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Ask AfterEllen.com (Feb. 24, 2009)

Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Send your entertainment-related questions to [email protected] – with your first name, city and country – and we’ll try to answer as many as we can.

Question: I heard that Jenny Shimizu is going to be one of the judges on Make Me A Supermodel. Are there going to be any lesbian or bisexual contestants on the show this season?

– Annie M., Seattle, WA

Answer: I just saw a screener for the first episode of Bravo’s modeling competition, and I’m happy to report that in addition to having the out lesbian model/actor as a host, they also have an openly bisexual contestant, CJ, on the show.

Here’s her bio from the show’s official website:

CJ is a driven and confident woman who likes to always be in control as she juggles her busy life. Currently an engineering student, she also works as a private investigator. CJ lives with her boyfriend in her hometown of San Ramona, Calif., and is a motorcycle stunt enthusiast. A huge fan of the outdoors, CJ loves shooting, rock climbing, and soccer, which she has played for ten years. She’s been modeling since she signed with Revolution management.

After reading the statement, I almost expected it to be accompanied by a list of her superpowers. But, alas, that is a different show altogether.

The good news about CJ is that within the first 10 minutes of the show, she comes out as bisexual. The bad news? That moment is the high point for her in the episode.

In one of the challenges, each contestant is paired with another and asked to create and model “an intimate moment” in a public setting. CJ is paired with another woman, Jordan, and you’d think her bisexuality would give her an advantage. But instead, CJ acts like she’s never been alone with a lingerie-clad woman in a glass box suspended over Manhattan! (Yes, that was the assignment, not some random image conjured from my own psyche.) Her modeling partner, Jordan, however does a great job.

The new season of Make Me a Supermodel premieres next Wednesday, March 4, at 10 pm (9 pm central) on Bravo. Look for mini-caps of the episodes by bad machine on the AfterEllen.com blog starting next Thursday.

Question: It seems like I’ve been waiting forever for the Amy Poehler/Rachel Dratch/a whole lot of interesting people in smaller roles movie Spring Breakdown to come out. Any chance of that happening some time soon?

– Leora, Jerusalem, Israel

Answer: Yes, though you won’t get to enjoy the excitement of seeing it on the big screen with overpriced, stale Jujubes in your hand. The film debuted at the most recent Sundance Film Festival and will have direct-to-video release by Warner Premiere on April 9.

NEXT PAGE: Piper Perabo, The Riches

Question:I’m a pretty huge fan of Piper Perabo and I absolutely loved her in Lost and Delirious and Imagine Me & You. I was just wondering what she’s been up to lately as I miss seeing her work!

– Emily, Melbourne, Australia.

Answer: In case you missed her most recent film, Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008), you can soon see more of Perabo onstage and on the big screen.

In 2008, Perabo starred in filmmaker Neil LaBute’s (Lakeview Terrace, Your Friends & Neighbors) play reasons to be pretty, and now we’ve learned that the play is headed for Broadway. Preview performances begin Friday, March 13, 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street) with an official opening night scheduled for Thursday, April 2, 2009.

Perabo also has two films slated for release in 2009, Ashes, about “story of a young Indo-American man who struggles in the inner city of New York to support himself and his mentally ill older brother” directed by Ajay Naidu (who you may remember as Samir in the film 1999 cult classic Office Space) and Sordid Things, directed by gay filmmaker Andrew Bloomenthal.

Since there’s not much information available about the film, I went to the source and asked Bloomenthal about Sordid Things and Perabo’s role in the film. He told me this about the modern film noir thriller:

It stars an ensemble cast of actors playing characters who delight in screwing each other over in every which way imaginable. The one exception: Piper Perabo’s Tabitha White – a noble, kindhearted young woman, who avails herself as a surrogate to a wealthy couple in desperate want of a child. But Tabitha may not fully grasp the nefarious situation she has signed on for, as the chaos around her spins out of control.

Getting Piper to play role of Tabitha was a true blessing for me. This role demanded an actress who could harness the ability to radiate warmth and humanity, and who could function as the moral epicenter of a universe where good intentions are few and far between. Piper is a remarkable actress, whose talent and dedication are simply unmatched.

Sordid Things is expected to hit theaters in late 2009.

Question: Will The Riches be returning for another season?

– Deborah, Carson City, NV

Answer: No. Eddie Izzard’s FX network comedy (starring himself and Minnie Driver), about a brood of scammers who assume the identity of a dead rich family was cancelled after its second season, but he recently told TVSquad.com that there are plans to bring the show to the big screen.

Izzard said, “We’re already working on the script for it. Because I met Samuel L. Jackson in a lift, or an elevator, as you say, in London. And he was going, ‘So what happens with your kids…they gonna be ok, you continuing, what’s going on?’ So I thought, well, if Samuel L. Jackson wants to know what’s going on, we have to do a film. So we’re going to pick up…the plan is to pick up exactly where we left off, and we think we’re going to make a film of the next bit.”

No word yet on when we might see the movie version of The Riches, but in the meantime, Minnie Driver fans can see her later this year in Betty Anne Waters, with Hillary Swank and Lucy Liu.

NEXT PAGE: Rose McGowan in Red Sonja, Nisha Ganatra on True Blood

Question: Chutney Popcorn is one of my favorite lesbian films. What else is director Nisha Ganatra working on right now?

– Carly, Chicago, IL

Answer: The director of the breakthrough lesbian film Chutney Popcorn (2000) has recently moved from New York to Los Angeles, and has several projects in the works.

One of them is a new feature, Raga Beats, a romance set in a world of Indian and Latino club DJs. She’s also working on Out of the Sky (Ganatra describes it as “a lesbian Thelma and Louise”) set in the 1960’s about two newly arrived Indian immigrants that set out on a cross-country adventure.

Ganatra is also participating in an HBO fellowship that has her working on the set of True Blood, where she gets to “hang out with hot vampires all day.” She told me, “The truth is that Alan Ball and everyone else on the set could not be any nicer. Ball is as incredibly talente as he is generous, and an amazing creative mentor.”

I also asked her what she thought about the success of Slumdog Millionaire, and she told me “I’m really proud of that movie receiving so much recognition. I hope it helps cross-cultural movies easier to get made. For so long, the film industry has been very hesitant to change. But the world is getting smaller and, hopefully, Hollywood will catch up.”

(Speaking of playing catch-up, you can watch Ganatra outrun me and everyone else each week in the new AfterEllen.com fitness show, Advanced P.E. with Briana Stockton.)

Question: Is the 2010 film Red Sonja starring Rose McGowan filming?

– Blake

Answer: Not yet. The film is still listed as being in pre-production, though they’ve already pulled together a captivating movie poster, haven’t they?

Over the summer, Red Sonja producer Robert Rodriguez (Planet Terror) and star Rose McGowan led a spirited discussion of the film (and a few other things) on a panel at Comic-Con, and here’s what I gleaned from the post about it on SpoutBlog.com.

1) The film will be styled after the comic book and not the campy 1985 film of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Brigitte Nielsen.

2) McGowan has been working out and taking sword training for the film and plans to do her own stunts. Unlike the character depicted in the comic, McGowan will not be sporting a mullet (though, judging from the transcription of their Comic-Con conversation, producer Rodriguez seems to think otherwise).

3) McGowan is “really interested in female vengeance,” inspired by La Femme Nikita, and predicts, “This movie is going to be hard, its gonna be cold, its gonna be dirty, bloody. But I’m up for it.”

Me too.

NEXT PAGE: Toshi Reagon, Capadocia

Question: Will there be a second season of the Spanish women in prison drama, Capadocia?

– Lauren, Minneapolis, MN

Answer: Yes! Late last year, HBO Latin America announced that they would begin filming a second season. No word yet on exactly when it will debut, or whether or not it will air in the U.S., but in the meantime, you can read our coverage of the first season of the series here. (Thanks to AE reader Daniela for the tip!)

Question: I’m a big fan of Toshi Reagon’s music. Can we expect to hear something new from her soon?

– Alicia, Denver, CO

Answer: The blues/folk singer with the great musical genes (her mom is Sweet Honey in the Rock co-founder Bernice Johnson Reagon) has released nine albums over the course of her career, most recently Until We’re Done (released in 2008 and available for purchase online at GoldenrodMusic.com).

She’s currently collaborating with with the Brooklyn-based performance troupe LAVA on the show We become. The show, described as “a poignant and virtuosic evening about community and the delicate balance of harmony and revolution, separatism and integration,” is running now through March 1 at the Brooklyn Lyceum and tickets are still available.

After We become closes, Reagon and her band BIGLovely will be on the road touring solo and with Ani DiFranco. Check out Reagon’s official website for tour information.

A new edition of Ask AfterEllen.com is published every Tuesday. Have a question for us? Email it to [email protected]. For more entertainment news, read previous editions of Ask AfterEllen.com, and check out AfterElton.com’s weekly entertainment Q&A column, Ask The Flying Monkey.

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