Hartnett plays Asperger's character well, Cole says
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
Josh Hartnett does an admirable job playing a man afflicted with Asperger's syndrome in his upcoming "Mozart and the Whale.' That's according to castmate Gary Cole, who knows of what he speaks.
"When I was reading it, I had a lot of connection to it because in the last 11 1/2 years, I've dealt with autism and have been involved in autism causes,' notes the actor, whose daughter, Mary, is autistic. (Asperger's is a form of autism.) "I've had a firsthand account of somebody who has autism and what their perceptions are, and that's what this story is about ... It's told more through the eyes of someone with autism as opposed to looking at them through our eyes.'
In fact, he adds, "When our daughter was 4 or 5, we went to see Jerry Newport -- the guy that Josh's character is based on -- speak. He was pretty fascinating, and one thing I remember is that he had a huge parrot sitting on his shoulder the whole time.'
"Mozart and the Whale' depicts the love story of Newport and Mary Meinel, who also has Asperger's. The character she's based on is played by Radha Mitchell.
Cole is turning into a one-man rep company this year. He'll go from playing "West Wing's' Vice President "Bingo Bob' Russell to heading up a strike force of undercover cops in TNT's "Rush' series this summer. He's also playing a real-estate agent in the upcoming "The Ring Two.'
"From what I hear, they're thinking that it actually surpasses the first, scary-wise,' he lets us know.
So what's to become of Bingo Bob and the rest of the Bartlet administration?
"It's all speculation. A lot is up to what the real fate of the show is, as opposed to what the story fate of the show is,' says Cole. "Obviously, it's going to go into next year, and I assume the intention is to keep it going in whatever kind of version it needs to keep going in, but they're keeping it close to the vest.'
TALENT ZONE: Multi-Grammy-winning producer Jimmy "Jam' Harris reports the five finalists revealed tonight from the real-life national talent search contest on the UPN sitcom "Half & Half' turned out to be a real mixed bag. "We ended up with a girl who's a folk/r&b/neo-soul singer, a rap duo, a male singer you could compare to R. Kelly, a ballad/r&b type singing duo and a band more along the lines of Limp Bizkit.'
The contest melded reality TV with sitcom when "Half & Half' regular Rachel True's character, Mona, announced a nationwide talent search for the fictitious Delicious Records label she works for on the show. Harris says an overwhelming 10,000 tapes were received from around the country.
"We'd said it would be great if different parts of the country were represented, and it came down that way,' says Harris. "They all ended being from such places as New York, Chicago, San Francisco and L.A.'
Harris and his partner, Terry Lewis, guest on the special two-part episode airing tonight and Feb. 28 in which America gets to hear and decide who should be the final winner. However, he says, there are no losers in the final five chosen. "I really felt that everybody up here had done a great job, and we got everybody's numbers.'
THE INDUSTRY EYE: Now it's Amber Frey, former girlfriend of convicted murderer Scott Peterson, who is becoming the focus of a television movie. Casting is under way for "Witness: The Amber Frey Story,' with Zev Braun producing and production to begin toward the end of April.
Matt LeBlanc has a behind-the-camera project in the works as one of the executive producers on a soon-to-shoot pilot presentation for Warner Bros. Television. It's for an hourlong drama going under the title "The Prince,' about a pair of brothers of a wealthy family -- the beloved, super-achieving scion of the clan, and his rebellious, sarcastic black sheep little brother who secretly idolizes him. And it's about what happens after the older brother's sudden, unexpected death.
OH-SO-HOT: With the Oscar-nominated "Sideways' boosting her profile, the oh-so-talented Sandra Oh not only has a series on the way -- the forthcoming Touchstone TV "Gray's Anatomy' -- she also will star, beginning in May, in a feature being executive-produced by Wim Wenders, titled "Smells Like Butter.' The actress, who has a long list of stage credits in her native Canada, will play a Korean-American woman who travels to Korea to find a husband. Shooting on the film, being directed by Grace Lee, is to take place in Los Angeles and Seoul, South Korea.
With reports by Stephanie Dubois and Emily Feimster. The Celebrities column appears Monday through Thursday. To view past columns, go to U.dailynews.com and click on Gossip.
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