Densus Church - It was builded in XVI-th Century on the debries of an Ancient Age construction and is the most older church in where are officed (orthodox) religious services
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
* ROMANIA's WONDERS *
Densus Church - It was builded in XVI-th Century on the debries of an Ancient Age construction and is the most older church in where are officed (orthodox) religious services
Romania's population diminishes
The President of Romania Traian Basescu outlined yesterday that in the last 17 years Romania's population lost 1,4 million inhabitants because of international immigration and diminishing natality. He added that, if the same birthrate continued, Romania would have 16,5 million inhabitants in 2050.
He claimed that, despite warnings from statistics institutions, so far no serious measures were taken to counter this negative trend.The President argued as follows: "In influence of this decrease is so great that, even if we take measures to improve fertility, the population will increase only after 2060. (...) This is a problem of the entire Romanian society, of the family, of the Church, of citizens and of present and future generations. Unless we do something to overcome this now, it may be too late for the future generation". He pleaded that "the few decades of demographic deserts" needed to be left behind.
The President insisted in his speech that the diminishing of the active population would have a special impact. In 2005 Romania had 10 million active inhabitants and in 2025 the active population will be 9,3 million and in 2050 the number will go down to 6,7 million. 40 is now the average age of the active population, but it will be 45 in 2025. He commented: "The mission of our children and grandchildren is very difficult. It is very difficult for any nation. Romania must revise the demographic policy as soon as possible. It can only be done in keeping with the solutions the Romanian demography school provides. But there are some problems functioning as resources for solution".
President wants very creative immigrants
As for the international immigration in general and the young labor force in particular, Paul Pacuraru, Romania's labor minister, mentioned authorities were working on a set of measures to persuade the youth employed abroad to return to work in Romania. The minister explained: "There is unofficially estimated that there are 2 million Romanians who work abroad. The official figures are smaller. Unfortunatelly, it is about active population. Romania is trying to bring these Romanians back home". He gave no information about the means to do this, since in Romania such people gain much less than abroad.
The President argued yesterday that Romania needed top immigrants and immigration should become a selective process: "We need migration fluxes from the demographic areas outside the EU in order to grant selective access to the country, especially to those people who can perform very creative activities, typical of knowledge-based economy".
Corina Scarlat
Ziua Miercuri 19 Septembrie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english
Impossible bill against government is ready
The PSD (Social-Democrat Party) has finally completed the text of their bill against the government titled "1,000 Days of Chaos, the End of the Right Government". It was completed in yesterday's meeting of the National Permanent Committee of the PSD, when party president Mircea Geoana tried to convince his colleagues that he was in control of the situation and that the talks between the PSD and the other parties would start.
Just a sketch
Despite his promises on "transparent negotiations", all that Mircea Geoana brought yesterday is total mystery. The text was the only certainty. The title is on the entire rule of the Liberal-Democrat government, not only on the Tariceanu Cabinet, which is almost sure to doom the fate of the PSD initiative. Even PSD members have sabotaged it and now it stands small chance to pass in the Parliament. The party hasn't even mentioned the precise date when the bill is to reach the Parliament, as the final decision is due today. The fate of Adrian Nastase and Ion Iliescu is to be decided today too, when PSD members are to analyze the solicitation from the PSD branch in Bucharest, District 1, that the two should be expelled.
Problems inside the PSD
Because it is on the government's entire activity, the PSD bill is almost impossible to pass in the Parliament. First of all, the Liberals would never help their own government to collapse. Secondly, the Democrats, whom the PSD is taking for allies with view to overthrowing PM Tariceanu, are likely to dismiss a text critical of the activities they performed when in power. Thirdly, there are problems inside the PSD, as there is a side strongly opposing this initiative. Therefore the PSD may point to the Democrats' rule on purpose, in order to justify PSD members' votes against the bill. (...)
Mystery talks or bluff
Mircea Geoana announced his colleagues yesterday that he was going to have serious talks with top politicians, but he provided no details, claiming it was in order to make the press curious. PSD sources say he was to meet with the party members yesterday evening at 10 and inform them about the talks. Yesterday there was rumor about a meeting between the PSD leader and the President of Romania Traian Basescu or the Democrats. They say that in exchange to support for the bill the PSD would agree to do away with the top members. (...)
But more rumor reached the Parliament quickly. " Geoana is meeting with Basescu", "Geoana is having talks with the Democrats" and "Geoana has got nothing. He is playing bluff" were the three versions strongly voiced yesterday by the PSD members. (...)
Tariceanu's Cabinet is incompetent and lacks support
The bill asks that the Tariceanu Cabinet should be dismissed because of incompetence and lack of political support. According to the text, the dismissal of the government would open way for "a new team and a new programme to meet Romania's needs and get support from a transparent parliamentary majority". The party claims that, if the bill fails, it will encourage "the progress towards a non-European society pattern, a deeply divided society, which would harm Romania's development severely".
There is also argued that the Parliament is to make a choice. "We either want to restore stability in the country and put an end to these three years of successive political conflicts that triggered governmental inefficiency and social discomfort or we want to keep a government of amateurs, unable to find solutions to the main problems of Romanian".
The document denounces the existence of several crises: in politics, agriculture and economy. The PSD (Social-Democrat Party) pleads as follows: "If we take a look at the Romanian Parliament, we can realize this government has lost support. And therefore it no longer represents the will of the electors' majority. Most of the population no longer trusts the government in power".
Roxana Andronic
Ziua Miercuri 19 Septembrie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english
A tooth for a tooth
Daniel Morar, a head of the DNA (National Anti-Corruption Department), asked Romanian President Traian Basescu yesterday for consent to the opening of criminal inquiry against the Romanian Justice minister Tudor Chiuariu. Last Monday the latter official had denounced prosecutor Doru Tulus criminally, demanding that he should be expelled from magistracy.
The very department headed by the latter prosecutor is in charge of the Justice minister case and authorities have it that the criminal inquiry is necessary in order to check on the circumstances under which emergency ordinance 377/2007 was released.
But the DNA head's solicitation also regards Zsolt Nagy, a member of the Democrat Union of Magyars in Romania and a former communication minister. Minister Chiuariu and ex minister Nagy are accused of abuse at work against public interests, effecting in patrimonial favor. The above-mentioned ordinance is on the transfer of the ex headquarters of the MICM on Victoriei Avenue, Bucharest, from the administration of the Bucharest district council to the Romanian Post Office's administration. Minister Chiuariu's signature is not on this document, but there are the signatures of the Romanian PM Calin-Popescu Tariceanu and the Romanian economy minister Varujan Vosganian. Still Daniel Morar hasn't said a word about it so far.
The Justice minister signed a documentation note on grounds of which the ordinance was approved of. Furthermore, the minister is said to have forced his staff into consenting to it.
While in Brussels yesterday, minister Chiuariu claimed it was about "a silly revenge of the DNA prosecutors".
President Basescu summoned a meeting of the presidential committee for next Monday.
It is to be noticed as well that, according to Cozmin Gusa, leader of the National Initiative Party, business of 110 million Euro is behind the scandal between the DNA and the Justice minister.
Razvan Savaliuc
Ziua Miercuri 19 Septembrie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english
New status for 'spies'
Romanian senators voted yesterday for the new professional and career status of intelligence spies. The new document grants intelligence services' officers with special status.
Therefore from now on an intelligence officer has got the right to make use of private and public spaces and properties under exceptional circumstances and in keeping with the respect for the fundamental rights. He is also allowed to ask any people to support Romania's national security and the respective person must keep it confidential, even if he/ she agrees to help or not.
Due to an amendment belonging to senator Ilie Petrescu, an officer may 'sneak' to other public institutions for a definite period of time at the chief's request.
Even if senators' juridical and defense committed raised substantial amendments, the Romanian defense minister Teodor Melescanu agreed to the law, which is now to undergo debate in the Chamber of Deputies.
Adrian Ilie
Ziua Miercuri 19 Septembrie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english
Political prosecutors
The phone calls and directions from Cotroceni Palace are no longer a secret to anyone. Apart from these, there are two important reasons why the DNA (National Anti-Corruption Department) has turned into a police-like Prosecutor's Office, now approaching difficult cases on political criteria. The two meek head of the DNA and that prosecutors' department of the CSM (Superior Council of Magistracy) that allowed some DNA investigators to go too far, but pretending not to see the negative clues on certain inquiries.
Let's start with the much-distinguished Laura Codruta Kovesi, a nice smiling lady who is a good listener. But whenever hearing about flaws in the DNA, she would complain about lacking enough means and attributions she could use to impose herself, although the DNA is subordinate to the Prosecutor's Office she guides. What did general attorney Laura Codruta Kovesi say when the scandal on the disaster the CSM uncovered in the DNA was very noisy ? She was not worried about the abuses committed under Daniel Morar's rule, which stunned public opinion, but she swore she didn't even unseal the envelop with the report sent by the CSM, promising she would return it as such, meaning unopened. She wanted to avoid any suspicion from whomsoever (is it Cotroceni Palace ?) that it was from her that the report leaked to the press. Given such a chief who doesn't even want to know what is going on in the DNA, of course the Tulus-Morar team can do what they please.
The second reason why the DNA is politicized is the prosecutors' department in the CSM. I don't think there is any CSM member who is afraid that Morar's prosecutors may draw him a criminal record. Mind you that judge Huza had to leave the CSM after being sued by the DNA. But I strongly believe that the CSM members fell prey to their own trap. Out of their wish to turn Justice into a totally independent power to report to no one, not even when it doesn't work, they ignored all the negative clues the DNA showed. In the last two years the CSM inspectors had no problem with muffling all the discipline cases within the DNA, with consent from the Council members and this is how they created a small monster: a Prosecutor's Office that breaks criminal procedure norms, proving it functions politically. Tough cases against leaders of Romanian Democrats were kept in drawers at the request of President Traian Basescu. Criminal cases were drawn against the adversaries of the Cotroceni group, also at request. The enthusiastic anti-corruption promises made during the electoral campaign were not kept. There is no sentenced and the cases that reached courts turned to dust. It is now obvious that only the ex mafia of the ex Social-Democrat regime is under inquiry, whereas today's mafia is carefully avoided.
The DNA has become not only obedient to Cotroceni Palace, but also a factor disturbing the independence of Justice. Because of its obedient prosecutors it gets Justice politically involved, as such prosecutors don't realize that Romania joined Europe and they may no longer invent criminal cases taking the orders of those who appointed them. The last proof is the solicitation of Daniel Morar, whom I call 'the President's servant'. Yesterday he dared ask President Basescu for permission to investigate on minister Chiuariu, the official who demanded the DNA heads should be dismissed.
What decision will the CSM members make when the check report is released in October 3 ? Some will have to prove what side they are on. Given the conclusions in the report, all the DNA heads should be dismissed. But the CSM may respond to the Justice minister's solicitation for revocation only by consultative consent. In fact, it is President Basescu who decides. Unless he wants to sign revocation decrees, Morar's team will go on. And why would Traian Basescu sacrifice his protegees, since so far he has been in no trouble because of cases such as the Fleet, the villa in Maihaileanu Street and more of the kind, to be found in the DNA's toy box ?
Razvan Savaliuc
Ziua Miercuri 19 Septembrie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english
German press: Romania is the most corrupted EU state
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Dinu Patriciu, the controversial oil magnate in Romania, sold his company to a state enterprise in Kazahstan, claiming the transaction would bring Romania more independence, but his adversaries fear the opposite. The FAZ quotes Janusz Bugajski, a EU expert in Eastern European policies, commenting that imports from Kazahstan are an alternative to the Russian ones only if routes can avoid Russia. (...)
According to the report, the party of the Romanian PM has obeyed Patriciu's wishes for years, sabotaging the fight against corruption together with the ex Communist PSD (Social-Democrat Party).
A report published in the Austria daily Die Presse analyzes daily corruption in Romania, explaining that in this EU state citizens have to pay financial attention to doctors when needing medical care. There is also mentioned that bribe goes for teachers and authorities too, when some Romanian wants to avoid military service or paying a traffic fine.
George Damian
Ziua Miercuri 19 Septembrie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english
According to the report, the party of the Romanian PM has obeyed Patriciu's wishes for years, sabotaging the fight against corruption together with the ex Communist PSD (Social-Democrat Party).
A report published in the Austria daily Die Presse analyzes daily corruption in Romania, explaining that in this EU state citizens have to pay financial attention to doctors when needing medical care. There is also mentioned that bribe goes for teachers and authorities too, when some Romanian wants to avoid military service or paying a traffic fine.
George Damian
Ziua Miercuri 19 Septembrie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english
* SPECIAL ISSUE !!! (The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards)
ROAD TO THE EMMY's 2007
No single show dominated the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards, which spread awards around like it was going out of style. "30 Rock" and "The Sopranos" were the Comedy and Drama Series winners, while America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty") and Ricky Gervais ("Extras") were named Outstanding Comedy Actress and Actor. Who else took home a coveted Emmy ?
2007 Fall Preview
ABC
Private Practice
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 9pm
This "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff stars Kate Walsh (aka Addison Montgomery) as she makes her way from Seattle Grace to sunny southern California.
Dirty Sexy Money
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 10pm
Relatively upright lawyer Nick George (Peter Krause) gets more than he bargained for when he takes on the Darlings, one of New York's wealthiest families, as his clients.
Big Shots
Premiere: Thursday, Sept. 27, 10pm
Four dysfunctional CEOs -- including Dylan McDermott and Michael Vartan -- best buddies and confidants, are willing to do whatever it takes to stay on top.
Cavemen
Premiere: Tuesday, Oct. 2, 8pm
And you thought your life was hard! Find out how difficult it is to be a caveman in a working man's world. Based on the popular Geico commercials.
Carpoolers
Premiere: Tuesday, Oct. 2, 8:30pm
Four guys living different versions of the modern suburban life try to figure out the world on a daily basis as they navigate the carpool lane to work.
Pushing Daisies
Premiere: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 8pm
A man with the ability to bring dead people back to life finds he's unable to touch the one person he most wants to -- the girl he loves.
Women's Murder Club
Premiere: Friday, Oct. 12, 9pm
A homicide detective, a medical examiner, a newspaper reporter and a young assistant district attorney work together to solve homicides.
Samantha Who ?
Premiere: Monday, Oct. 15, 9:30pm
A psychiatrist (Christina Applegate) suffers from amnesia and is forced to find out who she really is -- and it turns out she wasn't a very nice person.
CBS
Kid Nation
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 19, 8pm
40 children, 40 days, no adults - and a ton of controversy. Can a group of kids ages 8 to 15 create their own society, pioneer style ? And did the show violate child labor laws ?
The Big Bang Theory
Premiere: Monday, Sept. 24, 8:30pm
They're two brainiacs who have a ton of knowledge -- sadly, it has little to do with real life. Can their pretty new neighbor teach them about how life and love work ?
Cane
Premiere: Tuesday, Sept. 25, 10pm
Jimmy Smits stars as the newly-proclaimed heir to his family's sugar cane and rum empire. But beneath the family ties lurk battles for power, love and success.
Moonlight
Premiere: Friday, Sept. 28, 9pm
Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin) is a private investigator, and a man who's truly seen it all -- especially since he was bitten by a vampire over sixty years ago.
Viva Laughlin
Premiere: Sunday, Oct. 21, 8pm
Small-time casino owner Ripley Holden (Lloyd Owen) dreams of opening up a big-time resort on the Laughlin Strip. Based on the BBC murder-mystery-musical series "Blackpool".
CW
Gossip Girl
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 19, 9pm
Enter the world of the privileged prep school teens on Manhattan's Upper East Side, where the all-seeing, super-secretive blogger Gossip Girl knows all -- and tells all.
Reaper
Premiere: Tuesday, Sept. 25, 9pm
The day that slacker Sam turns 21, he finds out that his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born -- and now he has a permanent job as Satan's bounty hunter.
Aliens in America
Premiere: Monday, Oct. 1, 8:30pm
Cultures collide when a young Muslim student from Pakistan moves in with a white-bread Wisconsin family, but teens Raja and Justin find out they have more in common than they expected.
Life Is Wild
Premiere: Sunday, Oct. 7, 8pm
A veterinarian moves his blended family from the wilds of New York to the true wilds of a broken-down lodge called The Blue Antelope, located on a game reserve in South Africa.
Fox
Nashville
Premiere: Friday, Sept. 14, 9pm
From the people who brought you docu-soap "Laguna Beach" comes this portrait of a group of young people and their dreams to make it big in the country music capital.
K-Ville
Premiere: Monday, Sept. 17, 9pm
Two police officers patrol the streets of New Orleans two years after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in this drama about reclaiming and rebuilding the Louisiana city.
Back to You
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 19, 8pm
Emmy winners Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton return to TV as a pair of news anchors with great chemistry on-screen but who can't stand each other when the cameras are off.
Kitchen Nightmares
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 19, 9pm
Fiery chef Gordon Ramsay hits the road in this new unscripted show, in each episode taking on a restaraunt in crisis and whipping it into shape -- in just one week.
The Next Great American Band
Premiere: Friday, Oct. 19, 8pm
The producers of "American Idol" embark on a search to find the next great American music group.
NBC
Chuck
Premiere: Monday, Sept. 24, 8pm
When a computer geek accidentally downloads an entire server of sensitive data into his brain, he's catapulted into a new career as the government's most vital secret agent.
Journeyman
Premiere: Monday, Sept. 24, 10pm
A San Francisco reporter suddenly finds himself able to travel through time and change people's lives. He's also able to reunite with his long-lost fiancee, complicating his present-day life.
Bionic Woman
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 8pm
A new take on the '70s cult classic finds a young Jaime Sommers (Michelle Ryan) given superhuman strength thanks to cutting-edge technology -- but how will she adjust to her new self ?
Life
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 10pm
A former police officer (Damian Lewis) returns to the force after having been wrongly imprisoned for years. His life irrevocably altered, he sees the world through very different eyes.
The Emmy Entourage
(From left) Masi Oka, America Ferrera, Sally Field, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jeremy Piven
Sept. 17, 2007 issue - Maybe this is silly, but we've always found it charming when famous people get nervous around other famous people. When two-time Oscar winner Sally Field arrived for our first-ever Emmy Roundtable, America Ferrera, the radiant young star of ABC's freshman hit series "Ugly Betty", stayed bolted to the floor. "I'd go up to her, but I'd just say something dumb", Ferrera said. "All I could say is 'Hi'. I mean, what do you say to Sally Field ?" Fortunately, "Entourage" nominee Jeremy Piven broke the ice during the photo shoot. "Is it awkward if I do this topless ?" he asked. Then our five guests sat down, fully clothed, with NEWSWEEK's Devin Gordon and Marc Peyser for a two-hour conversation about Emmy’s 2007.
Sally Field: Uh, Burt Reynolds. [Laughter] So I went to the thing, and I didn't win. Which was fine. But being me, I thought to myself, "Oh, of course. Why would I win ? I'll just crawl back into my worthless hole". But then they decided to resurrect the Emmys. It was all done very quickly, and I just didn't feel like it was real. I thought, "Wait, first it's not happening, now it is happening... and I didn't win the last one, and I don't have a dress, and I'm working, so I'll have to get on a plane, and Burt doesn't feel good... " so I just didn't go. I guess I should have.
America Ferrera: You're going this time, right ?
Apparently she's going with Jeremy. Seriously, who are you taking ?
Field: Probably my youngest son, Sam.
Masi Oka: I want to take my mom, but I can't get her to come.
Why not ? Is she playing bridge with Jeremy's mother that night ?
Masi Oka: She's very shy. She doesn't like cameras. I can't convince her. She says if I force her to come she'll fly to Japan. [Laughter]
Did any of you know that Masi, in addition to being a terrific actor, is also a visual-effects wizard ?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: Wow, really ?
Ferrera: I heard something about this.
He worked on "Star Wars" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "The Perfect Storm" for George Lucas's company, Industrial Light & Magic. Do you still work for them ?
Masi Oka: I'm still on their payroll, but just for one day a week. It's more like consulting now. "Heroes" is definitely my top thing.
Louis-Dreyfus: So you really are like a superhero !
Masi Oka: Supergeek, maybe.
Piven: Do people come to you and go, "Look, man, you've gotta help me out with this situation with my computer" ?
Masi Oka: I do get that a lot, actually. Even on our show, they'll ask me about some of the effects. Sometimes they go, "Hey, maybe you can do this for us for free".
Do you guys watch much TV ?
Louis-Dreyfus: I have a 10-year-old son — I almost brought him today because he's addicted to your show [to Oka].
Field: I have a 19-year-old son who's addicted to your show [to Piven].
Sally, do you find TV and movies to be very different ? Are they less different now than when you started in the business ?
Field: I started in sitcoms in 1965, and at that time, television was the poor step-child of the motion-picture business. I did three television series before I was 25, but people were telling me they didn't want me to read for any films — my own agent was, too. I remember what he said very clearly: "First of all, you're not pretty enough. And second of all, you're not good enough". And I said, "OK. Goodbye".
Ferrera: I had a very similar experience to Sally. I didn't start acting professionally until I was 17, and I had a really small agent and manager, and they were sending me out for anything — bail-bondsman commercials, whatever. And I never got a single callback for anything. Because they'd always say, "Can you speak English with a bad Spanish accent ?" They were always, like, "We don't get it — you're Latin but you don't sound Latin". Even my own family, my own friends, they would say to me, "Look, we think you're really talented, and it's not that we don't believe in you — we just don't believe that industry is accepting of any kind of variety".
Jeremy, you probably didn't have a tough time convincing anyone you could play Ari.
Piven: I knew that Ari's energy was so interesting that if I did it right, then I could make it something bigger. There's a reason why certain people are blowhards and want to take up all the space in a room, you know ? At some point in their lives they were crushed and they had to overcome it. I remember I had this mantra for Ari: $40 million by the time he's 40 or he'll kill someone.
What happened to Ari ? What's his secret pain ?
Piven: That's something I keep pitching to our writers. I came onto this show late in the game as a hired gun. So I would love to be more a part of... Oh, I'm saying all the wrong things now.
Keep going, Jeremy. [Laughter]
Piven: I don't care about titles or whatever, how you're billed on the back of your chair, any of that stuff. I just like to be in the mix, you know ? So you asked: what is Ari's secret pain ? I think this show can keep exploring these characters. Like, for instance, what is Passover like at Ari's house ? Why does he desperately need to prove himself ? It's kind of tragic. I mean, when people meet me, they're usually surprised that I'm so calm. They're disappointed that I don't bark at them.
Do people still identify you with Elaine, Julia ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Yeah. Still.
Is it annoying ? Or do you find a way to be
Louis-Dreyfus: I find a way to be very gracious. [Laughter] Look, it has its challenges, but ultimately what actor wouldn't want an experience like that ? To complain would be moronic.
Piven: You know the way Elaine would shove people ? Has anyone ever done that to you ? Like, literally pushed you ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Nobody's ever pushed me. But people do feel they can be very close to me. Maybe it's because I'm short.
Field: Oh, they do that to me, too. I'm sure you get that, America.
Ferrera: Oh, yeah. They touch you.
Field: Yes ! They'll grab you.
Louis-Dreyfus: I think it's because you're in their homes. They're very familiar with you. But it's important to remember that it's very, very fleeting. This is an incredibly rough business, and 10 years from now, who knows ? Look, I'm assuming everything's going to be great for everybody at this table, and I certainly hope so, but who knows ?
Let's talk about the ceremony. Do you prepare a speech ahead of time ? Do you practice your expression if you lose ? Julia, you've won and lost a few times.
Louis-Dreyfus: I've lost more than I've won. So it makes me uncomfortable to prepare. Which may be a mistake, but I always think I'm gonna lose anyway, so let's just leave it be.
Now we have to ask you, Sally.
Field: [With mock irritation] Yes ? What ?
Do you prepare your speeches or are you in the moment ?
Field: Whatever do you mean by that ? [Laughter] I've always been in the moment — that's the problem. That's always been the problem.
Piven: And there's your quote.
That famous speech, of course, is misquoted all the time — you never actually said "You really like me". You said: "And I can't deny the fact that you like me right now. You like me".
Field: Yes, totally misquoted.
So why did you say that ?
Field: Because I was scared s – tless ! When you're sitting in that room, your heart is literally beating outside your body. Like, it's sitting in the chair in front of you. And I never feel like a very glamorous, graceful sort of person, so when I got up to walk up there, I was afraid I was going to go topsy-turvy over myself. Like, literally fall on my ass.
Louis-Dreyfus: I know what you mean — you're thinking, "Just please don't let me die up here".
Field: Yeah ! Your body can't tell the difference between going down on the Titanic and getting up and accepting an Oscar. Your body is saying, "Dive ! Dive !" So when I won for "Norma Rae", I just kinda got up and said, "Thank you very much and I'm glad to be alive", and then I got off the stage. I don't even remember being there. So then the second time I thought, "You know what ? This belongs to me. I want to remember it. I want to look out at it. I want to feel it". When anyone says to you, "Good job, first rate, you really did it", then you have to own it. If you don't own it, then you don't have the strength to go the next 150 miles of bad road before you get that next great little twinkle.
Have you guys had parts that you've desperately wanted and didn't get ?
Louis-Dreyfus: I'm not sure I want to go down this road. There are a lot of parts I wish I'd gotten and didn't. But then I got some big parts, so I focus on that.
Piven: I wanted to play Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker's role in "The Last King of Scotland". [Laughter]
Field: The part that sort of changed things for me was in this tiny movie that Bob Rafelson directed called "Stay Hungry". When I went to read for it, I heard Rafelson yelling from the back room, "How dare you let her in here. I have better things to do than see Sally Field !" But by then, I knew how to use the fury, the rejection. The "I'm not good enough, I'm not sexy enough". Certainly "I'm not sexy enough" was a big one.
And this audition was for a very sexy, risqué role, right ?
Field: Yeah. By then I had learned that people go with whatever they've seen you in last. Because they have so little faith in people knowing how to act. So I had to convince them that everything they had seen me do before was acting and what I really am is this absolutely sleep-around tart and, gosh, that Flying Nun sure was hard for me to pull off because this is who I really am.
So did you dress provocatively ?
Field: Oh, yeah. And I straddled the guy I was reading with. I, like, sat on him.
Did any of you ever straddle somebody in an audition ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Oh, yeah. For every job.
How about going to great lengths to get a part ?
Louis-Dreyfus: One time I screwed up an audition very badly, but I really wanted this role and thought I was perfect for the part. So I went back to the hotel where I'd met with the producers and I wrote a note saying, "I feel strongly that I'm this person, blah blah blah, and could you please give me another chance ?" Sure enough, they called me back in again — and I still didn't get the part.
At what point in your career was this ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Early on.
So you were still willing to humiliate yourself.
Louis-Dreyfus: You always have to be willing to do that. You have to be willing to write that note because you have to put yourself out there. You've got to fight.
Ferrera: I had a friend who is a writer, and he wrote this beautiful, beautiful script and I fell in love with it. I said, this is me, I have to do this. For a while it was a possibility and then it was, like, Well, listen, the producers don't want — they're looking for someone who's blond and who has, you know, lighter skin. And basically that was it. I didn't even get to fail on my own. It was the first time I felt really angry. And so I went out and bleached my hair.
How old were you ?
Ferrera: I was 17, and it was the first time I'd done something out of anger. I bleached my hair and put on lily-white powder makeup — whiteface, I guess. But my friend called me up and was, like, "I get it, I understand that it's warped and twisted and it sucks. But you still don't have the part".
Do you feel a certain obligation as a role model for young women and Latina women ?
Piven: I do. Oh, I'm sorry. [Laughter]
Ferrera: I feel like what the show is doing — and not just what they've done for Latinos or for young girls but for the gay community — has been immense. The show does it, so I don't feel like I have to go about my days preaching it.
Masi, have you found that it's hard to get roles as an Asian-American ?
Masi Oka: For me, being a minority has made it easier to break in, to be perfectly honest, because there are a lot of small parts that go to the minority of choice because of affirmative action or something. "Oh, we want to show diversity, so we'll give this small part to him". But the ceiling is very low, without a doubt.
Sally, you did an extensive Playboy interview years ago.
Field: An interview.
But there was a really interesting line in it. You were talking about your father very candidly, and you said, "I'm trying to do my job and be honest here". Do actors really want to be honest and candid with the press ?
Field: I grew up feeling very isolated. That's part of being a celebrity. And I think that part of me wants to talk to this big audience of people. Of course it isn't all the truth; it's just a bit of the truth. But it's important to me that it not be all full of b.s., that I'm revealing something real.
It seems like most actors today believe that there's a risk to being candid.
Louis-Dreyfus: Well, there's a camera everywhere now.
Masi Oka: Especially with the Internet. And blogs. Things spread so quickly. We're all humans. We all make mistakes. But it gets difficult when you have cameras everywhere. It's part of our job to be in the public. I accept that. But at the same time, I don't want to think of being human as a job.
Louis-Dreyfus: It's a whole new universe. In the last 10 years the celebrity culture has utterly changed. It's jaw-dropping.
Ferrera: Anyone with a phone is a paparazzi. They sit there and take pictures with their phone and they think you don't see them. They don't even ask. Sometimes you feel like an animal in the zoo.
Didn't you expect this ?
Ferrera: I don't know. I understand where it comes from. I mean, I grew up worshiping people like Sally Field, and when you meet them, they mean so much to you that you're hoping that it'll be a life-changing experience. But you just can't be that for everyone you see. It's exhausting. When do I get to shut it off ? I know that sounds like complaining, but at the same time there is a lack of respect.
We can't have an Emmy Roundtable and not talk about "The Sopranos". Julia, as someone who was on a legendary show whose finale also got mixed reviews, what did you think ?
Louis-Dreyfus: At first I thought, like many people, that my TiVo was broken, and I got on the phone and started screaming. I'm kidding. Then I felt totally ripped off. And then, the next day, I thought it was absolutely brilliant television. I thought it was fantastic. I loved it.
The reaction to the finale had an interesting subtext, because it became an argument about what the creator of an enormously popular show owes us. Are we owed an ending for our years of loyal viewing ? Or is an artist only obliged to do what he believes is right for the show ?
Louis-Dreyfus: I don't know what being "owed" an ending means. I think you owe your best work, and David Chase felt that this was his best work. If he doesn't, he should.
But you said you felt initially ripped off, like a lot of people, which suggests that they were owed something in some way.
Louis-Dreyfus: Oh, I guess—just in that moment, yeah, I guess for a moment I thought, "Wait a minute, can't I hear the rest of the story ?" But then when I stood back from that... I mean, at the risk of sounding haughty, it was like when you look at a piece of art or at first you don't like it, but then you step back and you say, "Oh, yeah, that is interesting". And I think Chase achieved that, really wonderfully.
Did you like the "Seinfeld" finale ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Well, you know, I was in it. It was like a high-school reunion. There's the Soup Nazi ! We were just sitting there at that table howling laughing. We got a kick out of it. But I couldn't believe all the attention it got. That was remarkable to me. That kind of attention was very surreal.
Wasn't the finale something of a commentary on what Larry David thought about television, being held captive to it ?
Louis-Dreyfus: I don't think he was necessarily commenting on television. I think he was commenting on these people who should all be in prison, and he did it. And also I know he wanted to bring back the dialogue from the pilot episode of the show. So the dialogue within that jail cell was in the pilot, which is why I didn't say anything — because I wasn't in the pilot.
How sick are you of hearing about the "Seinfeld" curse ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Well, I'm thrilled you brought it up.
We did make Sally talk about her Oscar speech.
Louis-Dreyfus: I thought it was just so absurd, and I still do. I think there's the curse of showbiz, which is to say, it's really hard to hit it out of the park. It wasn't a "Seinfeld" curse — it was a "Seinfeld" blessing. Lots of people have success in their lives and then try to have it again, as they should. And sometimes they get it and sometimes they don't. And that's life.
We're almost out of time, so let's end with a question about the big night. Is there any part of it that you're not looking forward to ?
Ferrera: The red carpet is the most nerve-racking, isn't it ? The focus is all on something I'm just not comfortable with. The whole point is to stand there so people can criticize you — What are you wearing ? It's a meat market.
Louis-Dreyfus: Who are you wearing !
Ferrera: I'm not saying I'm against red carpets, but what's really wonderful is sitting there and being a part of the celebration. And that red carpet doesn't feel like a celebration.
Couldn't you boycott, just not do it ?
Louis-Dreyfus: My sister said to me, "I think you should just keep wearing the same dress over and over".
Field: I think we should just rebel and all go in sweatshirts and jeans and say, This is it, folks !
By Devin Gordon and Marc Peyser, Newsweek
No single show dominated the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards, which spread awards around like it was going out of style. "30 Rock" and "The Sopranos" were the Comedy and Drama Series winners, while America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty") and Ricky Gervais ("Extras") were named Outstanding Comedy Actress and Actor. Who else took home a coveted Emmy ?
2007 Fall Preview
ABC
Private Practice
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 9pm
This "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff stars Kate Walsh (aka Addison Montgomery) as she makes her way from Seattle Grace to sunny southern California.
Dirty Sexy Money
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 10pm
Relatively upright lawyer Nick George (Peter Krause) gets more than he bargained for when he takes on the Darlings, one of New York's wealthiest families, as his clients.
Big Shots
Premiere: Thursday, Sept. 27, 10pm
Four dysfunctional CEOs -- including Dylan McDermott and Michael Vartan -- best buddies and confidants, are willing to do whatever it takes to stay on top.
Cavemen
Premiere: Tuesday, Oct. 2, 8pm
And you thought your life was hard! Find out how difficult it is to be a caveman in a working man's world. Based on the popular Geico commercials.
Carpoolers
Premiere: Tuesday, Oct. 2, 8:30pm
Four guys living different versions of the modern suburban life try to figure out the world on a daily basis as they navigate the carpool lane to work.
Pushing Daisies
Premiere: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 8pm
A man with the ability to bring dead people back to life finds he's unable to touch the one person he most wants to -- the girl he loves.
Women's Murder Club
Premiere: Friday, Oct. 12, 9pm
A homicide detective, a medical examiner, a newspaper reporter and a young assistant district attorney work together to solve homicides.
Samantha Who ?
Premiere: Monday, Oct. 15, 9:30pm
A psychiatrist (Christina Applegate) suffers from amnesia and is forced to find out who she really is -- and it turns out she wasn't a very nice person.
CBS
Kid Nation
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 19, 8pm
40 children, 40 days, no adults - and a ton of controversy. Can a group of kids ages 8 to 15 create their own society, pioneer style ? And did the show violate child labor laws ?
The Big Bang Theory
Premiere: Monday, Sept. 24, 8:30pm
They're two brainiacs who have a ton of knowledge -- sadly, it has little to do with real life. Can their pretty new neighbor teach them about how life and love work ?
Cane
Premiere: Tuesday, Sept. 25, 10pm
Jimmy Smits stars as the newly-proclaimed heir to his family's sugar cane and rum empire. But beneath the family ties lurk battles for power, love and success.
Moonlight
Premiere: Friday, Sept. 28, 9pm
Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin) is a private investigator, and a man who's truly seen it all -- especially since he was bitten by a vampire over sixty years ago.
Viva Laughlin
Premiere: Sunday, Oct. 21, 8pm
Small-time casino owner Ripley Holden (Lloyd Owen) dreams of opening up a big-time resort on the Laughlin Strip. Based on the BBC murder-mystery-musical series "Blackpool".
CW
Gossip Girl
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 19, 9pm
Enter the world of the privileged prep school teens on Manhattan's Upper East Side, where the all-seeing, super-secretive blogger Gossip Girl knows all -- and tells all.
Reaper
Premiere: Tuesday, Sept. 25, 9pm
The day that slacker Sam turns 21, he finds out that his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born -- and now he has a permanent job as Satan's bounty hunter.
Aliens in America
Premiere: Monday, Oct. 1, 8:30pm
Cultures collide when a young Muslim student from Pakistan moves in with a white-bread Wisconsin family, but teens Raja and Justin find out they have more in common than they expected.
Life Is Wild
Premiere: Sunday, Oct. 7, 8pm
A veterinarian moves his blended family from the wilds of New York to the true wilds of a broken-down lodge called The Blue Antelope, located on a game reserve in South Africa.
Fox
Nashville
Premiere: Friday, Sept. 14, 9pm
From the people who brought you docu-soap "Laguna Beach" comes this portrait of a group of young people and their dreams to make it big in the country music capital.
K-Ville
Premiere: Monday, Sept. 17, 9pm
Two police officers patrol the streets of New Orleans two years after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in this drama about reclaiming and rebuilding the Louisiana city.
Back to You
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 19, 8pm
Emmy winners Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton return to TV as a pair of news anchors with great chemistry on-screen but who can't stand each other when the cameras are off.
Kitchen Nightmares
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 19, 9pm
Fiery chef Gordon Ramsay hits the road in this new unscripted show, in each episode taking on a restaraunt in crisis and whipping it into shape -- in just one week.
The Next Great American Band
Premiere: Friday, Oct. 19, 8pm
The producers of "American Idol" embark on a search to find the next great American music group.
NBC
Chuck
Premiere: Monday, Sept. 24, 8pm
When a computer geek accidentally downloads an entire server of sensitive data into his brain, he's catapulted into a new career as the government's most vital secret agent.
Journeyman
Premiere: Monday, Sept. 24, 10pm
A San Francisco reporter suddenly finds himself able to travel through time and change people's lives. He's also able to reunite with his long-lost fiancee, complicating his present-day life.
Bionic Woman
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 8pm
A new take on the '70s cult classic finds a young Jaime Sommers (Michelle Ryan) given superhuman strength thanks to cutting-edge technology -- but how will she adjust to her new self ?
Life
Premiere: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 10pm
A former police officer (Damian Lewis) returns to the force after having been wrongly imprisoned for years. His life irrevocably altered, he sees the world through very different eyes.
The Emmy Entourage
(From left) Masi Oka, America Ferrera, Sally Field, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jeremy PivenSept. 17, 2007 issue - Maybe this is silly, but we've always found it charming when famous people get nervous around other famous people. When two-time Oscar winner Sally Field arrived for our first-ever Emmy Roundtable, America Ferrera, the radiant young star of ABC's freshman hit series "Ugly Betty", stayed bolted to the floor. "I'd go up to her, but I'd just say something dumb", Ferrera said. "All I could say is 'Hi'. I mean, what do you say to Sally Field ?" Fortunately, "Entourage" nominee Jeremy Piven broke the ice during the photo shoot. "Is it awkward if I do this topless ?" he asked. Then our five guests sat down, fully clothed, with NEWSWEEK's Devin Gordon and Marc Peyser for a two-hour conversation about Emmy’s 2007.
Sally Field: Uh, Burt Reynolds. [Laughter] So I went to the thing, and I didn't win. Which was fine. But being me, I thought to myself, "Oh, of course. Why would I win ? I'll just crawl back into my worthless hole". But then they decided to resurrect the Emmys. It was all done very quickly, and I just didn't feel like it was real. I thought, "Wait, first it's not happening, now it is happening... and I didn't win the last one, and I don't have a dress, and I'm working, so I'll have to get on a plane, and Burt doesn't feel good... " so I just didn't go. I guess I should have.
America Ferrera: You're going this time, right ?
Apparently she's going with Jeremy. Seriously, who are you taking ?
Field: Probably my youngest son, Sam.
Masi Oka: I want to take my mom, but I can't get her to come.
Why not ? Is she playing bridge with Jeremy's mother that night ?
Masi Oka: She's very shy. She doesn't like cameras. I can't convince her. She says if I force her to come she'll fly to Japan. [Laughter]
Did any of you know that Masi, in addition to being a terrific actor, is also a visual-effects wizard ?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: Wow, really ?
Ferrera: I heard something about this.
He worked on "Star Wars" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "The Perfect Storm" for George Lucas's company, Industrial Light & Magic. Do you still work for them ?
Masi Oka: I'm still on their payroll, but just for one day a week. It's more like consulting now. "Heroes" is definitely my top thing.
Louis-Dreyfus: So you really are like a superhero !
Masi Oka: Supergeek, maybe.
Piven: Do people come to you and go, "Look, man, you've gotta help me out with this situation with my computer" ?
Masi Oka: I do get that a lot, actually. Even on our show, they'll ask me about some of the effects. Sometimes they go, "Hey, maybe you can do this for us for free".
Do you guys watch much TV ?
Louis-Dreyfus: I have a 10-year-old son — I almost brought him today because he's addicted to your show [to Oka].
Field: I have a 19-year-old son who's addicted to your show [to Piven].
Sally, do you find TV and movies to be very different ? Are they less different now than when you started in the business ?
Field: I started in sitcoms in 1965, and at that time, television was the poor step-child of the motion-picture business. I did three television series before I was 25, but people were telling me they didn't want me to read for any films — my own agent was, too. I remember what he said very clearly: "First of all, you're not pretty enough. And second of all, you're not good enough". And I said, "OK. Goodbye".
Ferrera: I had a very similar experience to Sally. I didn't start acting professionally until I was 17, and I had a really small agent and manager, and they were sending me out for anything — bail-bondsman commercials, whatever. And I never got a single callback for anything. Because they'd always say, "Can you speak English with a bad Spanish accent ?" They were always, like, "We don't get it — you're Latin but you don't sound Latin". Even my own family, my own friends, they would say to me, "Look, we think you're really talented, and it's not that we don't believe in you — we just don't believe that industry is accepting of any kind of variety".
Jeremy, you probably didn't have a tough time convincing anyone you could play Ari.
Piven: I knew that Ari's energy was so interesting that if I did it right, then I could make it something bigger. There's a reason why certain people are blowhards and want to take up all the space in a room, you know ? At some point in their lives they were crushed and they had to overcome it. I remember I had this mantra for Ari: $40 million by the time he's 40 or he'll kill someone.
What happened to Ari ? What's his secret pain ?
Piven: That's something I keep pitching to our writers. I came onto this show late in the game as a hired gun. So I would love to be more a part of... Oh, I'm saying all the wrong things now.
Keep going, Jeremy. [Laughter]
Piven: I don't care about titles or whatever, how you're billed on the back of your chair, any of that stuff. I just like to be in the mix, you know ? So you asked: what is Ari's secret pain ? I think this show can keep exploring these characters. Like, for instance, what is Passover like at Ari's house ? Why does he desperately need to prove himself ? It's kind of tragic. I mean, when people meet me, they're usually surprised that I'm so calm. They're disappointed that I don't bark at them.
Do people still identify you with Elaine, Julia ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Yeah. Still.
Is it annoying ? Or do you find a way to be
Louis-Dreyfus: I find a way to be very gracious. [Laughter] Look, it has its challenges, but ultimately what actor wouldn't want an experience like that ? To complain would be moronic.
Piven: You know the way Elaine would shove people ? Has anyone ever done that to you ? Like, literally pushed you ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Nobody's ever pushed me. But people do feel they can be very close to me. Maybe it's because I'm short.
Field: Oh, they do that to me, too. I'm sure you get that, America.
Ferrera: Oh, yeah. They touch you.
Field: Yes ! They'll grab you.
Louis-Dreyfus: I think it's because you're in their homes. They're very familiar with you. But it's important to remember that it's very, very fleeting. This is an incredibly rough business, and 10 years from now, who knows ? Look, I'm assuming everything's going to be great for everybody at this table, and I certainly hope so, but who knows ?
Let's talk about the ceremony. Do you prepare a speech ahead of time ? Do you practice your expression if you lose ? Julia, you've won and lost a few times.
Louis-Dreyfus: I've lost more than I've won. So it makes me uncomfortable to prepare. Which may be a mistake, but I always think I'm gonna lose anyway, so let's just leave it be.
Now we have to ask you, Sally.
Field: [With mock irritation] Yes ? What ?
Do you prepare your speeches or are you in the moment ?
Field: Whatever do you mean by that ? [Laughter] I've always been in the moment — that's the problem. That's always been the problem.
Piven: And there's your quote.
That famous speech, of course, is misquoted all the time — you never actually said "You really like me". You said: "And I can't deny the fact that you like me right now. You like me".
Field: Yes, totally misquoted.
So why did you say that ?
Field: Because I was scared s – tless ! When you're sitting in that room, your heart is literally beating outside your body. Like, it's sitting in the chair in front of you. And I never feel like a very glamorous, graceful sort of person, so when I got up to walk up there, I was afraid I was going to go topsy-turvy over myself. Like, literally fall on my ass.
Louis-Dreyfus: I know what you mean — you're thinking, "Just please don't let me die up here".
Field: Yeah ! Your body can't tell the difference between going down on the Titanic and getting up and accepting an Oscar. Your body is saying, "Dive ! Dive !" So when I won for "Norma Rae", I just kinda got up and said, "Thank you very much and I'm glad to be alive", and then I got off the stage. I don't even remember being there. So then the second time I thought, "You know what ? This belongs to me. I want to remember it. I want to look out at it. I want to feel it". When anyone says to you, "Good job, first rate, you really did it", then you have to own it. If you don't own it, then you don't have the strength to go the next 150 miles of bad road before you get that next great little twinkle.
Have you guys had parts that you've desperately wanted and didn't get ?
Louis-Dreyfus: I'm not sure I want to go down this road. There are a lot of parts I wish I'd gotten and didn't. But then I got some big parts, so I focus on that.
Piven: I wanted to play Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker's role in "The Last King of Scotland". [Laughter]
Field: The part that sort of changed things for me was in this tiny movie that Bob Rafelson directed called "Stay Hungry". When I went to read for it, I heard Rafelson yelling from the back room, "How dare you let her in here. I have better things to do than see Sally Field !" But by then, I knew how to use the fury, the rejection. The "I'm not good enough, I'm not sexy enough". Certainly "I'm not sexy enough" was a big one.
And this audition was for a very sexy, risqué role, right ?
Field: Yeah. By then I had learned that people go with whatever they've seen you in last. Because they have so little faith in people knowing how to act. So I had to convince them that everything they had seen me do before was acting and what I really am is this absolutely sleep-around tart and, gosh, that Flying Nun sure was hard for me to pull off because this is who I really am.
So did you dress provocatively ?
Field: Oh, yeah. And I straddled the guy I was reading with. I, like, sat on him.
Did any of you ever straddle somebody in an audition ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Oh, yeah. For every job.
How about going to great lengths to get a part ?
Louis-Dreyfus: One time I screwed up an audition very badly, but I really wanted this role and thought I was perfect for the part. So I went back to the hotel where I'd met with the producers and I wrote a note saying, "I feel strongly that I'm this person, blah blah blah, and could you please give me another chance ?" Sure enough, they called me back in again — and I still didn't get the part.
At what point in your career was this ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Early on.
So you were still willing to humiliate yourself.
Louis-Dreyfus: You always have to be willing to do that. You have to be willing to write that note because you have to put yourself out there. You've got to fight.
Ferrera: I had a friend who is a writer, and he wrote this beautiful, beautiful script and I fell in love with it. I said, this is me, I have to do this. For a while it was a possibility and then it was, like, Well, listen, the producers don't want — they're looking for someone who's blond and who has, you know, lighter skin. And basically that was it. I didn't even get to fail on my own. It was the first time I felt really angry. And so I went out and bleached my hair.
How old were you ?
Ferrera: I was 17, and it was the first time I'd done something out of anger. I bleached my hair and put on lily-white powder makeup — whiteface, I guess. But my friend called me up and was, like, "I get it, I understand that it's warped and twisted and it sucks. But you still don't have the part".
Do you feel a certain obligation as a role model for young women and Latina women ?
Piven: I do. Oh, I'm sorry. [Laughter]
Ferrera: I feel like what the show is doing — and not just what they've done for Latinos or for young girls but for the gay community — has been immense. The show does it, so I don't feel like I have to go about my days preaching it.
Masi, have you found that it's hard to get roles as an Asian-American ?
Masi Oka: For me, being a minority has made it easier to break in, to be perfectly honest, because there are a lot of small parts that go to the minority of choice because of affirmative action or something. "Oh, we want to show diversity, so we'll give this small part to him". But the ceiling is very low, without a doubt.
Sally, you did an extensive Playboy interview years ago.
Field: An interview.
But there was a really interesting line in it. You were talking about your father very candidly, and you said, "I'm trying to do my job and be honest here". Do actors really want to be honest and candid with the press ?
Field: I grew up feeling very isolated. That's part of being a celebrity. And I think that part of me wants to talk to this big audience of people. Of course it isn't all the truth; it's just a bit of the truth. But it's important to me that it not be all full of b.s., that I'm revealing something real.
It seems like most actors today believe that there's a risk to being candid.
Louis-Dreyfus: Well, there's a camera everywhere now.
Masi Oka: Especially with the Internet. And blogs. Things spread so quickly. We're all humans. We all make mistakes. But it gets difficult when you have cameras everywhere. It's part of our job to be in the public. I accept that. But at the same time, I don't want to think of being human as a job.
Louis-Dreyfus: It's a whole new universe. In the last 10 years the celebrity culture has utterly changed. It's jaw-dropping.
Ferrera: Anyone with a phone is a paparazzi. They sit there and take pictures with their phone and they think you don't see them. They don't even ask. Sometimes you feel like an animal in the zoo.
Didn't you expect this ?
Ferrera: I don't know. I understand where it comes from. I mean, I grew up worshiping people like Sally Field, and when you meet them, they mean so much to you that you're hoping that it'll be a life-changing experience. But you just can't be that for everyone you see. It's exhausting. When do I get to shut it off ? I know that sounds like complaining, but at the same time there is a lack of respect.
We can't have an Emmy Roundtable and not talk about "The Sopranos". Julia, as someone who was on a legendary show whose finale also got mixed reviews, what did you think ?
Louis-Dreyfus: At first I thought, like many people, that my TiVo was broken, and I got on the phone and started screaming. I'm kidding. Then I felt totally ripped off. And then, the next day, I thought it was absolutely brilliant television. I thought it was fantastic. I loved it.
The reaction to the finale had an interesting subtext, because it became an argument about what the creator of an enormously popular show owes us. Are we owed an ending for our years of loyal viewing ? Or is an artist only obliged to do what he believes is right for the show ?
Louis-Dreyfus: I don't know what being "owed" an ending means. I think you owe your best work, and David Chase felt that this was his best work. If he doesn't, he should.
But you said you felt initially ripped off, like a lot of people, which suggests that they were owed something in some way.
Louis-Dreyfus: Oh, I guess—just in that moment, yeah, I guess for a moment I thought, "Wait a minute, can't I hear the rest of the story ?" But then when I stood back from that... I mean, at the risk of sounding haughty, it was like when you look at a piece of art or at first you don't like it, but then you step back and you say, "Oh, yeah, that is interesting". And I think Chase achieved that, really wonderfully.
Did you like the "Seinfeld" finale ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Well, you know, I was in it. It was like a high-school reunion. There's the Soup Nazi ! We were just sitting there at that table howling laughing. We got a kick out of it. But I couldn't believe all the attention it got. That was remarkable to me. That kind of attention was very surreal.
Wasn't the finale something of a commentary on what Larry David thought about television, being held captive to it ?
Louis-Dreyfus: I don't think he was necessarily commenting on television. I think he was commenting on these people who should all be in prison, and he did it. And also I know he wanted to bring back the dialogue from the pilot episode of the show. So the dialogue within that jail cell was in the pilot, which is why I didn't say anything — because I wasn't in the pilot.
How sick are you of hearing about the "Seinfeld" curse ?
Louis-Dreyfus: Well, I'm thrilled you brought it up.
We did make Sally talk about her Oscar speech.
Louis-Dreyfus: I thought it was just so absurd, and I still do. I think there's the curse of showbiz, which is to say, it's really hard to hit it out of the park. It wasn't a "Seinfeld" curse — it was a "Seinfeld" blessing. Lots of people have success in their lives and then try to have it again, as they should. And sometimes they get it and sometimes they don't. And that's life.
We're almost out of time, so let's end with a question about the big night. Is there any part of it that you're not looking forward to ?
Ferrera: The red carpet is the most nerve-racking, isn't it ? The focus is all on something I'm just not comfortable with. The whole point is to stand there so people can criticize you — What are you wearing ? It's a meat market.
Louis-Dreyfus: Who are you wearing !
Ferrera: I'm not saying I'm against red carpets, but what's really wonderful is sitting there and being a part of the celebration. And that red carpet doesn't feel like a celebration.
Couldn't you boycott, just not do it ?
Louis-Dreyfus: My sister said to me, "I think you should just keep wearing the same dress over and over".
Field: I think we should just rebel and all go in sweatshirts and jeans and say, This is it, folks !
By Devin Gordon and Marc Peyser, Newsweek
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