"Boobies, Boobies, Boobies" - Neely O'hara "Valley of the Dolls"
Rumor has it that 20th Century Fox are courting Madonna to play the indomitable aging diva Helen Lawson in a remake of "Valley of the Dolls." Given the infamous quote above spouted in the original by Patty Duke as Neely O'Hara and Madonna's obvious affinity for the role, the Big M is a dead on choice for Helen...Here is the 411!
The “new” Valley of the Dolls, will have a decidedly different “spin” on the original with L.A.’s music business being a big part of the story, particularly with the Neely O’Hara character (Patty Duke) the up and coming star who makes it big and has a major fall from grace. One of the writers of the new VOTD is Paul Rudnick, who did the “First Wives Club” and “In and Out." There will be a dark comedy aspect to the film.
Actresses on the “A List” for this movie are Anne Hathaway, perfect as the prim Anne Welles, Jennifer Lawrence as Jennifer North (the fallen Angel played by Sharon Tate) and Emmy Rossum as Neely O’ Hara, and producers are lobbying hard to get Madonna to play the aging Broadway star Helen Lawson, a role intended for Judy Garland in the original movie.
Lindsay Lohan: I'm Neely O'Hara!
I love all the choices especially the one of Jennifer Lawrence, one of my favorite actresses who would be dead on as Jennifer North. But if you really want to make this happen I would personally cast Lindsay Lohan as Neely O'Hara, no offense Emmy Rossum, just sayin'....
It’s a Cho, Cho World - with season four of “Drop Dead Diva” already in full swing & her upcoming comedy tour “Mother” not to mention her too cool for school guest spot as Kim Jong Il on “30 Rock” Margaret Cho is in your face B!tches!
She even caught the attention of the Fred Phelps comedy troupe known as The Westboro Baptist Church, who called her a “Lying Pervert” uh, ok, we Cho fans already knew that, duh!
MS: Hi “Lying Pervert“.
MC: It’s true, when I read that I was kind of like, well, yes! I think that’s fine.
MS: The Westboro Baptist Church is so over the top, I find the the sh!t they say oddly funny.
MC: It’s really kind of flattering. Once they had a big picture of Elizabeth Taylor with the words “Fag Hag” underneath it. I thought it was just so flattering, some sort of signage for people who support gay rights, it’s really kind of amazing.
MS: BTW I watched the season four premiere of “Drop Dead Diva” you look like you are having a blast on that show!
MC: Yes, I have a really good time and I really love the cast. They are all really talented actors and we have really amazing guest stars all the time, which is a lot of fun. My favorite this year have been, Patty Duke…and I didn’t even get to meet Kim Kardashian, but I guess she is coming back soon, so hopefully I will get to see her. We’re always having all sorts of fun people drop in. It’s a great place to be for shooting “Drop Dead Diva“, Atlanta, GA, people are here everyday. Kathy Griffin just came through this past weekend and that was a lot of fun. It’s a cool place to be and being part of cast for four years and playing a character for four years is really great.
MS: The chemistry between the actors on the show rocks. I did watch the season four premiere before we spoke, Kim Kardashian wasn’t bad actually.
MC: She was good.
MS: Let's talk about your upcoming tour “Mother”.
Photo: Austin Young
MC: I have to put my tour schedule together for six months out of the year, because the other six months I am working on “Drop Dead Diva”. Every once in a while I’ll be able to get out and do a gig, but that’s pretty rare, finally I’m actually getting to go back out on the road. People have talked about my “Mother” impression all throughout my career, I wanted to do a show that was just, full on about her (laughs). It’s also about how I have become a “Mother” for the Queer community, I became a maternal figure within that context. This show is about my Mom, dedicated to Mom’s and about a Mom, which would be me I guess. (laughs)
MS: Do you ever want kids for real?
MC: No, no, I mean it is a possibility, it’s important to think, that even if I am not an actual “Mother” I still have to be there for Queer/LGBT young kids. You have to be there as an adult figure within the Queer community. We all have to do that it’s an important thing. In my generation I lost a lot of people that I looked up to in the Queer community. People that are “Generation X’ers” have to have much more of a parental influence to bridge that gap.
MS: There are plenty of people that I do that with. Since we were on the subject of Mom’s I had never really asked you if you wanted to become one, so I had to go there.
MC: You sort of become one by default, in the sense that when you age and get older you just become a kind of a “Mother” even if you don’t literally have child, you have one, we all do.
MS: I caught your guest stint on “30 Rock” as North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Il, you played a guy, but it really worked.
MC: Oh yeah, it was insane because I looked just like him. When I went outside, I was standing there in the bald cap and the wig…I got cruised by this hot older Bear. He thought I was a hot young Asian Bear, I’m like: “ I just got “Bear Cruised” - but I could not follow through on it exactly because I am sure he did not know I was a woman. (laughs)
MS: Yeah, I did not recognize it was you right off.
MC: It’s so crazy how much I look like him, it’s really scary.
MS: Tina Fey said it was one of her proudest moments on the show, having you on as Kim Jong Il, how cool is that?
MC: I really love her and am so proud to have been on the show and have played that character, I am actually North Korean. To be from there and to be isolated from my family because of this dictator, and to be able to make fun of him is a great thing, but it is also pretty sad too, it’s a weird situation.
MS: When he died what were your thoughts?
MC: I was hoping there would be some sort of a change, that it would be time for that country to open up, but that hasn’t happened obviously it has gotten a bit worse. There is less contact, less communication and less scrutiny.
MS: How’s your music going?
MC: I will be doing some music on “Drop Dead Diva” this year.
MS: Very cool!
MC: Also I am so excited to go out on tour as well!
MS: Out of everything you do is touring your favorite?
MC: Touring is and will always be my favorite job! I really love stand-up.
Margaret Cho is not a “Lying Pervert” keep up with her at: www.margaretcho.com
.jpg)
