Jamie Denton
Manly and rugged, this small-screen hunk garnered raves for his Chicago stage work before trying his luck in Hollywood. He made an impression with a recurring part on The Pretender, but every time thi...
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BirthDate BirthPlace |
01/19/1963
Nashville, TN |
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2005 SAG Nominations Announced
January 21, 2005 8:55am ESTActors in Los Angeles may be used to getting up earlier than most mere mortals to make their set call times and hit the makeup chairs and wardrobe trailers. But Desperate Housewives star James Denton's wee-hours rise to announce this year's 11th Annual Screen Actors Guild Award nominations on Tuesday came with an extra special reward: not only did he get to reveal that his co-star Teri Hatcher was in the running in the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series category, Denton himself was a nominee as well, joining his cast mates in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. "It's a real honor to be nominated for best ensemble," the wide-awake Denton, who was called to West Hollywood's Pacific Design Center as a last minute fill-in for Dennis Franz (who was stuck up north in Montecito unable drive to waterlogged L.A. because the freeways were shut down), told Hollywood.com. "And I was REAL happy to get to call Teri's name." The actor, who plays the plumber-with-a-secret Mike Delfino on the hit show said it was definitely worth getting up on his day off. "I've got a baby, so I'm at this time of day anyway. Well, maybe I got up a little earlier than normal. But it was no problem at all. I was happy to jump in and fill in for Dennis." Denton was eager to share the news with his co-stars but planned on waiting until a more appropriate hour. "I'll probably call Teri and congratulate her--I'll give her a couple hours. We'll see each other later on today. It'll be really fun to talk about it. Everybody's so thrilled. We're really honored with the People's Choice Award, and the Golden Globes are next weekend and almost all the women are nominated, so we're just really happy that people found us." "I've been around long enough to know we're really fortunate, and take it sort of with a grain of salt in a way, because you don't want to feel like 'Oh, suddenly we've all arrived and we're gonna be rich and famous.'" said Denton of the Housewives" breakthrough season. "It's more a matter of people appreciating what you're doing. It's fun to go to work when you know people are going to see it. Believe me, I've gone to work on TV shows where you knew nobody was going to see it. It's really been a fun ride in that respect." Along with the ensemble nod, Hatcher was the only Housewife to snare a solo nomination, joining familiar SAG staples Patricia Heaton, Doris Roberts, Megan Mullally and Sarah Jessica Parker in the female comedy category. The ensemble will compete against the casts of Arrested Development, Everybody Loves Raymond, Sex and the City and Will & Grace. No Peer Pressure Denton teamed with Alexander actress Rosario Dawson to make the live announcements for nominations, which encompass actors in both film and television. The SAG Awards will be presented and televised live on TNT on Feb. 5 in what is traditionally a star-studded ceremony, as most actors enjoy receiving accolades from their fellow thespians. "As an actor if you're getting nominated you know it's coming from your peers as opposed to a critic," Dawson told Hollywood.com. "It's not just an awards show, or a popularity or critics' contest. "It's really about people who understand the work that goes into acting, who are inspired by it to the point of wanting to do it themselves, and just recognizing that an active actor," Dawson explained. "I'm really looking forward to the awards ceremony themselves. It's supposed to be just a love-fest: film and TV actors get together and just hang around and have a good time." Denton agreed that the SAG Awards have a particular resonance among performers. "The SAG Awards are cool because we know how it works. So many of the other voting boards are kind of nebulous, and you're not really sure who they are. But with the SAG Awards it's people you know and you've worked with. And you get your own ballot so you know exactly how the process works, so it feels a little more real. And it's always interesting to see what actors respond to, That's a lot of fun, because I think we, whether it's right or wrong, tend to respect each others opinions-maybe more so than other people because we have the same attitudes. So it's fun to see what they nominate and what they vote for." Actors' Actors There were some clear favorites among this year's acting nominees. Jamie Foxx led the pack, with nods in the film categories for male lead and the ensemble of Ray as well as supporting male in Collateral and as the male lead for the TV movie Redemption. Hilary Swank also fared well, collecting noms as the female lead and in the ensemble of the feature Million Dollar Baby along with a nod as the female lead in the HBO telepic Iron Jawed Angels. Members of the cast of Sideways were other clear actors' darlings, with film nominations for Paul Giamatti (male lead), Thomas Haden Church (supporting male), Virginia Madsen (supporting female) and the entire ensemble. Among series TV performers, familiar faces ruled: Allison Janney, Ray Romano, Jennifer Garner, Sean Hayes, Edie Falco, Tony Shalhoub, Christine Lahti, Kiefer Sutherland, James Gandolfini, Hank Azaria, Anthony Lapaglia, Heaton, Roberts, Mullally and Parker are among the perennials in various categories. Two and a Half Men's Charlie Sheen scored his first-even nomination as male lead in a comedy, while Drea de Matteo also got a solo nod-for The Sopranos not Joey-after several seasons of ensemble nominations. And nine-times-ensemble-nominated actor Jerry Orbach, the Law & Order veteran who died in December, received his first solo nomination as male actor in a drama series. In addition to sharing their respect for one another's talents, SAG president Melissa Gilbert also congratulated the prominent actors-such as Sandra Bullock, Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Famke Janssen and many others-who have stepped up and shown compassion and financial relief for the victims of the devastating tsunami in South Asia. "The acting community has a long and distinguished history of aiding people in need, particularly in times of crisis, and I'm proud of the many actors who stepped forward this past week to be part of the relief effort," said Gilbert. "Our hearts and a prayers continue to be with those who have been affected." In the tradition of giving and receiving, SAG has loaded up a celebrity gift basket jammed-packed with A-list goodies, many of which will be donated back for auction to benefit the SAG Foundation's community children's literacy and member assistance programs. To check out the SAG swag, visit www.sagawards.org/auction. Here is the complete list of nominees: Television Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for Television Teri Hatcher, Desperate Housewives Patricia Heaton, Everybody Loves Raymond Megan Mullaly, Will & Grace Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and the City Doris Roberts, Everybody Loves Raymond Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Made for Television Jason Bateman, Arrested Development Sean Hayes, Will & Grace Ray Romano, Everybody Loves Raymond Tony Shalhoub, Monk Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for Television Arrested Development Desperate Housewives Everyone Loves Raymond Sex and The City Will & Grace Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series for Television Hank Azaria, Huff James Gandolfini, The Sopranos Anthony LaPaglia, Without A Trace Jerry Orbach, Law & Order Kiefer Sutherland, 24 Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for Television Drea de Matteo, The Sopranos Edie Falco, The Sopranos Jennifer Garner, Alias Allison Janey, The West Wing Christine Lahti, Jack & Bobby Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Television 24 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Six Feet Under The Sopranos The West Wing Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries Glenn Close, Lion in Winter Patrica Heaton, The Goodbye Girl Keke Palmer, The Wool Cap Hilary Swank, Iron Jawed Angels Charlize Theron, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries Jamie Foxx, Redemption William H. Macy, The Wool Cap Barry Pepper, The Dale Earnhardt Story Geoffrey Rush, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Jon Voight, The Five People You Meet In Heaven Movies Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Annette Bening, Being Julia Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby Kate Winslet, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Leading Role Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator Jamie Foxx, Ray Paul Giamatti, Sideways Outstanding Performance for a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Cate Blanchett, The Aviator Cloris Leachman, Spanglish Laura Linney, Kinsey Virginia Madsen, Sideways Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Thomas Hayden Church, Sideways Jamie Foxx, Collateral Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby James Garner, The Notebook Freddie Highmore, Finding Neverland Outstanding Performance by a Cast of a Motion Picture The Aviator Finding Neverland Hotel Rwanda Million Dollar Baby Ray Sideways
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Gosford Park Review
December 26, 2001 5:46am ESTTold from the perspective of one innocent maid Mary Macearchran (Kelly MacDonald) the story starts as she arrives at the magnificent country estate of Gosford Park. On this particular weekend host Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and his wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas) have invited an eclectic group to the house for a shooting party. The guests include Sylvia's two sisters (Geraldine Somerville Natasha Wightman) their respective loser husbands (Charles Dance Tom Hollander) her cantankerous aunt Constance (Maggie Smith) for whom Mary works British matinee idol Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam) and his American friend Morris Weisman (Bob Balaban) a film producer who makes Charlie Chan movies. As the upper-crust guests bicker about money and power the ranks of house servants personal maids and valets below make sure their charges are well taken care of under the guidance of the head butler Jennings (Alan Bates) head housekeeper Mrs. Wilson (Helen Mirren) and head cook Mrs. Croft (Eileen Atkins). Through Mary's eyes we see that the glamour of the upstairs patrons and the seeming precision downstairs are not all they seem. The two worlds are destined to collide and when they do it leads to only one thing--murder. One of the joys of an Altman movie is his uncanny ability to take a huge ensemble cast of really good actors and carve out a film from their personal stories. This style can also work to the film's detriment however and in Gosford Park the mostly British cast melds together almost too well. Often you can't even tell who's who. Still with all the talent involved there are at least a few bright moments: Smith as the wisecracking Constance an old lady who's very used to being waited on hand and foot gets all the best lines and delivers them flawlessly and veteran actress Mirren is also brilliant as the staunch Mrs. Wilson. She turns in one of the film's only heartbreaking scenes as her character grieves for the son she gave away long ago in the name of servitude. Also good are MacDonald as the young Mary Clive Owen as the valet Robert Parks who carries more than just a chip on his shoulder and Emily Watson as the headstrong chief housemaid Elsie. Northam too shows off his musical abilities as the suave piano-playing singing Novello. The rest all blend together except unfortunately the two American actors--Balaban comes off as annoying and Ryan Phillippe playing an actor pretending to be Morris' valet is in way over his head. Interestingly the film is taken from a story idea dreamt up by Altman and Balaban. One wonders if perhaps the two were inspired to create Park after watching an episode of the classic '70s British television drama Upstairs Downstairs which was about a wealthy British household whose servant class had just as many dramas as the people they served (hmm sounds familiar). Sure it's conceivable that two Americans sitting around talking about making a distinctly British movie (and a period piece to boot) could pull it off and with a tremendous talent like Altman attached you'd think it would work. But Park misses the mark. The Altman-esque qualities are all there--the way he interweaves his characters' stories and shows real people with real emotions--but maybe just maybe Altman is simply out of his element. You enjoy the ride but it's not a ride through appealing territory and you're definitely watching from the window as the characters live a life you never really become a part of.
