the song. "I Believe in Love (Mirror Mirror Mix)," as it's now called, is still the movie's exclamation point.

It's too soon to tell how much money Nina Hart Griffiths will make from "Mirror Mirror." That depends on a number of factors, including how well the soundtrack sells and whether anyone else decides to cover it. But one thing is certain: She is now one of the few people in history to have a song she wrote personally selected by two different directors for two different films.

"It was just one of those songs that you wrote in about two hours," Griffiths said. "And then I just left it alone and here it is, still coming back to haunt me."

LISTEN: Lilly Collins - I Believe In Love:


Hear Googosh and Nina Hart Griffiths' versions of the song and see photos from "Mirror Mirror":

Stacy Keibler Stripped Down For Lingerie Photo Shoot

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New photos of Stacy Keibler from a 2008 photo shoot hit the Internet today, in which George Clooney's sexy beau strips down to lingerie and is thus able to show off her body for everyone to enjoy.

WATCH: Great Moments In 'Anchorman's' 'Afternoon Delight'

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"Anchorman 2" is coming. Will Ferrell announced the long-awaited sequel on Wednesday night's edition of "Conan," putting to rest years of back and forth about whether the comedy would even happen.

For now, it appears it will, and you can expect Ron's brotastic Channel 4 News Team, Brian, Brick and Champ (played by Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner, respectively) to return.

What better way to celebrate "Anchorman 2" -- besides doing a cannonball into the nearest swimming pool? By watching the "Anchorman" team sing "Afternoon Delight"! Below, check out the famed scene from the original "Anchorman," as well as some homages and reenactments from the good people of the Internet. Enjoy!

VIDEOS:

Cartoon Network Kicks It Old School

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Old Cartoon Network classics are making a comeback, courtesy of Brak and Zorak.

Everyone's favorite space cat and giant praying mantis of the early 2000s cartoon "The Brak Show" are officially hosting "Cartoon Planet," an hour-long block featuring the eccentric shows of Cartoon Network past, starting this Friday, Mar. 30 from 8-9 p.m.

The series will include cartoons like "Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends," "Dexter's Laboratory," "Johnny Bravo," "Flapjack," "The Powerpuff Girls" and more.

Friday night's lineup will feature episodes of "Cow and Chicken," "The Powerpuff Girls," "Foster's Home," "Johnny Bravo" and "Dexter's Lab."

Tune in to "Cartoon Planet" on Fridays from 8-9 p.m. ET on Cartoon Network.

How Lily Collins Feels When She Hears 'Sussudio'

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Lily Collins, who plays Snow White in the new adaptation of the classic tale, "Mirror Mirror," is the daughter of Phil Collins.

That's not always the kind of thing you want to bring up when you're interviewing someone. Sometimes, it makes the person you're talking to defensive; sometimes they shut down. Then there are the rare occasions -- and this is what happened when I talked to Lily Collins -- when your subject will say something so heartwarming that you're left with no response other than to remark on how heartwarming her answer was.

In "Mirror Mirror," -- yes, the first of two Snow White movies to hit your local cineplex this year -- Collins, who turned 23 on March 18, plays Snow White, a character with whom I trust you are familiar. In this version, the tone is light, comedic and definitely kid-friendly. Ahead, Collins discusses the difference between the two films, gamely guesses what Julia Roberts thinks of her, and describes the feeling she gets every time she hears a song from her dad's album "No Jacket Required."

Maybe it's the fact that there are two Snow White movies, but I wasn't entirely looking forward to "Mirror Mirror." I'll admit, it left me in a really good mood.
Oh, that's like the best compliment. [Laughs] At the beginning of your comment, I was like, This is a double-edged compliment. But at the end -- that would be great if people went to it not necessarily knowing what to expect. Even, like, guys or young boys thinking it's a "girly" movie. To go and then have fun -- that's the best.

And I have to agree, Snow White is a pretentious name.
Right. Well, luckily the movie is called "Mirror Mirror."

No, I was referring to the line in the opening narration. Once I heard that line, I kind of liked where the film was going.
It does kind of throw it at your face at the very beginning of the film. It's basically like, "We know what you're all thinking. And it's true, but we're going to tell this story anyway." It kind of calls out your uncertainties about the movie at the very beginning, in a cool way.

Did you have to be convinced to do this movie? In a "Snow White? Hasn't that been done?" kind of way?
No, no. I heard about this and I was so honored to even get a time for an audition. So I had so much fun at the audition that I just thought that this was my shot to give it my all. I grew up in the English countryside and I used to run around and create my own stories and pretend like I was in those movies myself.

I assume you've been asked "What's it like working with Julia Roberts?" quite a few times. So I will ask: Do you think Julia Roberts liked working with you?
You know, that's a funny question. Um, I think she did? She'd be mean to me during the take and then afterwards she'd apologize. She had her kids on set all of the time, and her kids and I would play around. It's interesting because Snow, in the story, just wants her approval and to feel liked by her character. It's just funny that when we were hanging out during the movie, she turned on and off her character so easily and so fluidly that she was just "Julia" when the cameras weren't rolling. We had a lovely time and I've seen her since and she's nothing but smiles -- so I would hope that she enjoyed working with me.

There was young girl sitting in front of me at the screening and at one point when Julia Roberts was on screen, the girl says to her mother, "She's mean!"
[Laughs] Really?

So people my age will always think of her as America's Sweetheart. And now there will be young kids who just know her as "the mean lady."
Well, that's interesting, actually. Because kids do kind of see characters and then see the actor and think that they're kind of the same. But in the sense of the way that she played this mean character, she does use that America's Sweetheart smile and laugh, but in a new twist and a new way. It's weird because, yeah, little kids really haven't seen her other stuff.

They haven't seen "Pretty Woman."
No, but I think they'll be able to separate it. It's a fairly tale that they are also all aware of anyway -- so they already know that the evil queen is evil.

You mentioned earlier how you were really excited and wanted to be part of this film. But when did you find out that there would be a second Snow White movie?
I actually knew about both of them before I even auditioned for this one.

Were you interested in both of them?
I had read both. And I knew that they were both very, very different. And it's kind of perfect that they're so different. So I was always aware that there were two at the same time, but that never deterred me from wanting to be a part of them, or a part of this one. Even, I think, ratings are going to be different and audiences are going to be different.

Do you think it helps to be first?
I guess. It's kind of the first time she's been taken from an animation to a real-life action film. So I don't know if it's necessarily beneficial to be the first one that comes out. But it's definitely people's first impression of a cartoon come to life. They're so different that I think, regardless of whose came out first, there's going to be an audience for both. I mean, I'm excited to see the other one, as well, because it is so different from mine.

If you're at a grocery store and "Sussudio" starts playing, is your first reaction, "Hey, that's my dad"?
[Laughs] That happens all the time! I'll be in a remote hut in India and the same thing happens. It's comforting! It's nice. It's like: I may not physically get to see him a lot, but all of a sudden a song comes on and I smile. It's like, "Hi, dad." I hear it and it's always nice to feel like he's there.

That might be the sweetest answer that I've ever heard while doing an interview.
Oh, really?

I'm not joking, that was really touching.
Oh, thank you. It's true.

Mike Ryan is senior entertainment writer for The Huffington Post. He has written for Wired Magazine, VanityFair.com, GQ.com, New York Magazine and Movieline. He likes Star Wars a lot. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter

WATCH: Earl Scruggs' Classic Hits

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Earl Scruggs, the Bluegrass legend and banjo master, died Wednesday morning at the age of 88, and he has left his fans quite the musical legacy.

The Associated Press didn't mince words when describing the contributions Earl Scruggs bestowed upon this nation's culture, describing him as a "pioneering banjo player who helped create modern country music," an icon in the vein of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams.

The day after he died, Earl Scruggs fans turned to YouTube to record tributes. Some posted covers of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," the remarkable 1949 track by Scruggs and Lester Flatt, while others thanked him for his contributions to music. Still more fans were searching the web for recordings of his biggest hits.

Scores of celebrities remembered Scruggs on Twitter. Country star Dierks Bentley said Scruggs should always be remembered for inventing the three-finger style of playing the banjo and noted that Scruggs was not a single-genre icon. "It's not just bluegrass," he said. "It's American music."

Actor and bluegrass musician Steve Martin also chimed in on, tweeting this tribute:

"Some nights he had the stars of North Carolina shooting from his fingertips," Martin wrote on the website of The New Yorker.

We've collected some of Earl Scruggs biggest hits in the slideshow below. Give them a listen and let us know which are your favorites in the comments below.



6 Classic 'Punk'd' Videos From The Days Of Yore

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The new, rebooted "Punk'd" premieres tonight (Thurs., March 29 at 10 p.m. ET) on MTV, with Justin Bieber serving as the inaugural host in a new format that will feature a rotating cast of celebrity pranksters. Ashton Kutcher is still serving as the prankmaster general, but he's moved behind the scenes and is acting as an executive producer on the series.

The return got us reminiscing about some of the most memorable "punkings" from the original installment. Back in the days of yore, i.e. the early-to-mid 2000s, the concept of scaring a celebrity within an inch of their sanity was a new and exciting concept.

Remember when they blew up The Rock's trailer? Or when they convinced Justin Timberlake that all his possessions were being seized by the government? Let's take a stroll down memory lane and look back at some classic incidents in "Punk'd" history in the video slideshow below.

WATCH: Favorite Celebrity Slime Moments

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Celebrities attending Saturday's 25th annual Kids' Choices Awards should start getting nervous. Really nervous. While awards are presented during the kid-friendly Nickelodeon show, fans really just want to see the slime.

From Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's double slime to Katy Perry's shocking green surprise, it's always fun to see stars -- especially those always looking their best -- get covered in that bright, sticky, Nickelodeon-signature goo.

We've rounded up some of our favorite KCA slime moments below to get you ready for tonight's show, which kicks off on Nickelodeon at 8 p.m.

WATCH:

PHOTOS: Salma's Terrible Skin Problem

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Salma Hayek is one of Hollywood's most stunning beauties, so it's hard to picture her with a face full of pimples.

But in a candid interview with Lucky magazine's Jean Godfrey-June (Hayek graces the May cover in a sexy blue dress), she spills that her complexion wasn't always so stunning. In fact, she says that when she was 25, she fought a major struggle with acne:

"You want to talk about bad skin? I had acne. And this acne was so bad it sent me into severe, severe depression. Like I couldn't leave the house. The next stage with that sort of depression is food - too little or too much. Guess what I did?... I was fat and broken out. I couldn't leave the house and I couldn't pay the rent!"

Try as we might, it's hard to picture Salma lounging on the couch in sweats binging on Cheetos... but we do love that she can relate to skin woes.

The recently knighted actress, who was a fixture at Paris Fashion Week's hottest shows, also tells Lucky that moving to France with her husband François-Henri Pinault has given her a whole new outlook on fashion:

“It’s nuts, how good the people look, too,” she continues. “Nobody’s overweight, everybody’s well dressed, no tennis shoes—somehow, even though they walk all over the place, everyone manages to wear real shoes, nice shoes.” She points at her chic, low ponytail. “This is very Parisian. My husband, it’s funny, but he hates it when I have this Parisian hair! He loves my crazy-maniac-madwoman just-got-out-of-the-shower hair. He is like the lawyer for my thick, wild, natural hair. He’s like, ‘Why make it suffer?’ But you know for 45 years I’ve got this big hair, and these big boobs, and I’m this tiny person and sometimes—you just want to be ... smaller.”

Click over to Lucky to read more about Salma's new skincare line and what her husband thinks about American fashion.

Scroll down for more photos.

Dermot Mulroney Books New TV Gig

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Dermot Mulroney is getting "Enlightened"!

Mulroney -- who is currently romancing Zooey Deschanel's character, Jess, in a guest arc on Fox's freshman comedy hit "New Girl" -- will have a major recurring role in Season 2 of HBO's "Enlightened," Deadline reports.

Mulroney is set to play Jeff Flender, an investigative reporter-turned-love interest for Amy (Laura Dern), who wants help bringing her corrupt employer, Abaddonn Industries, down. Mulroney joins previously announced "Enlightened" Season 2 guest star Molly Shannon.

In other casting news ...

J.J. Abrams and Mark Schwahn's CW pilot "Shelter" has found its two leads. "Make It or Break It" star Zachary Abel will play the former town baseball champ-turned-concierge at the historic Shelter Bay Inn, and "The Vampire Diaries" star Malese Jow will play the resort town's party girl. [Deadline]

Former "24" Vice President gets a promotion on "Nikita." Australian actor Cameron Daddo, who played the VP in Season 7 of "24" is headed to "Nikita" to play the President, who gets blackmailed by Division near the end of the season. [TVLine]

NBC's "Munsters" reboot has found its Marilyn. British actress Charity Wakefield, best known for her work in the BBC miniseries "Sense and Sensibility," will star opposite Eddie Izzard's Grandpa as the family's only "normal" cousin in Bryan Fuller's reboot "Mockingbird Lane." [Deadline]

"Banshee," the new Cinemax series from Alan Ball and Greg Yaitanes, casts two roles. Ryann Shane will play the rebellious teenage daughter of Carrie, the old flame of the show's thief-turned-sheriff Lucas (Antony Starr). Ben Cross wil play a Ukranian gangster named Mr. Rabbit who's been hunting Lucas and Carrie for over a decade. [TVLine]

Blake Shelton Opens Up About Life With Miranda

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For Blake Shelton, a typical date night involves the company of his wife, Miranda Lambert and just one other thing.

Can You Guess The Celebrity Kids With 'Normal' Names? (QUIZ)

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Blue Ivy, Pilot Inspektor, Apple ... stars love to get creative when it comes to baby-naming. One could argue that James Van Der Beek's recent choice for his son's name was a more shocking move than Alicia Silverstone posting a video of her pre-chewing baby Bear Blu's food. The man formerly known as Dawson named his little boy ... Joshua. (Unclear whether that's after former costar Joshua Jackson.)

Puzzling as it may be, Van Der Beek isn't the only celeb opting for a "normal" baby name. Just this week, singer Ne-Yo -- whose kids' names are Madilyn and Mason -- said he doesn't like "wacky names" because he wants his children to be respected. Even Snooki said her baby will have a normal (albeit Italian) moniker.

There may be an explanation for this odd behavior. Naming expert and co-founder of Nameberry.com, Linda Rosenkrantz says celebrities, like civilians, tend to be more conservative with boy names. "It can also be seen as something of a backlash against the bad rap that celebrities get as being wild, attention-craving baby namers," she says.

So while you may know know that "Blanket" belongs to Michael Jackson and "Moroccan" is one of Mariah Carey's twins, do you know which rock star named his daughter Emily? And who went with Andrew? Take the quiz below and put your celebrity baby name knowledge to the test.

Jennie Garth, Peter Facinelli Are 'Great Parents Together' Despite Divorce

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Even though they're in the middle of a divorce, Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli are on the same page when it comes to parenting their three daughters.


WWE Star John Cena Stands Up Against Bullying

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NEW YORK — Most people wouldn't dare call chiseled WWE superstar John Cena any names, let alone "a bowl of Fruity Pebbles."

But in the lead up to their WrestleMania 28 "Once in a Lifetime" match Sunday in Miami, that's exactly what The Rock told Cena he looked like.

Instead of getting upset, Cena said he turned the situation around by contacting the cereal maker, now he's on "three million boxes of the stuff."

While it was done in typical WWE trash-talk fashion, Cena says the pressure can get to you.

"I'm one of those guys that gets cheered, but also gets booed. Those who don't like me, severely don't like me," Cena told the Associated Press on Friday. "Usually your first instinct is to lash out at these people. ... but I believe you always need to turn a negative into a positive."

Heavily involved in the Be-A-Star anti-bullying campaign, Cena is not just a voice for the cause, he also says he was a victim.

According the former WWE Heavyweight champion, he was bullied as a kid because he loved rap and wore hip-hop clothing in a town where it wasn't popular. He started lifting weights to protect himself.

"By the time I was 15, I was a built kid, and the comments didn't come so often, and the people making fun of me sort of fell by the wayside," Cena said.

While most of it was talk, Cena doesn't see much of a difference when it comes to hurtful remarks.

"The introduction of social media pretty much gives everyone a voice, but unfortunately, people choose to use that voice in a negative way," Cena said.

Cena wants young people to know that not everyone is going to like you for who you are: "The best way to get back at them is to put a smile on your face and do whatever you can to succeed."

While he's in the business of physical confrontations and verbal assaults, he said insults still affect you. He also wants victims to know that, so Cena refuses to block anyone or edit his Twitter account.

"There's a lot of negative stuff on there and some of it is personal," he said. "When you're a kid that feels that everything is coming down on you, you can look and see that this truly does happen to everybody."

The former WWE heavyweight champion also addressed the role of judging people by the clothes they wear, namely the recent debate over hoodies.

Cena doesn't feel they make a negative statement, saying: "I've never seen clothing as a problem."

Trayvon Martin's death has sparked a debate about whether hooded sweatshirts present a negative image. While Cena didn't speak specifically about the case, he said that what people wear isn't the main concern: `It's the demeanor."

Seventeen-year-old Martin was shot and killed in Sanford, Fla., last month by a neighborhood watch volunteer who has claimed self-defense and has not yet been arrested.

The Be-A-Star foundation co-founded by the WWE and The Creative Coalition.

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Zac Efron: I Hate Being Known As A 'Heartthrob'

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He may have won over many young fans thanks to his "High School Musical" role, but these days Zac Efron doesn't love being known as a "heart throb." The actor, who stars in the upcoming film, "The Lucky One," talked to "CBS Sunday Morning" correspondent Tracy Smith about being in the spotlight.

"I can't explain to you what it's like to be a heartthrob. I don't think I am a heartthrob," he said in the interview.

When asked what he thinks of the term, Efron didn't hold back.

"I hate it," he said. "It follows you around, but you don't deserve it."

While Efron may not think he's deserving of the term, we have a feeling many people out there would disagree. In fact, he can't seem to escape dating rumors that constantly link him to Taylor Swift and "Mirror Mirror" star Lily Collins.

Maybe if he stops being so charming during promotional appearances and quits singing The Beach Boys songs with Conan O'Brien, he can start living down his "heart throb" label.

Efron's full interview with "CBS Sunday Morning" airs Sunday, April 1.

Check out some flashback photos of Efron below:

Richard Branson Wants To Go Where?

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Sir Richard Branson is at it again. The globetrotting billionaire has announced his latest exploration venture -- Virgin Volcanic, which plans to charter trips into active volcanoes, the first such travel of its kind.

On April 1, Virgin Volcanic will officially unveil VVS1, a state-of-the-art submersible that uses "carbon-carbon" materials originally developed for deep space travel, which will be capable of transporting three passengers into the molten lava core of active volcanos.

With his sights already set on space and underwater exploration, with Virgin Galactic and Virgin Oceanic, respectively, volcanic travel is a natural extension for the fiery Branson, who has dreamed of sub-mantle travel for years. “I have a long held fascination with volcanoes, having read Jules Verne’s 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' as a young boy," Branson told HuffPost Small Business via smoke signal. "I decided that one day I would go there too. Alongside our adventures with Virgin Galactic and Virgin Oceanic, volcanoes are the next great unexplored terrain. What can I say, I lava challenge!”

Branson will take part in the first Virgin Volcanic dive, set for 2015, along with Academy Award winner and "Joe Versus the Volcano" star Tom Hanks, Black Eyed Peas recording artist and science enthusiast will.i.am, actor/producer Seth Green and two-time Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple, who will produce a documentary about the mission using groundbreaking 3-D technology called VD. They represent the first group of so-called "Volcanauts," who have put down a $1 million deposit for the upcoming journey.

"A window seat for a journey to the liquid core of our home planet would be a bargain at twice the price," Hanks said.

Already, the company has ambitious plans to target the world's five most-active volcanoes within its first three years of operation, including:

  • Etna -- Sicily, Italy
  • Stromboli -- Aeolian Islands
  • Yasur -- Republic of Vanuatu
  • Ambrym -- Republic of Vanuatu
  • Tinakula -- Solomon Islands

Notably absent from the list is Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull, which erupted in 2010 and caused Europe's worst breakdown in civil aviation since World War II -- and which Branson, a member of the HuffPost Small Business Board of Directors, previously has called "kind of wimpy."

The Virgin Volcanic missions could produce unprecedented research findings for these still-misunderstood and occasionally temperamental ruptures in the Earth's crust, according to volcanologist Frederick Smith, based in the Republic of Vanuatu, who is currently conducting preliminary tests on the Yasur volcano. “The project will derive important scientific results to help control and monitor active volcanoes," Smith said. "It is believed a new level of the Volcanic Explosivity Index could be found above and beyond the current high of Level 8 -- Supervolcanic."

Beyond the science, however, Branson also sees commercial application for the technology, similar to his long-term plans with Virgin Galactic. The hope is to develop a clean, safe and fast alternative to transcontinental commercial aviation -- essentially, traveling through the Earth instead of around it, because as we all know, the shortest path between two points is a straight line. In one hypothetical scenario, according to experts, one may eventually be able to travel from Hawaii to Naples, Italy, in just two hours via molten lava flows, with passengers boarding and disembarking from a network of "Earthports" close to the world's volcanoes. All Virgin Volcanic passengers will receive a copy of Branson's latest book, "Screw Business As Usual" and an exclusive magma-proof carrying case.

A spokesman from the Intervolcanic Exploration Agency did not immediately return calls for comment, except to note that "Joe Versus the Volcano" remains his favorite movie of all time.

WATCH: Terrifying Lindsay Lohan Face Morph

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It's been a banner week for Lindsay Lohan. First, it was confirmed that she'll appear as a guest star on "Glee" this spring. Then came her final court hearing Thursday, where she was taken off formal probation.

With all of this good news, we wanted to celebrate the triumphant return of Lindsay Lohan by looking back at photos of her over the years, but when we stumbled across this face morph video of the actress, we were at a loss for words.

The video -- just like the one of Britney Spears that hit the web a few weeks ago -- shows photos of Lohan throughout her 25 years. Her baby photos are cute, followed by images from her "Parent Trap" years, and then things get scary.

Lohan is no stranger when it comes to being ridiculed about her appearance. Even Blondie singer Debbie Harry, 66, was mistaken for her in New York recently. But thanks to the video, you can actually see Lohan add decades to her appearance in just a few short seconds.

Check out the video below! The last few images of Lohan are pretty dramatic, so watch at your own risk.

WATCH:

WATCH: Justin Bieber Teases 'Boyfriend' Video

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Less than a week after releasing his new single, "Boyfriend," on iTunes, Justin Bieber is teasing his fans once more with a short clip from what is presumably the music video for the hit song.

Playing a snippet from the beginning of the track, the 20-second video shows Bieber standing in the shadows, performing one of the more memorable lines from the song -- "Chillin by the fire why we eatin’ fondue." Several hands then appear out of the darkness to caress 18-year-old's face and upper body.

Well, that's quite a tease for the 19 million ladies Bieber was "romancing" on Twitter this week. Check out the video below!

WATCH:

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