Latest News

Princess Leia, Is That You?!

2011-09-02T20:05:08Z

Carrie Fisher is not your typical weight loss spokesperson: she's unwilling, acerbic, self-deprecating. But her inclination toward sarcasm -- rather than spandex -- makes the new face of Jenny Craig something of a breath of fresh air.

While she was once the ingenue in a metal bikini, Fisher is now the gracelessly self-mocking lead in the HBO special, "Wishful Drinking," based on her successful memoir.

The show (which received two Emmy nods) chronicles her return from the brink of alcoholism and her campaign of blunt, yes-this-effing-hurts self-improvement.

While she defeated her addictions, Fisher realized that she had another problem: At 180 pounds, she was dangerously overweight.

"When I went to the doctor's office I would stand on [the scale] facing away and beg them not to tell me what it said, which turned out to be a really bad thing."

For awhile, Fisher said, she tried not to pay attention to her waistline, and ignored the false flattery of people she would meet.

"[People] would have to say things like, 'You look really healthy.' I would just waste half my life going, 'I do not look good; I'm fat as a house!'"

Then, in November 2010, she decided she needed to confront her weight. The actress joined the Jenny Craig program, for which she is a paid spokeswoman, and shed 50 pounds in nine months.

Almost waving off the first 30 pounds, which she dropped in just 18 weeks, Fisher said the remaining 20 were much more "daunting."

She credits her success to the program's portion control, having a dedicated consultant to "whine" to and being able to eat surprisingly rich foods like fettuccine and enchiladas.

"It was good that I had to be accountable because I'm a big, childish, 54-year-old cheat," Fisher said. "I mean, everything I seem to start I end up abusing and have to stop it. There's not much left, though."

This November, the actress is releasing her sixth book, "Shockaholic." The manuscript narrates her weight loss while attempting to preserve her memories of family and her Hollywood heyday as she undergoes memory-sapping electro-convulsive shock therapy for chronic depression.

Though, after her physical transformation, Fisher is back to fielding a familiar question "all the f-cking time!": When will she be slipping back into that gold-plated bikini?

"Actually from a certain angle, I could get back into the f-cking thing. It's funny, it's just got to be because otherwise you’re an asshole. If that's my biggest problem, f-ck, I am the luckiest person alive. So none of this stuff bothers me because that would be a ridiculous way to live my life."

PHOTOS:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Carrie Fisher, Jenny Craig Spokesperson who recently lost 50 pounds on the program.

Troy Garity's Star-Studded TV Debut

2011-08-22T16:03:28Z

Troy Garity's voice is dulled but authoritative; he takes long pauses and strings together fragmented thoughts and metaphors and ends up--somewhat miraculously--at something poignant.

In 2003, Garity starred in Showtime's controversial military drama, "Solider's Girl" which landed him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor but it's been "hard couple of years" lining up a new compelling character.

"But I feel really blessed right now," he says.

The screen actor has found himself with a budding television career and he couldn't be happier about it.

This fall, Garity will star alongside Kelsey Grammer in the political drama "Boss," which Garity describes as "basically a Shakespearean drama set in the world of modern Chicago politics."

From the visionary Gus Van Sant, the Starz series follows a power-hungry mayor (Grammer) as he plots for another term as Chicago's top dog.

When he read the script he was hooked. "I didn't care what my role was, I just really wanted to be a part of it."

Garity latched onto the role of Miller, a hungry journalist "of the Mike Royko ilk" who attempts to expose the mayor's true colors.
"And to my good fortune," he says, "the character's life really grows and unravels in a grand way over the course of the season."

While wrapping up the first season of "Boss," Garity was called in to audition for NBC's new eyebrow-raising show, "The Playboy Club." The heavily-stylized series imagines anew the famed 1960s Chicago nightclub and its bunny-tailed cocktail waitress.

Here the actor has traded in his notebook and pen for a cocktail and cuff links; Garity plays a slicked-back character who returns to town to capture his father's murderer.

"This is the first year I really pursued television and there were two pilots that really stood out to me and the fact that I was able to participate in both is just fantastic...it's a blessing."

Garity isn't the only person in his family who is getting recognition. His mother, Jane Fonda (who is still turning heads), has just released a new book on aging.

"She started tweeting and signed onto Facebook and started a blog at 71 [she's now 73] and, of course, I hadn't done any of that."

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Troy Garity is very active on twitter and facebook.]

WATCH:

What Made Anne Sob On A Plane?

2011-08-12T20:54:53Z

The Huffington Post sat down with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in advance of their big movie opening August 19.

Based on the 2009 David Nicholl's bestseller, "One Day" teases out the love affair of two university students throughout a 20-year friendship.

Hathaway, who by now has sort of mastered the awkward-despite-being-obviously-beautiful role, plays an English rose with a pithy brand of insecurity.

Having two decades to explore a relationship was the selling point for her. “It [is] a story about two best friends and what happens when you meet the right person at the wrong time.”

WATCH: