When we’re not tracking celebrities, we’re probably losing sleep thinking about them–or at least watching them on the boob tube into the wee hours of the night when we should be sleeping.
Fortunately, we’re not alone.
Hollywood has made dozens of movies about sleepless nights–including this week’s Insomnia, starring Al Pacino, Hilary Swank and Robin Williams–and celebrities themselves suffer from sleep depravation on occasion. We’ve chronicled a handful of famous tossers and turners who’ve mentioned, at one time or another, they’ve counted their share of sheep.
Insomniac: Julia Roberts
Why She Can’t Sleep: Julia might be what we call the “conditional insomniac.” After the pretty woman took on the pretty plump role in America’s Sweethearts she talked about sleeplessness to Oprah Winfrey on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Quote: ”If I go to sleep and wake up 60 pounds heavier, I may never sleep again.”
Insomniac: Mariah Carey
Why She Can’t Sleep: There’s probably an entire list of reasons why Mariah can’t sleep–Glitter was a flop and there was much negative press when she was dropped from EMI. She’s suffered a bout with depression and her latest film, Wise Girls, is probably going straight to video. As Mariah told the UK’s Sun:
Quote: “I stay up thinking about all the loose ends. When I get these flashes of nerves, I’ll call a friend or type on my pager or watch a movie or write lyrics or sit in the kitchen with my dog and cat. If I’m feeling comfortable I could sleep for 10 or 12 hours, but generally I get about three.”
Insomniac: Russell Crowe
Why He Couldn’t Sleep: When he was filming A Beautiful Mind, Russell was driving himself mad trying to become one with his character, schizophrenic mathematician John Nash, he complained of sleeplessness to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. Looking back, it must have been worth it. Crowe won umpteen awards for that role, including the Golden Globe for best actor.
Quote: “This role gave me nightmares literally. Every Sunday before coming to the shoot I wouldn’t sleep. It was ridiculous. I’d start the week having had about 45 minutes sleep the night before. I was delving into this stuff about how I’d feel if I was in Nash’s situation and how my mind might react.”
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Insomniac: Gwyneth Paltrow
Why She Can’t Sleep: Apparently Gwyneth is also “conditional insomniac.” She sure looks like she gets enough beauty z’s, but without her “pre-sleep meditation,” as she told Entertainment Tonight, she might not be as perky as we think she is naturally.
Quote: “My last call of the day is my pre-sleep meditation time. If you have to look for comfort in another person, that’s the wrong track. You’ve got to get your comfort, your sense of safety from yourself or from God.”
Insomniac: Jennifer Lopez
Why She Can’t Sleep: Her new movie Enough–about spousal abuse and a stalker husband–aside, Jennifer is just a multi-talented go-getter who seems to have too much on her plate. Why waste it sleeping, apparently, as she tells Premiere magazine.
Quote: “It is the result of working hard and wanting something so badly. I don’t take anything for granted; I don’t sleep, and I always take on more.”
Insomniac: Denzel Washington
Why He Can’t Sleep: Granted, he was nervous the night before winning the 2002 Academy Award for Best Actor, but it’s not acting as much as directing that makes Denzel wide-eyed, according to the crankycritic.com. Watch for Denzel‘s directing debut in December’s The Antwone Fisher Story.
Quote: “[Acting] wasn’t fresh and was getting stale for me, while with directing, I’m alive again, and I didn’t sleep for two months.”
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Insomniac: Ethan Hawke
Why He Can’t Sleep: Daddy to two–including a newborn–Ethan‘s lack of shut-eye comes from piercing screams in the middle of the night. At least he has a partner, though. Wife Uma Thurman has gotta be losing a few winks of her own. Referring to fatherhood, Ethan had the following to say to the Toronto Sun.
Quote:“People used to tell me about the sleep thing, and I’d say, ‘I’ve been staying up till 4 a.m. my whole life!’ Nobody told me I wouldn’t be able to sleep in.”
Insomniac: Winona Ryder
Why She Can’t Sleep: Shoplifting, perhaps? No, really, the actress who plays the loveable Mary Dawson in this summer’s Adam Sandler comedy, Mr. Deeds, told W magazine she has an Insomnia co-star she confides in.
Quote:“I got a call from Al [Pacino]. He’s an insomniac. We talk in the middle of the night. I don’t sleep; he doesn’t sleep. So it is very normal that we call each other at two in the morning. I just love him so much.”
Insomniac: Carmen Electra
Why She Can’t Sleep: What the little girl version of Carmen was doing watching scary movies, we’ll never know, but she confesses to Entertainment Tonight it was no slumber party in her room after she was terrified by horror films.
Quote: “I’ve seen all of the teen horror movies, but I think that I’m more a fan of those ’70s horror films, like The Exorcist and The Omen. Those are the movies that really scared me as a little girl. After watching those movies I couldn’t even sleep in my bed, I had to go sleep in my mom’s bed!”
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Insomniac: John Travolta
Why He Can’t Sleep: It’s no news that John is a faithful follower of the Scientology religion, but the actor who plays a tough guy in movies like Swordfish and Pulp Fiction told the BBC he loses sleep when he doesn’t implement “it”–Scientology–into his and others’ lives.
Quote: “When I know something will help someone then I have to use it; I can’t sleep if I don’t use it.”
Insomniac: Dave Attell
Why He Can’t Sleep: Isn’t it obvious? This stand-up comedian hosts his own show on Comedy Central called Insomniacs where he cruises big-city streets in the middle of the night searching for fellow non-sleepers. Attell told The Canadian Press he’s been sleepless since he was a kid.
Quote:“I can never really sleep at night. There is a cool thing about being the only [person] up in a strange town, and how pretty the towns look. Like Montreal’s a beautiful town in the day, but at night it’s just amazing seeing the buildings all lit up. I find that kinda cool.”
Insomniac: Marc Anthony
Why He Can’t Sleep: He’s a Latin lover on the run. Or not. Marc just has a lot on his mind, apparently. He says it simply to In Style magazine.
Quote: “Sleep is just not a part of my life.”
