Off The Leash

RJ Mitte provides a unique authenticity to the disabled character he plays on AMC's edgy new series Breaking Bad.

Breaking Bad's 15-year-old star RJ Mitte, who plays Walter White’s son, Walt. Jr., is having a blast in his first major role, even though he had to learn a few new things to play it. “I never used crutches before in my life, so I had to learn how to use crutches.

Writer/producer/director Peter Jackson’s bringing the bestseller The Lovely Bones to the big screen with Saoirse Ronan in the lead role of Susie Salmon. Ronan’s breakthrough role came in the critically acclaimed dramatic period piece Atonement. Saoirse, an Irish actress earned a Golden Globe nomination for her supporting role in Atonement, and has also completed the film, City of Ember.

Nikki SooHoo leaves for New Zealand this week to begin the filming of her character, Holly. Nikki will shoot most of her scenes with Saoirse who is currently in Auckland. When Nikki returns she will give her first exclusive to WEM.

Sierra McCormick, 10 year old actress and "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" series regular will return to The Ellen Show on Thursday, February 7th. Pictured here is a group photo with Olivia, Nathan, Cody, McKenzie, Jeff Foxworthy, and famed talk show hosts, Regis Philbin.

Following last summer's ambitious, Golden Globes-winning drama "MadMen," AMC has further upped the ante with its second dramatic series, taking even more chances. "Breaking Bad" dares to be bleak, heartbreaking, shocking and bitterly funny, hurtling its milquetoast hero into situations he couldn't have imagined.

This series wouldn't be quite as interesting, however, without RJ Mitte as Walter White, Jr, the special needs teenager. Mitte was born with cerebral palsy and this young actor is handsome and vivid. Walter Jr. is a smart kid, with a snarky sense of humor, and you know from the first moment why Walter Sr. is driven to protect and provide, even at great cost.

It's a long way from Lafayette to Los Angeles, but RJ Mitte is staying in close touch with his former home.
RJ recently moved to Los Angeles after landing a principal role in Breaking Bad, a new series from Sony Pictures that will make its debut on AMC in early 2008. But, he still works closely with his former Acadiana Christian Academy teacher, Youngsville resident Tina Northway.

Northway operates The Anchor, a school whose only students are her own three children and RJ, whom she tutors by phone and e-mail.

"When he's in town, he tells me whatever he's having trouble with and we go over it," Northway said.

How did you get into acting?
Well I started with a company called Slate Entertainment and then I met my manager Addison Witt and he helped me get my agent. From there I started booking jobs and it kept going.

Where you always interested in theatre?
Actually I didn’t start off as an actress, but I started as a dancer. I’ve been dancing since I was 2 so I still dance right now. I’m a dancer/actress. Right down I attend UCLA and I take classes like West African Dancing and yoga, tae chi. But I was brought up doing hip hop, jazz, ballet, modern, tap, lyrical, generally commercial dance.

How did you start you acting career?
When I was 2 years old I did dance class and I loved the stage, which made me become an actor with theatre at the age between 6-8. From there I was introduced to Hollywood and I loved it! I loved the people, I loved the craft, and I loved everything! That’s how I stuck with it!

Once you've sold a company for $2.6 billion, life on the beach can be tempting, particularly if you're Scandinavian. But for dotcom veterans Janus Friis, 30, and Niklas Zennstrom, 40, whose sale of Skype to eBay rocketed them toward Gatesian wealth, the lure of a Great Leap Backward has proved stronger than sun and sand. Having launched Kazaa, one of the first music-file-sharing networks, in 2001 and Skype, the first big Internet-powered phone service, in 2003, the duo began work a year ago on a secret venture dubbed the Venice Project, whose goal was to bring yet another disruptive technology to your computer. "We took a 'lean-back' approach," says ceo Fredrik de Wahl. "On the Web today, you have to know what you're looking for, lean forward and click. But we wanted people to be able to just lean back and watch."

Ian Phillips played the company's prop boy that wants to act, and later becomes Tiny Tim. Good old double casting.

Phillips is from the Orange County High School of the Arts, and though he will hate having it said, he has the perfect amount of cuteness for the role, with long expressive brown hair and plenty of energetic enthusiasm.

Until a few months ago, RJ Mitte was a typical Lafayette teen. The 14-year-old Acadiana Christian student had a lot of interests, including riding bikes and playing paintball - but acting was not one of them.

2006 Oscar Nominee! An Asian girl forced into sex slavery dreams of a better life.

"So who's this?" emcee Addison Witt shouts out. "This is Star," I respond, laughing to myself. Unlike the real stars this late June evening, my Star, an 18-month-old Heinz 57 rescue, was so named because of her role in a veterinary endoscopy video.

Tonight's soiree is showcasing the "Dream Team," seven four-legged clients of LePaws, the first talent agency for pets that's open to the public.

Baby Sister's in His Heart -- and Music

He started playing the piano at 3, not being groomed as a Mozart in short pants, but merely as a child of Tom and Sheryl Lazare who would appreciate the fine arts. And he became one. He became one of those children for whom music was not a discipline, but a voice that spoke to him and to which he could speak back