With a self-assurance and practiced poise that’s poetically performed, you would never guess that the spirited 39-year-old considers herself an introvert. “I need time alone. I’m quite shy at my core and at my being and I don’t really invite attention,” says Ray. That’s not the case, however, when the red light is flashing. “I enjoy being in front of the camera, and in a weird way that’s a way of deflecting attention. It doesn’t sound like it obviously would be, but it is, because you’re actually just interacting with the camera,” she adds. A resident of Toronto’s Beaches, her mellow vibe and sunny disposition are radiant.

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An admirer of iconic Italian movie stars Claudia Cardinale and Sophia Loren, Ray bears a surreal resemblance to the latter Old Hollywood heroine. Aside from both being lauded for their natural beauty, the ‘two women’ actually have a lot in common. In many ways, Ray’s life is evidence that there are lessons to be learned everywhere, reflecting a similar sentiment to a famous Loren quote: “It’s a mistake to think that once you’re done with school you need never learn anything new.”

Referring to herself as an “accidental actress,” Ray was discovered by a fashion magazine at 16 while vacationing in India with her Bengali father and Polish mother. Practically overnight, she torpedoed into a successful career as a model, with her face strewn across magazine covers and her name inscribed in several publications, including a Times of India poll, which named her the ninth most beautiful woman of the millennium. “Through a combination of circumstances and twists and turns, I thought I’d maybe model for about six months in India, and that turned into a decade,” says Ray, who had aspirations of becoming a journalist at the time. Having shot to superstardom in India, Ray eventually made the next natural career move and starred in the film Kasoor in 2000, followed by Bollywood/Hollywood. “In a weird way, acting and the profession I’m in is almost out of default … I mean, I love acting, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not as terrified of failing at it as I would be at writing,” she says.

After getting her feet wet, Ray stepped onto a global platform, starring in Deepa Mehta’s Oscar-nominated film Water in 2005. Despite receiving critical acclaim for her social-politically driven portrayal of an oppressed widow in 1930s India, she believes her best role was actually in a South African movie called The World Unseen, in which she plays a married mother who falls in love with a woman at the onset of apartheid. “I was just so much more in control of my craft by then and you can just feel the difference as an actor. I kind of know how it was flowing and how authentic it was for me,” she says.

As genuine as her performance might have been, some would say that Ray’s most significant role is actually her most recent one, as a real-life “cancer graduate.” Her life took a turn from actress to activist shortly after she was told in 2009 that she had multiple myeloma, a rare form of blood cancer. Horrifying words for anyone to absorb, but in another series of twists and turns, Ray had a chance dress rehearsal prior to her doctor’s daunting diagnosis.

While taking her dad up to India’s mountains for a 10-day meditation retreat to heal after the death of her mother, she spontaneously decided to enroll in whatever course was concurrently running. The enlightening topic turned out to be death and dying. “It was fascinating … We actually did a visualization where we’d talk through the scenario where you enter the doctor’s office, you sit down and the doctor says, ‘Listen, bad news, you have six months,’ and then you try to figure out what you’re going to do with those six months,” says Ray, still surprised by the serendipitous circumstance.

Instead of dwelling over her subsequent diagnosis, Ray began a witty, cerebral blog called The Yellow Diaries, where she discussed her near-daily experiences with multiple myeloma and the chemotherapy, steroids and stem cell transplant that coincided. In an excerpt called “Mane Tamer” from an entry dated Nov. 23, 2009, she writes about her liberating decision to shave her head before side effects shackled her freedom of choice: ‘My stem cell procedure begins on Monday. Tomorrow. So I donned a disciple’s robe and surrendered my hair … I can transcend now. A reinvention. A purification. And a transformation. From the inside out.’

Her site attracted attention from all corners of the globe, with a comment board that howled heartfelt support of all forms, from poems to video montages. Her blog became something much more than a personal outlet of expression. “It was a big breakthrough for me because a lot of my life has been spent on the road and it’s been a very solitary life and now at this phase of my life I’m understanding the power of community and support and reaching out,” she says.

Now cancer-free, Ray credits her stem cell transplant as a saviour and has become a major advocate and philanthropic force for what she believes is, “going to be the next big leap or big wave.” A globetrotter for awareness, she’s not only a face but a voice for stem cell technology in India and Canada, and recently completed the national Make Myeloma Matter media tour.

In addition to her charitable endeavours, Ray is currently in the process of penning her first book, and she’ll be stepping onto the stage again in June with Luminato’s Taj, around the same time Toronto plays host to the International Indian Film Academy conference. She’s also transformed her passion for yoga, which she tributes as a fundamental part of her healing process, into a business by partnering up to launch Moksha Yoga Brampton. “This gives me the opportunity to share and give back something that I feel strongly about,” she says.

Back at the photo shoot, you would never guess that Ray is someone who recently had a life-threatening illness That is, you would never guess, unless you knew – in which case, you’d understand – that the 5-foot-4 firecracker, perched in a warrior yoga pose, is exactly who she is today because of her experience with cancer. “It is very powerful because it changes you on every level … It’s
just sort of a renewed engagement with life now.”

Like words written with sparklers in the air, lyrics to another Arcade Fire song leave a lasting impression: “My mind is open wide, and now I’m ready to start.”

www.lisaraniray.com

Ankle-deep in conversation, it becomes refreshingly apparent that one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People hasn’t let sold-out stadiums and Hollywood movie roles alongside Kevin Costner, Kate Hudson and Steve Carell sellout his convictions. Cook still has vivid recollections of what it was like to be a ’90s comedy novice performing skits on Boston stages to pocket-sized crowds. He conjures up the feeling he had during his first Just for Laugh’s appearance in Montreal. “I remember I was a new face and there was that moment where you’re like, ‘People are going to discover me and how exciting is that? People who don’t know me are going to see me here for the first time and have an opinion about me and hopefully jump onboard and become fans,’ and I loved working towards that moment.” He expresses the anecdote with a bold, magnetic edge – much like his comedic voice.

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Offering a sophisticated outlook on his career path, Cook reveals that his listening skills play a critical role in his celebrity and overall business culture. “You have to have your finger on the pulse and put ego aside and realize it’s not always about what you’re doing and how you deliver, but how people want to receive you as well.” So far, Cook’s craft has been very well-received. His album, tour, TV and movie sales have made him one of the wealthiest stand-up stars. Forbes magazine even pegged him as a top-earning comic, pulling in an estimated $21 million in a recent 12-month period. “It really gets me excited everyday to get up and go to set or go to my office and figure out, ‘OK, what is something I can do to challenge myself today that is an offering to my fans?’” says Cook, 38, a back-on-the-market bachelor living in Los Angeles.

Though Cook spent most of his early years divulging his familial, sexual and childhood experiences in a face-to-face format, it was his commanding online presence that actually catapulted him to becoming the industry’s most popular and savviest of funny men. A trailblazer in the Internet movement, the comedian is a prime example of stardom by virtue of social media. Connecting to his audience through means that were somewhat disregarded in their infantile stages, Cook eagerly tackled MySpace and Twitter to glass-case his comedy to the masses. “I really think that there was a simpatico with the way we were all starting to change the way we receive our entertainment and our education, so I was locked into that from pretty early on because I’m a geek and I love computers,” says Cook, who has almost five million followers on Facebook and Twitter, and more than 2.5 million friends on MySpace.

In the future, Cook would like to see technology transform the world in more profound ways. He brings up the avant-garde concept of building digital walls in places like Haiti, Israel and New York City, so strangers can communicate virtually like they do on Skype. “When we see suffering and when we see somebody who needs help, we want to help them. When we can’t see and we can’t hear somebody’s cries or somebody’s pleas or somebody’s idea, it goes nowhere, it doesn’t travel very far,” he says.

As the topic takes a turn from virtual reality to his own realities, Cook reveals yet another layer – one most people see only a snippet of onstage. His willingness to candidly open up about the recent deaths of his parents marks a tender trait. “I know that I feel the energy of my mom and dad around me all the time. I do believe that there’s more after this test: what that is we will have to wait and see.” It was Cook’s mother that fuelled his artistic expression and encouraged him to chase his wildest dreams, placing a particular emphasis on the nature of all things wild. She was never embarrassed or ashamed of the fact that her son lived in his imagination he says. “My mother was an empowered woman and she was a dreamer, and that’s the one thing that she always instilled in me, which was ‘Don’t be afraid to stay in that
dream-like state.’” Cook regularly brings his parents back to life comedically in his cross-country stand-up routines. His relaxed, autobiographical style was received with roaring laughter in October when his tour touched down in Toronto.

While expressive and conversational language is a major facet of Cook’s onstage persona, he struggles to find a phrase that fits the sensation he gets from making people laugh. “It’s unlike anything that I’ve felt before … it’s that feeling of just you and nature,” he says. After a journey of self-reflection, it’s evident that nothing keeps Cook on his proverbial toes quite like the capacious world of comedy. “Lately I’m finding myself in that same place, of being that young kid, standing in Montreal saying, ‘OK, I’ve got my wits about me and I’m healthy and I’ve got a few ideas, but what’s next?’ He’s now decided the name of his Greatest Hits album: I Did My Best. www.danecook.com

As Douglas courageously climbed the ladder of success in Hollywood, every so often he might have looked over his shoulder to see that underneath him were people – family members, perhaps – who looked up at him with their hands outstretched, needing him in their lives. Unfortunately for them, ambition has no peripheral vision. As his career soared, his personal life has suffered.

This past month, Douglas’s first-born son Cameron, a 31-year-old DJ and aspiring actor, was sentenced to serve five years of a possible 10-year prison sentence for conspiring to sell crystal methamphetamines and cocaine and for possession of heroin. Prior to the verdict, Douglas sent a five-page handwritten letter to the presiding judge in the case, in which he wrote: ‘He’s sober! … I get to witness the wonderful young man he can be; he maintains his spirit, and blames no one but himself.’ He included that his absence as a father and his failed marriage to ex-wife Diandra Luker may have affected Cameron’s upbringing. His son’s prison term, the release of his film and his first week of radiation treatment, along with the loving relationship he shares with his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and their children Dylan, 10, and Carys, 7, were all in the balance when he appeared on The Late Show, sitting next to his long-time pal David Letterman. Douglas’s positive attitude impressed the often-unenthused Letterman to say, “You’re taking it head-on, for God’s sakes!” Douglas confidently replied, “You have to … I’m doing everything I can.”

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According to Douglas, his doctors believe he has an 80 per cent or better chance of survival. “I’m going to beat this” has become his working mantra. If Douglas’s past life is an indicator of the current and future adversity he faces, good will come.

The truth is, cancer can deteriorate, diminish and end human life. It frightens even the toughest individuals. The heavy-jawed, eagle-eyed actor has displayed courage when answering questions about his disease. Over the course of his life, he has put himself in difficult situations and come out a winner. He has the strength to be brave in the face of the scariest unknown outcome in his life. The world wishes him well.

Interview By Amanda Sweeney
Q: At this point in your career, how important is it to find different kinds of characters to play?
A: Actually, it’s crucial. It’s the only reason to get out of the house, quite honestly – unless you find something that is exciting and motivating. I’m in a great place in my life personally right now in terms of Catherine [Zeta-Jones] and our two little, young children that we really enjoy. So I don’t get out that often to go do stuff. You have to trust your instincts and I like flying without a net. I enjoy that risk-taking aspect. It’s exciting for me.

Q: There are very rare relationships between actors like the one you’ve had with Danny Devito. Tell me about this lifelong friendship. You guys have worked together often. Is your friendship and professional relationship hard to balance?
A: It’s seamless. It’s the beauty about working with friends. I mean, I know now why people like to work together. It’s because you don’t have to go through that formality, that dance of introductions, the this-and-that. There’s a familiarity. We’re old buddies and so in the limited time that we have together; there’s a comfort factor. Plus, he’s funny. He’s funny off the set or on the set. He can’t help himself. So I completely understand why people like to work with the same actors and/or the same directors again and again, especially as the schedules and the budgets get shorter and tighter every year. You don’t have a lot of time to get to know each other.

Q: You’re very good at playing the powerful man who’s taking a fall, as you did in Falling Down and other films, and once again in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Is it nice to come back to this kind of material?
A: I mean rascals are always fun to play; people who are not worrying about ethics. It’s an instinctive and inherent quality and it’s just delicious. It’s like a good meal and you like provoking people. I like the danger of trying to win over an audience. Some people earlier mentioned Fatal Attraction, in a different way, but to play a character that is not particularly nice and then to try to win an audience’s grace is something that I enjoy.

Q: How do you balance life with Catherine and two young kids with being a movie star of your calibre? Do they understand that you’re as famous as you are?
A: I don’t think that you balance. I think for a long time in my life, you lead with your career. Making movies is a full- time [job]. If you make it your occupation and you choose to go away from your home, you have to make choices – my balance has completely changed since I’ve gotten married and am now raising a family. I would say my family is first; issues that I’m involved with like the United Nations, Messenger Peace, disarmament issues are second; and then you’re lucky to find a good film to do, which then motivates you to go off to work. I’m not that motivated nor do I see that many good projects that I want to take me away from my family.

Q: Do your children understand what you do?
A: Well, they’re starting to now that they’re getting older, but for years – it’s true and it’s a cliché, but Catherine and Chicago and all of that – all they knew was that daddy made pancakes because I didn’t have any movies I could show them. Then finally there was an old Disney picture, I remember, Napoleon and Samantha. and then they’ve seen Romancing the Stone. So, now they know what I do.

Q: As an icon of American cinema, what’s your impression of Canadian films?
A: I’m going to tell you a big secret: I don’t see a lot of movies, be that Canadian or American. I love the process. I love making movies. I love working on them. I see the ones that I do, but I’m a sports junkie and a news junkie, in large part because I don’t know how they’re going to end. Unfortunately, I kind of guess the ending halfway through so many movies. So, be it Canadian or any of the other movies at [Toronto International Film Festival] this year, I’m not aware of, having just arrived yesterday. Having said that, talking about the festival in general, I mean it’s spectacular. It’s so wonderful to see what’s happening, what’s going on with Canada in general this year. Canada has sort of gotten by the economic woes that have gone on in the States. The banks have conducted themselves in a mature fashion. The banks didn’t become like hedge funds, which happened in the States. The generation of talent is extraordinary for a country with a population the size of California.

Interview By Robert Hayes
Q: Michael, your situation of late has taken precedence over everything. What’s been your reaction since going public with this? Do you look at this as the fight of your life?
A: Well, it didn’t cost Fox a lot of money. There’s not a lot of marketing dollars involved here. An unfortunate timing situation – never a great timing situation. I’m doing fine. I’m very proud of the picture. My doctors are optimistic. I’m optimistic, and obviously a combination of radiation every day and chemo limits a full day but everybody did a fantastic job and life goes on. So, no, this is just another chapter. I’ve had a pretty good run of it and this was a pretty bad year. It’s going to be topped off with a really good movie.

Q: What do you think this movie means for New York?
A: I thought that New York looked beautiful and after just looking at it and acknowledging Rodrigo Prieto, who was Oliver [Stone]’s call, I think the thing when I saw the picture for the first time was, like, ‘Wow. This is sexy. This is a beautiful, beautiful, seductive, gorgeous, gorgeous-looking city.’ So if you’re going to put this witch’s brew in, then this is an awfully nice cauldron to have it in.

Q: What are some of the fun and guilty pleasures that are helping you get through this tough time?
A: Guilty pleasures? I guess one of the guilty pleasures is that I didn’t have to do the junket today. I’m very grateful to Josh [Brolin] and Susan [Sarandon] and Oliver [Stone] because it’s hard work. I’m just taking it a day at a time – trying to do my homework and keep up with the program. I don’t have anything to do, thank goodness. You couldn’t pick a better time. Tennis has never been better. College football just started. I’ve got a Monday night game coming up with the Jets. Sports looks really good and to top it off, we’ve got a picture that’s rocking. What’s not to like?

Q: Can you talk about the feedback from people who have seen this and how much weight did you give your roles, from talking to people who actually do this for a living like Michael Millken?
A: I met Michael Millken for the first time with Oliver Stone at the Drexel Burnham offices in Los Angeles. We were doing homework. They were giving us a tour and Michael was a little nervous and then Oliver said, ‘Can you show me the shredding machines?’ Michael Milken excused himself. He said, ‘Excuse me.’

Q: How much weight do you put on people who have really lived this when it comes to your research and portrayal?
A: Everybody’s always an expert if you’re doing a picture in his/her area. I think that’s the one area that in terms of the verisimilitude, particularly on Money Never Sleeps, Oliver was making us all crazy as we began shooting in terms of getting into the detail and everything else. I think he gets a particular enjoyment out of satisfying that 70 people who possibly understand the entire script and all of that. So that’s all accurate. But it is a phenomenon. [For] this picture, the first one did well, but the kind of life that this has taken on is kind of a unique phenomenon between the movie and the world and where it’s at today.

Q: Gordon Gekko was motivated by money in the first movie. In this film we think that at least until the third act. What motivates you now [in life]?
A: A good part, a good movie. Just quality wherever you can find it and a little financial security is good.

The team at Entourage has chosen not to shy away from the proverbial fast lane and the toxic consequences that their actors never take seriously. Also interesting is the real-world application of flirtation with this “road of spoils” or “fast-lane” lifestyle. This often tempts its patrons with an exciting taste for the senses that leads to a desire to continually live life in a way that ignores the inner conscience and its innate evolutionary response to avoid dangerous situations. One more note, most of the millions of viewers that tune in every week are not celebrities. Therefore, showcasing celebrities with golden parachutes is irresponsible when we consider the type of perverse behavior that this program glamorizes without repercussions.

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Being bad is fun but eventually every undeserved high will let you down. The problem with Entourage is no one ever learns from any of their indiscretions. Invincibility is a façade that should not be glamorized in this impressionable and morally deficient society. Like the delusional Scarface philosophy suggests, “First you get the money, then you get the power, then you get women.” This is wrong on so many levels. Greed leads to megalomania, which leads to treating women like objects.

Females are constantly degraded on shows like Entourage. Some scenes are filled with female models acting as friends or acquaintances of the “fortunate foursome.” From movies and shows, to billboard fronts and magazine covers, Entourage continues to chip away at the female insecurity of the body by emphasizing the importance of looks and who and what they could get you. This, of course, results in our current unhealthy and vain society, which is driven by esthetically pleasing features. Vanity poisons the soul and recent technology allows it to actually put small doses of poison in the body to fight gravity. With children dying all over the world, here in Western society, gravity prevention gets more money thrown at it than any honest attempts to prevent hunger. Guilt has pushed women into undergoing breast augmentations and much more invasive surgeries, along with the rise of eating disorders. Their behaviour is motivated by the delusion that constantly reminds them that if they look better they’ll feel better, and the reminders of this are all around them. As any real man will tell you (assuming that some still do exist), the sexiest part of a woman’s body will always be her brain.

Whether you’re a good or bad guy, Entourage works so well because it entices men’s carnal desires with a pinch of morality in a way that lures a very large number of men and women. The show is a powerful message that is capable of much more than 30 innocent minutes of leisure time. The major negative impact on socialization that Entourage contributes to is an unnoticed immoral message of cool by way of sex, drugs, and greed. Yes, the Entourage boys might be bad-asses but does that make them good people?
Good people are becoming a rarity – greed is sucking the soul out of the planet and all its products, including us.

Jeremy Piven’s depiction of a talent agency tycoon personifies greed. Various groups have decorated him with awards for his portrayal of Ari Gold on Entourage. His character is guided by Sun Tzu’s philosophies in the book Art of War. He is the status-driven, empathy-lacking, mega-agent to the stars. He offends and offers a window into the world of a man who is in total control. By total control we mean totally controlled by greed, which has resulted in a dysfunctional marriage, an unhappy wife, one who uses Band-Aid psychology of a monetary fabric, in that his money pays for their lack of love and the evaporating time they spend together while he’s busy “mounting” the corporate ladder in Hollywood and abroad. Ari Gold is repugnance at its best.

The lead fantasy figure of the show is Vincent Chase (played by Adrian Grenier), a young desirable actor who possesses an effortless ability to stay cool in any situation. Then again, its probably more difficult to be un-cool when you’re driving a $300,000 car one minute and making out with two supermodels the next than it is to be cool. All this takes place while his three talentless lackeys try to avoid carpet burn as they ride his famous coattails into whatever “sticky” situation he gets himself into, hence the name Entourage.

There’s Drama, Vince’s older brother, a struggling actor whose hairline is receding just like the spotlight under which he used to thrive in Hollywood. Turtle is a chubby “neighborhood-guy” with charm and a serious pot addiction and “E” or Eric, is the only wholesome character in the program; then again, as the old saying goes, “Sleep with dogs, wake up with flees.”

These five characters add to the imbalance of morally sound programming versus everything else in contemporary North American media. The problem continues, the over-stimulation of entertainment has caused our sense receptors to yearn for more in order to get our fix, more sex, more vanity and more excitement. A good soul will have difficulty experiencing true freedom in a society that lacks a strong moral base, with all the social pressure to be bad, being good is becoming ever more arduous.  Are there ever any tender moments in this program, in society? Yes, every so often they’ll embed a touch of love, camaraderie, honesty or humility, but not too much! Because those things don’t sell as a whole, although they do help gather a larger sample of viewers. Before these images can seep into our subconscience, the camera “smash-cuts” to a scene of drugs, sex, greed or glamour. Whenever the audience gets a drop of honesty or humility, it is quickly whisked away because the message that it must sell in order to stay at the forefront of the television industry runs contrary to altruistic and empathetic motives. This show is a reflection of our society in that the little good that’s left keeps on disappearing and is too soon forgotten.

Television picks up the tab that North American parents can no longer afford to pay. Less time at home leaves for less parenting, leaves for less guidance. Entourage can be overwhelmingly impressionable by triggering negative behaviour in its viewers. Technology is an advancement our generation can be proud of but it has its repercussions. As the Dalai Lama said, “With the ever-growing impact of science on our lives, religion and spirituality have a greater role to play in reminding us of our humanity.” The spouts of religion and spirituality have run dry; where are the sources coming from for this generation and future generations to taste, let alone rejoice in?

Since the 1960s, film and television have been and continue to be the most popular and influential forms of media culture in North America. Since then, advertisers have crafted more persuasive pitches, we’ve watched television glamorize sex, greed, vanity and violence on a whole new level. Films do everything television does, only on a larger scale. This just goes to show that creating popular media messages is very hard sell in our contemporary society. Shows like Entourage are part of a media tidal wave that is impossible for our minds to resist. It influences our attitudes, our behaviour and the ever-changing and often deceitful interpretation of what it means to be cool.

The colours in the 1980s photos that capture RDJ and Rourke living in the penthouse of Hollywood’s power hierarchy have faded. The ’80s have long gone and the ’90s and the ’00s provided these two talented and tortured souls with multiple rock-bottom realizations. Their toxic escape from drugs and alcohol had them both running further and further away from the truth of their talent. From the edge of mortality to the insurmountable road that they needed to embark on in order to make all their recent successes  occur, RDJ and Rourke have stared into the eyes of the devil and lived to tell the story.

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All the recent success leading up to their mega hit, Iron Man 2 (in which they share the screen) came after burning nearly every bridge connected to Hollywood. At one stage in each actor’s career they washed-up onto their own version of an island of isolation and the bridges that led to walk-on roles in Hollywood movies were no longer available. After years of learning lessons and the acknowledgment of more lessons to come, both eventually set sail for the shores of California for one more glorious day in the sun. They proved this with Iron Man 2, which smashed the domestic box office with a whopping $133 million in sales during its opening weekend.

In the past, their bad-boy attitude was impossible for the law to ignore. The justice system wasn’t wooed by their everlasting flow of charisma. Prison bars pulled the plug on their cyclonic tabloid sagas but not even three years of jail combined was enough to get them to stop using drugs.

Two of Hollywood’s brightest stars and biggest talents smiled their charming smiles all the way to the bottom. Tabloid revenues soared when these two destructive forces embarked on their journey to hell, and that was just one of the outside forces that contributed to their suffering – the real pain was happening within their souls. Like the mythical Phoenix, they rose from the ashes of pain to the precipice of life and death many times. Eventually they amassed the courage to choose life, a healthy choice with many responsibilities.

For RDJ, the dire optimism that makes him so bizarrely charming is a double-edged sword that also helped masquerade three decades of drug abuse.

Just like the AC/DC track from the Iron Man 2 soundtrack suggests, RDJ was on a “Highway to Hell.” Thankfully his director and now wife, whom he met in 2003 on the set of Gothika was the exit off that highway that would nourish him with love and shelter him from his addiction. She was the vision that drove him to make the decision to put out the fire of temptation that singed his soul and nearly burned his career to bits.

“The best thing I can do, and I think that this is the thing that has been my saving grace, is that I consider myself a worker amongst workers. When I deviate from that, things don’t turn out so sweet for me.” – Robert Downey Jr.

Since then he has embarked on a drug-free journey that has given him his greatest box-office success, with smash hits like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Soloist and, especially, the globally successful Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man and Iron Man 2.

Rourke’s story is far less innocent. He is the type of man who carries an inner-demon that bares a “born to lose” tattoo on its bicep. In a 2009 pre-Oscar interview with Barbara Walters, he explained flirting with suicide on multiple occasions, saying “Christian guilt is what kept me from killing myself.”

Assumingly, as high the mountain of success that he has climbed, as beautiful as the view is from its peak, he is always only one step away from losing it all. One step backwards and he falls of the cliff that he built and into the depths of the hell only he truly knows.

In the early days Rourke trained alongside Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel. He was celebrated in the late ’80s and early ’90s with hits like Body Heat, Rumble Fish, Diner, 9½ Weeks and The Pope of Greenwich Village. He lost it all, only to grab it again like never before.

Rourke spiralled down the porcelain walls of Hollywood’s black-listed actors and from the sewage system under L.A. streets he has risen to redeem himself. The burden of talent to turmoil that broke his spirit makes his return to the limelight just that much more impressive. Just over five years ago, eTalk Canada’s Tanya Kim referred to him as “Hollywood’s perennial loser.” Around that same time, Rourke was slowly gaining speed with small and interesting roles in films like Sin City and Domino. When the opportunity came up to be the lead actor in the The Wrestler, adversity came knocking at his door.

It took courage to play the role, filled with themes of redemption that mirrored his life. Not only did he accept but in doing so he catapulted his career back to the top alongside Hollywood’s A-listers. He further explains it in an Oscar roundtable discussion with Newsweek Magazine.

“If you take a movie to pay your bills then you’re doing something that you really don’t want to be in.” — Mickey Rourke

“[At first] I didn’t want to play the piece because it was so close to me. It was about a guy whose time had come and gone, who didn’t want to put out the pasture. His wife had left, he was living in a hobble, there was just too many similarities … Just his issues of age and abandonment, living in shame and denial … this is a town based on envy, if you were once somebody then you’re nobody … I can’t wait to do this shit.” And do it he did. In doing so he was awarded the Golden Globe for best actor and nominated by the Academy – the same Academy that brushes shoulders with those who told him he would never be a star again. Rourke achieved what everyone (including himself at times) thought to be impossible. For each day that they stay clean and work at their trade, they prove to the world and most importantly to themselves that anything is possible.

Each actor might have started at opposite ends but they have both come full circle. Destiny has brought them together on the big screen and audiences are happy to have these soldiers of life back. Their defects and their comeback story make each of them a Hollywood story of their own. Hopefully one day they will release bare-bones biographies that will include all their wild stories and the beauty and pain of self-discovery. For now, fans can catch them blowing themselves up and flying through the air in the blockbuster hit Iron Man 2.

Q & A with Robert Downey Jr. Exclusive for Iron Man 2 (by Robert Hayes)

Q: Do you love working the crowd like that? I mean, all those people for Iron Man 2, it’s great right?
Downey: Let me tell you, yesterday I became a little dizzy and I thought I might lose my footing. I was transported by it. Today I had my legs under me a little better, Jon and I worked out a bit, which to me is a huge, huge deal. Usually, Jon likes to point ‘You say something funny, and then I’ll come back, and then let’s go!’ and he pulls me out on stage. To me it’s a little anxiety provoking. Today we actually worked out a bit so that was nice.

Q: This movie looks like it is so much fun. How much more fun did you have on this movie over the first one? Does it come with a maybe a greater degree of confidence that you have in playing this character?
Downey: Confidence was higher, fun was not necessarily the word I would use to describe it because we felt more responsible to spend more time. We had broadened our cast and our horizons.  The story is actually significantly more complex and subtle, while still you can follow it, and it beats out. No, I don’t want to say that it was just fun.  It flew by, which was also odd. We felt every punch, every moment, every laugh, and everything the last time. This really seemed to be a really, really, really trying process to get this done to the best of our ability.

Q: How surprised are you that Iron Man has changed people’s perceptions of you as an actor? You’re in a different place now than you were say three years ago.
Downey: Yeah. It’s pretty miraculous, but in a realm of miracles I think it’s probably a two or three I guess. It’s a movie industry thing. Nonetheless its mind-blowing to me. I had always felt like I wanted and could do something like this.

Q: You had such a great year. Are you feeling it? Is the Robert Downey Jr. renaissance in full swing? Is that what you are living right now?
Downey: The best thing I can do, and I think that this is the thing that has been my saving grace, is that I consider myself a worker amongst workers. When I deviate from that, things don’t turn out so sweet for me.

Q & A with Mickey Rourke. Exclusive for Iron Man 2 (by Dimitry Plasse)

Q: How many offers did you get after the Oscars?
ROURKE: There were a lot more. The thing is trying to pick material not just for the sake of work. The mistake I made before is I would wait so long to find a movie that I was excited about and then I would get broke and have to take a movie to pay my bills. And if you take a movie to pay your bills then you’re doing something that you really don’t want to be in.

Q: Robert alluded to how he kind of courted you for a period of weeks or months for [Iron Man 2]. What ultimately swayed you to do it?
ROURKE: It might have been due to the fact, to be honest with you, that the first one was so successful. And that Robert, that Downey, was in it. I think it was really a smart move for whoever was pulling for Robert to be in it because usually they would have gone for a role like his with a younger kind of ‘cleaner image’ kind of guy. And it would have been a totally less hip kind of movie. People get Robert. He brought something to it and it transcended and elevated the material, I think.

Q: As a veteran of the industry, do you think you were better prepared for the hype that surrounded your comeback with The Wrestler?
ROURKE: Well, when you sit around and wait for the phone to ring for 10 years and it doesn’t ring, when it rings you go, ‘F*$k, man, wow.’ Because you’re very lucky when the opportunity comes by again. Because it doesn’t really for a lot of people. But it did for me.

Q: Robert Downey Jr. has also had some mistakes in his past and Iron Man has been a bit of a come back for him. Did you relate to that?
ROURKE: Yeah, I knew Robert a little bit back in the day. Robert, he really is a changed man.

Q: In what way?
ROURKE: I think in every way. In the choices that he makes about what to put in his body.

Q: Can you say the same thing about yourself?
ROURKE: Not really. No. I just think – well, only with the fact that I never thought about the consequences before. About what will happen. Because I didn’t care about the consequences. Now, I think, ‘If I do this, then this is going to happen.’ So, where I didn’t do that before, now I do that.

Travolta met Preston when he was a Hollywood star on his way down and she was a young actress on the way up. Both were in relationships when they met and worked together for the first time on a film called The Experts in 1987. They had a lot in common – they were both Scientologists – but Preston was married to actor Kevin Gage at the time. After divorcing Gage in 1987, Preston began a relationship with actor Charlie Sheen. Sheen proposed to Preston in 1989 but a year later Preston ended the relationship after Sheen accidentally shot her in the arm after an argument. It was then that Travolta and Preston began seeing each other and just over a year later, on Sept. 5, 1991, they were married in Paris (although they would need to be married a second time a week later in Florida because the original marriage was a Scientology ceremony, which is not recognized as legal in the United States).

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The couple’s first child, Jett, was born a year later; their daughter, Ella Bleu, was born in 2000. While Travolta and Preston continued to work, Preston chose to scale back the volume of her acting roles so she could be a full-time mother to Jett and Ella Bleu. “Even during those early years of our marriage and family life, when my career was supposedly at a standstill, I was still working all the time; the movies I was making then just weren’t as high profile as the ones I was making 10 years earlier,” she said. But things would shortly take a huge leap forward for Travolta when he took the role of Vincent Vega in the movie that became a cultural phenomenon – Pulp Fiction. This was followed by Get Shorty and the Golden Globe win, and then an unabated series of starring roles in high-profile films that earned Travolta enormous wealth, which allowed him and his family to have homes in Florida, Los Angeles and an estate in the Bahamas. It also allowed him to fly the airplanes that this aviation nut (and commercially licensed pilot who has actually flown jets for Qantas) loves.

“The secret to a good and successful marriage is to not look for secret formulas” — John Travolta

The freedom that success brought them made Preston think of getting back to work but only in a way that would not affect her family life. “When I decided to get back into acting I was trying to get back in as ‘Mrs. John Travolta,’ which meant I had to start proving myself all over again,” she said. “One of the most wonderful things about Kelly is her commitment to being a mother. Even when she went back to work, she would work only when I was not doing a film – she didn’t want both of us working at the same time,” said Travolta.

On Jan. 2, 2009, a tragedy of unspeakable depth struck Travolta and Preston when their son, Jett, died while the family was on vacation at their estate in the Bahamas. Jett had a seizure (he suffered from Kawasaki disease and was afflicted by autism) and hit his head on the bathtub. Any parent will tell you that losing a child is an unthinkable horror. Because of the family’s celebrity, the public nature of their pain just added to the weight of it. Their sorrow was intensified tenfold when Travolta and Preston were the victims of an extortion plot involving three Bahamians (including a member of the Bahamian parliament, an emergency medical technician, and a former senator). These people tried to extort millions from Travolta in exchange for documents they claimed they had regarding Jett’s death that they would make public if they were not paid. All three were arrested and charged with abetment and conspiracy to extort. Even though Travolta was still deep in mourning, he testified at the trial.

In the year since, both Travolta and Preston have returned to work, as a kind of therapeutic way of trying to slowly reckon with the loss of their son. Preston has made films starring Kevin Spacey (Casino Jack) and with Miley Cyrus (The Last Song). Travolta has been less active professionally, having appeared only in From Paris With Love (in which Preston also appeared). He was in the news during the Haitian earthquake tragedy when he volunteered his own Boeing 707 jet to be used to fly supplies and personnel in and out of the disaster zone.

The 20-year marriage of  Travolta and Preston has been successful for another reason as well: marriage counselling. The couple have made a habit of seeing a marriage counsellor as a regular part of their lives, not just during a crisis or tension but as a way of continuing to focus on what is important in their marriage.

For Travolta and Preston, the last few years have been, to quote Charles Dickens, the best of times and the worst of times. But now, with the news that Travolta, 56, and Preston, 47, are getting ready to welcome the newest addition to their family, is definitely a positive indication that they are back to better times.

1. Get Him to the Greek | June 4th, 2010, Director: Nicholas Stoller

2. Shrek Forever After | May 21st, 2010, Director: Mike Mitchell
Faithful followers of the gregarious green ogre might be sad to learn that Shrek Forever After is the final installment of the famous series, but perhaps happy to hear that it is shot in 3-D. Megan Fox joins celebrity voices Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas and Jane Lynch in this epic concluding chapter. When the persuasive Rumpelstiltskin sways Shrek to sign a misleading contract, he enters a nightmarish world where Rumpelstiltskin is king and everyone he knows and loves sees him as a stranger. Will Shrek be able to unravel the tight knot he’s tied and win back his friends and Princess Fiona? www.shrekforeverafter.com

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3. Sex and the City 2 | May 28th 2010, Director: Michael Patrick King
Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda strut back to the big screen in high heels for this keenly anticipated sequel. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis are taking viewers to the streets of New York City and beyond for an entertaining adventure. There will be just as much fashion and frenzy as the first film – and yes, Mr. Big (Chris Noth) will also be making it onto the big screen. Directed once again with an original screenplay by Michael Patrick King, Sex and the City fans should head out early to get seats at the debut. www.sexandthecitymovie.com

4. Jonah Hex | June 18th 2010, Director: Jimmy Hayward
Hollywood is giving birth to its second bounty hunter this spring and this one has a little more edge than Gerard Butler. Based on the DC comic series, Jonah Hex, played by Josh Brolin, is a ruthless Wild West bounty hunter capable of capturing just about anyone he comes across. The story is set in the late 1800s, with Hex, who is balancing the divide of the real and unnatural world, asked to hunt down terrorist Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich) in exchange for his own emancipation. The twist? Turnbull is Hex’s oldest nemesis and isn’t giving up without a fight. The West becomes a little wilder when Hex’s love interest Leila (Megan Fox) walks in. Hex’s bond with the brothel worker is the closest human link he has. http://jonah-hex.warnerbros.com

5. Robin Hood | May 14, 2010, Director: Ridley Scott
Academy Award winners Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett unveil the untold sides of the iconic story Robin Hood. This movie takes you back in time to 13th century England where Robin is an archer poised to rescue the disadvantaged town of Nottingham and bring forth justice. In the meantime, he finds his heart beating for a local widow, played by Blanchett. This is Crowe and director Ridley Scott’s fifth film together; they have collaborated previously on Gladiator, A Good Year, American Gangster and Body of Lies. Combine an esteemed leading cast with a legend that’s never been laid to rest, and it looks like Robin Hood could mark another good year for Crowe and Scott. www.robinhoodthemovie.com

6. The A-Team | June 11, 2010, Director: Joe Carnahan
A-listers Bradley Cooper and Liam Neeson put a modern spin on the popular tongue-in-cheek ’80s action adventure series The A-Team. Framed for a crime they didn’t commit, a group of four former war veterans aim to clear their names. After managing to escape from a high-security prison, The A-Team embark on an adventurous journey and work as soldiers for hire while trying to avoid the wrath of Capt. Charisa Sosa (Jessica Biel.) Filmed on Canadian soil in Vancouver, this adaptation of the iconic American television series is one of this season’s most-awaited thrillers. www.ateam-movie.com

7. Letters to Juliet | May 14, 2010, Director: Gary Winick
There really isn’t a more romantic movie setting than the city in which Romeo met his beloved. Letters to Juliet is the story of a young woman (Amanada Seyfried), who travels to Verona, Italy, where the broken-hearted leave notes at an historic brick wall asking Juliet for advice. When she finds an intriguing letter from a lady that dates back to the 1950s, she feels the need to intervene. Her do-good mission sparks a climactic domino effect that sweeps both women off their feet. The director of 13 Going on 30 continues to test the limits of our imagination, causing us to reconsider life’s coincidences. http://letterstojuliet-movie.com

8. Knight and Day | June 25, 2010, Director: James Mangold
Vanilla Sky duo Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz have reunited for what will likely be the action-comedy blockbuster of the summer. Though the plot of Knight and Day is a little less perplexing than the 2001 Cameron Crowe mystery, it certainly still has its twists and turns. Two fugitives (Diaz and Cruise) embark on a life threatening action filled adventure. Not knowing what to believe, who to trust and balancing coalitions with deceit are just a few of the major themes in this turbulent crusade. www.knightanddaymovie.com

LEFT TO RIGHT: Guests Bhiravi Ravichandran and Hanna Stecewicz pose for the camera as they exude the glamour and luxury.

When it comes to Hollywood celebrities, it seems that each of them has a cause that they have lent their names to, but some may wonder if they have done so for nothing more than career advancement. But when it comes to eco living and going green, there are a crop of celebrities out there that are seriously committed to it and are putting their money, their faces, and their reputations where their mouths are.

The most passionate, eco-friendly celebrity out there has got to be Leonardo DiCaprio. When I sat down to interview him in Maui, he wasn’t so much interested in talking about the plot of his latest movie, but instead on how he made every effort to protect the natural environment of the locations where the movie was shot. He wanted to talk about his concerns about global warming and how if everyone decided to leave the car at home and walk or bike, just one or two days per week, it would have an enormous, almost immediate impact on the amount of pollution in our atmosphere. And DiCaprio is actually allowing his actions to speak as loud as his words. He drives a hybrid vehicle and prefers to ride a mountain bike or walk whenever possible. He also lives in what is called a Smart Home – a new trend in eco-friendly houses that was designed as a concept by a California company called Hybrid Technologies, but the homes are built by a Calgary based company called Enviro Custom Homes Inc. These high-tech Smart Homes are around 6,000 square feet, and come with a $2 million price tag (Cameron Diaz is also a customer).

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And speaking of eco-friendly homes, Brad Pitt not only lives in one, but is also a major force behind a project that is building them for the hurricane ravaged city of New Orleans. Pitt has always had a keen interest in and talent for building and architecture (He once told me that if he were ever granted an internship with a giant in the architectural field like Frank Gehry, he would drop his acting career in a second to pursue it), and together with an organization called Global Green USA, he has not only donated millions of his own money, but has helped design and build the homes and apartment complexes for families that lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina.

Many celebrities have switched their luxury cars in for the more energy efficient and eco-friendly hybrid cars such as the Prius. George Clooney took a step further by being the first person to accept delivery of the experimental all-electric vehicle the Tango T600. The Tango T600 is not cheap – over $85,000 – but it is fully electric with rechargeable motors, making it the most energy efficient vehicle on the road.

Houses and cars are one thing, but there are celebrities out there that are setting an example by doing the little things that if done collectively, would have a great impact on the world. Some celebrity moms are committed to starting their children off with green living from birth. Julia Roberts spoke out on her use of a brand of diapers for her children called Seventh Generation Diapers, which are chlorine-free, free of plastics, inks and dyes, and are flushable and biodegradable. Halle Berry and her partner, Montreal-born Calvin Klein model Gabriel Aubry, have designed a 100 per cent organic and eco friendly nursery for their baby.

Uma Thurman, Heidi Klum, and Gwyneth Paltrow have all said that they have switched to inexpensive eco friendly makeup. Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen has designed and marketed her own brand of eco-friendly sandals called Ipanema Sandals, with a portion of the sales going towards a cause that helps preserve the waters and foliage in the Amazon basin.

And let’s not forget one of the pioneers of eco-friendly living in Hollywood Woody Harrelson. Harrelson has been championing everything from solar power to products made from hemp, and hybrid vehicles long before it became the cause célèbre. When I last had the opportunity to speak to Harrelson in Toronto, he said, “We are at a critical juncture now I think, now living an environmentally attuned life is not just good, it is a responsibility we all have. And it is not so hard or bad, once you start doing it –  you get used to it, and then you find that you really enjoy the benefits of living healthy.”

And while some celebrities like Tom Cruise and John Travolta are criticized for the anti-environmental lifestyles (both own a fleet of private jets), they lead, others such as DiCaprio, Pitt, Diaz and Clooney are leading by example. The list of celebrities that can be found zipping around L.A. in hybrid cars is growing by the week: Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, Reese Witherspoon, Alicia Silverstone, Tobey McGuire. Depp and Nicolas Cage both own small islands in the Bahamas that feature completely green housing.

For once, it seems that Hollywood has become a trend-setter in a way that is completely positive and beneficial to the planet – let’s just hope this is a trend that becomes a permanent way of living our daily lives.