Hollywood PrivacyWatch: Francis Ford Coppola Celebrates Take Your Daughter To Coachella Day
Hollywood PrivacyWatch celebrity sightings are submitted by our readers. Send yours to tips[AT]defamer.com (please put "sighting" or "PrivacyWatch" in the subject line) and let everyone know about the time you saw a prison-hardened Michelle Rodriguez begin her reassimilation into society by inadvertently mooning LAX.
In this week's desert polo field-centric episode: Sofia Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola and Kiefer Sutherland; Michelle Rodriguez; Jake Gyllenhaal; Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Joshua Radin and Katherine Heigl; Nicole Ritchie and Trent Reznor; Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale; Janet Jackson, Jermaine Dupree, Quincy Jones, Peggy Lipton, Al Pacino, Estelle Parsons and Miss Jay; Jani Lane, Vincent Gallo, Zooey Deschanel and Danny Masterson; Randy Jackson; Cuba Gooding, Jr.; Famke Jannsen; Sandra Oh; Alia Shawkat; John Lithgow; Marlee Matlin; Chester Bennington; Peter Bogdonavich; Drew Carey; Nicholas Brendan; Patrick Duffy; Rodey Peete, Marcellas Reynolds and Mindy Cohn.
· Between bouts of fainting and catching the bands, I did get a few celeb spottings at Coachella. Sunday, coming out of the Gobi tent, the impossibly small and normal looking Sofia Coppola. The kicker? Trailing but a few steps behind her was Daddy, Francis Ford Coppola. Pops was decked out in pink shirt, shorts, sun hat, and mismatched (on purpose methinks) red and pink dress socks. She dropped back to check on him and he put his arm around her and then he told her not to make him go back to Mojave tent because the first three rows took him back to his Heart of Darkness days. Also on Sunday, caught the excellent Bloc Party perf and just off to my right on the elevated platform was Kiefer Sutherland rocking away to Kele and co and showing no ill effects of the poorly received The Sentinel. You could spot that dude's oddly shaped head from the mainstage probably.
· Sorry this is a bit late: at 5:30am today saw Michelle Rodriguez at United baggage claim at LAX - fresh off her jail time from a Honolulu flight. She looked a bit haggard, but don't we all, coming off red eyes at the ass crack of dawn? No prison tattoo's/visible beat down scars in sight. Also, girlfriend needs to get a belt, as she basically mooned the entire baggage claim area when she bent down to get her bags.
· Just spotted Jake Gyllenhaal at The Black Rider at the Ahmanson. (It's an avant garde Robert Wilson / Tom Waits show.) He was wearing that cream colored zip up thing that he's been sporting a lot recently, and had a gaggle of pretty boys around them. He drove off in a Gray Mercedes with license plate number ********? He's just as adorable in person, and looks exactly like his photos.
· Last night (5/2) at the Hotel Café was a virtual bouillabaisse of "actors who play medical residents on tv whilst heartfelt indie folk-rock tinkles in the background." First up, a Moore-less (un-Moored?) Zach Braff, accompanied by his joined-at-the-hip BFF Donald Faison (do those two go anywhere without each other? — although, to be fair, Faison brought his very pretty wife along as the obligatory third wheel), enjoying the heartfelt indie folk-rock of Joshua Radin, who seemed to be enjoying them right back (there was a whole lot of uncomfortable man-crushing and movie-plugging going on). Also at their table was their medical-drama counterpart Katherine Heigl and her boyfriend (that guy who sings that one song?), who seemed very much in love and very much without stylists. They looked like 1984 threw up on them (her: pink members-only jacket, ruffly shirt, headband, white pumps; him: camo tee, DOG TAGS, scarf — yes, scarf) . We all secretly wished the Go-Fug-Yourself girls were in attendance and armed with their cameras and trademark wit.
· Coachella: Saw stick figure Nicole Ritchie. Oh, and here's another good one for The Def:
Pre-Madonna show, total chaos behind the Sahara tent - cops, police SUV's, stinky waste management trucks, VIP's and production golf carts in one tangled morass waiting for Her Royal Madgeness to take the stage - and who queues up for the show, looking all sulky and Marine-like and buff, but Trent Reznor, Prince of Darkness. Homie is not exactly tall, and tho he's looking like Henry Rollins more and more every day, he is undeniably hot. His girlfriend is a tall drink of water as well.
· At Figaro in Los Feliz tonight, a very Lynchian-looking David Lynch (erect hair, starchy white shirt, black jacket) sat attentively as an extremely weird-looking young Goth girl acted something out for him at their outdoor table...it seemed to be a kind of waist-up interpretive dance of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider Crawled Up the Water Spout." Lynch never once betrayed the desire to burst out into guffaws.
· At Sunday's Farmer's Market in Hollywood, I spotted the coolest alliterated couple of rock - Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. Gwen was about 25 months pregnant in that floral muu muu she's been wearing everywhere. Gavin was incognito in sunglasses and pulled-back hair, but it was all about Gwen. She was not even trying to go unnoticed, with her bright platinum big hair, huge sunglasses, flaming red lipstick and an inch-thick of foundation/powder. She didn't look like she felt great, but it was a hot day. I passed them later asking questions about Bonzai trees. Too bad she wasn't buying bananas.
· Spotted Gwen & Gavin at the prohibitively hip furniture place next to Cobras and Matadors on Beverly yesterday. They arrived in a Land Rover that seemed to have been carved from a single block of precious volcanic obsidian, while Gwen's hair looked to be spun of the finest gold in the land. Truly the most dashing human twosome I've ever seen.
· On Sunday, April 30, my sisters and I attended the production of "Salome" at the Wadsworth Theater in Brentwood.
Arriving just before the lights dimmed was a small contingency of people that included Janet Jackson and her diminuitive boyfriend Jermaine Dupree — along with songmeister Quincy Jones and one of his daughters and by actress Peggy Lipton.
The play itself, which of course starred Al Pacino, was bizarre, to say the least. People kept laughing at parts that I doubt Oscar Wilde intended to be funny. The director, Estelle Parsons, was walking around among the audience and could not have been happy with the lukewarm applause at the end of the play.
But we were very excited to see the Jackson-Jones group. Janet looked extremely serious, kept her head toward the ground. Was wearing a pair camouflage pants and a blue-jean jacket. Jermaine had to make a pitstop at the men's room before leaving the theater and Janet faithfully waited by the door for him to come out.
Oh yes, just before we got to the Wadsworth, caught a glimpse of Miss Jay (from "America's Next Top Model") walking into Saks Fifth Avenue on Wilshire.
· Sightings- a special Coachella edition
1. While trapped in traffic Friday afternoon, spotted Jani Lane in a dirty Audi. Looks like Celebrity Fit Club worked- no double chin.
2. Vincent Gallo in a lavender button-up shirt and too-tight khackis entering the vip section with Sean Lennon. Both are shorter than expected.
3. Zooey Deschanel looking very Wonder Woman-like in short-shorts and boots.
4. Danny Masterson in the backstage area-looking very normal for a Scientologist.
· 4/27 I don't know if this really counts as a "sighting", but it was too sweet not to mention. Thursday was "bring your kid to work day" over at the FOX lot. A bunch of tweens were gathered in the studio store when they spotted RANDY JACKSON through the glass doors having lunch in the commissary. As their noses were pressed up against the glass, it was impossible for him not to notice, and when he did he was gracious enough to leave his lunch guests, come into the store and chat with the kids. He was friendly and jovial asking a few who they thought would be the next AMERICAN IDOL. After a few minutes he rejoined his guests. What a friendly, gracious, class act! Way to go DAWG!
· 4/27/06 - Saw Cuba Gooding Jr. , at the LA Foodshow in Manhattan Beach eating lunch with two bloated, reptilian minions. There were scripts on the table, but I couldn't see if any were for "Boat Trip II: The Quickening." Cuba got up and swished by our booth just as we were getting ready to leave. He's in great shape and has nice teeth, but his skin has the leathery texture of cured iguana hide. I wanted to call out "Show me the money!" not to mock him, but to remind him for one precious moment of the Cuba Gooding, Jr., that could have been before "Snow Dogs." But my companion said, "Fuck him" and we left.
· 4/30 Famke Janssen @ Kings Road Cafe. manrag with her looked like a hobo & her pug started a few scraps with other dogs. very nasty.
· Saw Sandra Oh of Sideways and Grey's Anatomy fame at the Klimt exhibition at LACMA on Sunday 4/30. She was with her boyfriend and she kept her head down to avoid highbrow detection.
· Dunno if you care, but your Coachella-related Andy Dickness reminded me - I was boozed up, overheated and overcrowded during Common and Kanye about two feet away from the chick who plays Maebe in Arrested Development (Alia Shawkat) and the chick who plays George-Michael's invisible girlfriend (who is waaaaaaaay prettier, and a lot less sullen in real life). Anyway, neither had the VIP or the camping wrist-bands - leading me to conclude that they were happy to schlep it with the rest of us, but not that happy.
· Hanging at the playground (the swings just aren't as fun when you're sober) at Holmby Park near Hugh Hefner's pad on Sunday. Almost didn't recognize a towering John Lithgow as he walked by. It would have been easier to recognize him if he wasn't pushing a baby stroller (late career toddler daughter or granddaughter???) and wearing some goofy outfit topped with a white Kangol-type hat he was wearing backwards.
· On my American flight from LAX to Newark, I saw Marlee Matlin (her: first class, us: coach). Then in baggage claim all the Extreme Makeover Home Edition cast (minus Hot Ty) were gathered around talking to Marlee. Is that in the Celebrity Code - must interact when famous?
· Was in LA this weekend to catch Solid State Logic at the Viper Room, had these 2 sightings:
4/28 -Met Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington at the Rainbow on Friday night. Very nice and approachable, even when my friend decided to introduce himself at the urinal.
4/29 -Walked past Tony Soprano's shrink's shrink, Peter Bogdanovich, Saturday afternoon on Sunset across from the Whiskey. He looked at my tattoos with apparent disdain.
· Saw Drew Carey at the Arclight trying to sell two tickets to UNITED 93 this past Friday night. Finally sold to two pretty black women. He said that they were good seats in the first bow balcony in the Dome and that he bought too many. Then, he proceeded to go inside and watch the film alone. Seemed like a nice guy. But kinda lonely.
· At the Ivar farmer's market today (4/30), saw NICHOLAS BRENDAN (aka Xander on BUFFY), laying low in a brown sweat shirt and jeans, perusing the fresh veggies. Although you can never be sure it IS "Xander" since NB has a twin brother. Anyway, homeboy is getting gray. How old could he be, 30 tops???
· Sunday, April 30 - - -"Man from Atlantis" Patrick Duffy staring off into the Pacific with family at the Biltmore Four Seasons in Santa Barbara . . . . . .
· The Surreal Life, Beverly Hills edition. On Rodeo Drive, Tuesday 10:30 am: NFL great Rodney Peete laughing and chatting it up with Marcellas Reynolds. Who walks by 2 seconds later? Mindy Cohn from The Facts Of Life. Only in L.A.