Alyson Hannigan grew up in Hollywood. And Hollywood has grown up with her.
The gentle, always smiling actress made her commercial debut as a child, starred in "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and then shot to true stardom as the awkward, flute-loving prom date to Jason Biggs' pie-loving character in the first "American Pie" film.
Each subsequent sequel of the dessert defiling series brought the awkward crew to a new stage in their lives, from high school to college to, in 2003, marriage. It's become a generation-defining trilogy, and to hear Hannigan tell it, a total surprise, too.
"With the first one, they had put some sort of sequel clause in my contract and I was like, 'ahh, I wouldn't be in a sequel,'" she laughed in a conversation with The Huffington Post. "'There's no way. My character leaves at the end of the movie, so even if there was a sequel, I wouldn't be in it.' And here we are."
Where Hannigan is, exactly, is Atlanta, filming "American Reunion." Thirteen years after Jim and co. pledged to lose their virginity, their high school reunion brings them all back together. And as unlikely as it seems that the kid who crotch dived into a pie is the father of perky band girl's child, that progeny is a major player in the new film. Continuing the pattern, Hannigan has a child now, too.
"I haven't met my child yet for the film but I'll meet him today, I hope he likes me and I hope my daughter doesn't get jealous that I'm holding some other kid. I'll have some explaining to do," she laughed. "Like, 'why is that kid calling you mommy?' I don't know how old the actor kid is, but he's playing two, and my daughter's two, so they're probably in the same ballpark. I'm hoping they're in the same weight category, because I'm only just holding my daughter who is 25 pounds, if he's much heavier, I could struggle."
Which, of course, would actually be pretty funny.
Beyond the child, though, there are many old cast members to catch up with. If you've imagined what crazy paths Stiffler, Finch, Jim and the gang may have taken, you may just see them on the big screen. And that real life awkwardness at high school reunions? Not in this one.
In what is becoming one of the most meta marketing campaigns in recent movie memory, Disney has released a new trailer for their upcoming film, "The Muppets." And it's even more self-aware than ever.
The third in its movie parody series, "Being Green" spoofs the upcoming superhero epic, "The Green Lantern," the Ryan Reynolds-flick set for release this weekend. Kermit, of course, takes on the green hero role, and a Reynolds-esque voiceover plays throughout.
But in what is a new twist, Jason Segal, who wrote and is co-starring in the film, actually revolts against the concept against fake trailers. Within the fake trailer. Mind blowing.
Fishermen are gearing up and hunters are taking aim – for Marcellus Shale gas drilling. A new coalition of outdoors groups is emerging as a potent force in the debate over natural gas drilling. The Sportsmen Alliance for Marcellus Conservation isn't against the process of fracking for gas, but its members want to make sure the rush to cash in on the valuable resource doesn't damage streams, forests, and the various creatures that call those places home.
The movement grew out of grass-roots anger as passionate outdoorsmen found their questions about drilling and wildlife brought few answers from local or state officials.
"Either we didn't get a response or the answer we got didn't seem feasible or acceptable. It didn't seem like the people who were in charge had their pulse on what was actually happening," said Ken Dufalla of Clarksville, Pa.
Energy companies have identified major reserves of natural gas throughout the Marcellus Shale, which underlies much of New York and Pennsylvania, and parts of Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia.
More than 3,300 wells have been drilled across Pennsylvania in just the last few years. The boom has raised concerns about the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a drilling technique in which water, sand and a small amount of chemicals are used to open gas-bearing shale formations deep underground.
Already, preliminary water testing by sportsmen is showing consistently high levels of bromides and total dissolved solids in some streams near fracking operations, Dufalla said. Bromide is a salt that reacts with the chlorine disinfectants used by drinking water systems and creates trihalomethanes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says trihalomethanes can be harmful to people who drink water with elevated levels for many years.
Dufalla stands alongside Whiteley Creek, a little mountain stream in Greene County. But something is wrong. The grass is lush and the woods are green, but the water is cloudy and dead-looking.
"It used to be a nice stream," teeming with minnows, crawfish and other aquatic life, he told The Associated Press. No more, said Dufalla, a former deputy game and fish warden for Pennsylvania.
A prominent Chinese political activist imprisoned for sedition was released Sunday at the end of his more than three-year sentence, his wife said, though his freedom could be limited by continued surveillance.
A major figure in China's dissident community, Hu Jia advocated a broad range of civil liberties before he was imprisoned in 2008. His 3 1/2-year prison sentence was set to end Sunday.
He returned home before dawn, Hu's wife Zeng Jinyan said in an online message. "Safe, very happy. Needs to recuperate for a period of time," Zeng said in a Twitter message.
No one answered Zeng's phones on Sunday, but she had said earlier she would announce his release on Twitter. She had visited him on Monday at the Beijing Municipal Prison.
Hu, 37, is known for his activism with AIDS patients and orphans. The sedition charge stems from police accusations that he planned to work with foreigners to disturb the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Hu's release comes amid one of the Chinese government's broadest campaigns of repression in years as Beijing has moved to prevent the growth of an Arab-style protest movement.
Like other dissidents released recently from jail, Hu might be kept under some sort of continued detention in his home, although such restrictions are illegal in China.
Hu's release comes several days after outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei were released after nearly three months in detention. He was one of the most prominent activists detained in China's sweeping crackdown on dissent, which began in February
A close friend of the British prime minister was found dead in a portable toilet at one of the country's leading music festivals Sunday, authorities said.
Christopher Shale died in unexplained circumstances in the VIP area of the Glastonbury Festival, an entertainment extravaganza that's one of the fixtures of Britain's music calendar.
Shale, who was in his 50s, chaired the Conservative Association in David Cameron's West Oxfordshire constituency, and in a statement Cameron said he and his wife Samantha were devastated by the news.
"He was a great friend and has been a huge support over the last decade," Cameron said. "A big rock in my life has suddenly been rolled away ... like so many others Sam and I have lost a close and valued friend."
Shale was staying in a restricted, celebrity-packed area of the festival, which is held on a farm in southwestern England and has drawn some 170,000 people. He was discovered by police shortly after 9 a.m. Festival organizer Michael Eavis said he was told the incident was "a suicide situation" but police have yet to confirm that.
"It is only a couple of hours ago," Inspector Chris Morgan said. "We are still working on establishing a cause of death."
News of the death comes the same day as Shale was quoted in a national newspaper as describing the weakness of his association in unusually frank terms.
LeAnn Rimes, who is frequently criticised for being ‘too skinny’, is very outspoken when it comes to body image issues - and she recently published an article on her website where she discusses the topic:
“Imagine – your dad, who you idolize, walks into your bathroom one morning. You’re in the 11th grade. He lovingly asks you, ‘When are you going to take care of yourself and lose some weight?’ He doesn’t mean anything by it other than, ‘I love you and want to see you happy and healthy.’ But he didn’t exactly say that. In your young mind, he said what all of the other girls in school say to a beautiful, normal girl—’You’re fat.
I could tell you a similar story, in one way or another, about each and every one of my girlfriends. And I bet a lot of you can too. We could probably say the same story about girls we’ve never even met. Would you then think before you spoke? We are all made with the design for our bodies to change in many different ways as our lives unfold.
The highs and lows of the 52-year-old singer’s phenomenal career — which has spanned almost 30 years — will be encapsulated in a 32-page graphic novel produced by publishers Bluewater Productions Inc. as part of their Female Force series, which has previously featured the likes of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Sarah Palin and Barbara Walters.
“Our goal is to show the little-known events and influences that resulted in Madonna becoming the phenomenon she remains to this day, more than a quarter-century after she burst upon the scene,” said Jason Schultz, executive vice president of Bluewater.
“A visual medium provides perspective that is not only accessible but more relatable to the average person without losing any of the information involved.”
Penned by C.W. Cooke and drawn by Michael Johnson, the comic book is due for release in August.
