Source(s): Singersroom, Lifetime

A couple of weeks ago we told you about a new Lifetime movie, titled Call Me Crazy: A Five Film, starring Jennifer Hudson, Octavia Spencer, Brittany Snow, Ashley Judd, Chelsea Handler, Melanie Griffith and many other notables. Executive produced by Jennifer Anniston, the film will tackle mental illness

As previously stated, Call Me Crazy will consist of five shorts that follow the lives of five different characters impacted by mental illness. Spencer will be playing a psychotherapist, while Hudson will be playing a female soldier who is struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The network released an extended trailer for the film recently, and if the movie is as good as the trailer paints it out to be, then we are in for quite a treat. It really seems like the movie will offer an informative depiction of what life is like for those struggling with mental illness, while squashing silly stigmas that many of us have unknowingly picked up over the years.

“What’s it like hearing the voices?” Jason Ritter’s character asks Brittany Snow’s character, a law student who has learned that she’s been living with Schizophrenia.

“It’s terrifying,” she responds.

In another scene Hudson sheds light on the conflict faced by those who suffer from PTSD in silence, as they attempt to protect the military’s reputation.

“PTSD is real,” one character expresses.

“And it makes the miliatary look bad,” Hudson’s character regretfully chimes in.

The trailer closes with an emotional Hudson saying, “I don’t want people looking at me like I’m crazy.”

Call Me Crazy: A Five Film premieres on Lifetime Saturday, April 20th at 8 pm.

Turn the page for a first look.

The next Lifetime movie will be an A-list actor, star-studded event, including a couple of our favorites, Academy Award winners Jennifer Hudson and Octavia Spencer. The film, Call Me Crazy: A Five Film tells five interwoven stories each dealing with a type of mental illness. In addition to Hudson and Spencer, the film will also star Melanie Griffith, Chelsea Handler and Ashley Judd and Jennifer Aniston will be behind the camera acting as one of the film’s executive producers. Here’s what she had to say about the project:

“When we started researching this topic, we were all surprised to learn that one in four adults lives with some sort of mental illness. With so many people dealing with this in their private lives, there is still so much stigma and shame. It’s time we bring it out of the closet and into the light of day.”

In the first of the five films, a law student is shocked to learn she is living with schizophrenia. Octavia Spencer will play a psychotherapist in this film. In the second, a teenage daughter is struggling to help her mother living with bipolar disorder. The third film, a comedy, lightens the mood as a family adjusts to  a daughter returning home from an inpatient treatment center. In the fourth, a comedian is suffering from depression. And in the last, a female solider, played by Jennifer Hudson, returns from war to a husband and son and has to adjust to life living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD.)

It sounds like a whole lot but Lifetime has never been known to shy away from the tough, touchy issues and mental illness is far too prevalent to be ignored.

The Lifetime movie will air on Saturday, April 20 at 8pm.

If you want more information on the film, including info about the all star cast, read the full press release here.

Will you check this movie out?

FayesVision/WENN/com

There are few people in this world who can say they’ve made it to a certain level in their careers without hard work and perhaps, someone who didn’t mind lending a helping hand.

Oscar winner Octavia Spencer has taken it upon herself to lend that hand in her industry. EURweb is reporting that Spencer is currently holding a contest on her Facebook page for aspiring filmmakers. She explained that she knows the struggle of “making it big” in the industry because it was the same way with her and many of her friends.  As she stated:

“What many people don’t know is that it takes an average of 15 years to become an over night success. At least that’s how long it took me and my friends. But, in that time you must create and continue to hone your skills. If you are a musician, write poetry and turn it into an amazing song. If you are a filmmaker write a short and shoot it. I’ve done it twice now. I know it’s not easy. Two of my friends shot beautiful, award winning shorts on the CANON EOS 60D. One of those films was shortlisted to potentially receive an Oscar nomination yesterday. Trust me I know money is tight.  So, in honor of Award Season, I’d like to help someone else see their dream realized.”

Each film, which must be in short form, must be posted right on her page and cannot exceed 20 minutes in length. All filmmakers can enter as many films as they’d like but can only submit each film once.  The winner will receive a Canon EOS 60D, Platinum 6000 digital tripod and $1,000. The second and third place winners will receive $500 and $250, respectively.

All entries must be submitted before February 10th and the winner will be announced during Oscar weekend (the show will air live on February 24th).

This is a wonderful thing Spencer is doing. Not only is she encouraging up and coming artists by sharing her story (which clearly hasn’t been easy), but she’s also doing her part to further a filmmaker’s talents. There’s something to be said for a person who sees that their success can be used to build up someone else.

If you’ve got a film or have been thinking about making one, get to it and submit!

From The Grio

Fruitvale, a narrative film that depicts the last 24-hours of Oscar Grant’s life, ending with his shooting death by a transit officer, is one of the most buzzed-out films premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

The new film marks Ryan Coogler’s directorial debut.  The 26-year-old filmmaker and USC graduate is also the film’s writer.

Based on a true story, Fruitvale stars Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle) as 22-year-old Oscar Grant.

Read more at TheGrio.com.

Source: Getty Images

If ensemble casts are your thing, you should definitely be checking for the upcoming flick “Baggage Claim.” A few months back we told you how Paula Patton snagged the lead role, which was originally thought to be going to Taraji P. Henson, in the film about a 35-year-old flight attendant who is the oldest person in her family to not be married and who is insanely jealous of her little sister’s recent engagement. Well now we know who will be playing the part of the little sister, none other than Miss “New New” herself, Lauren London.

In an interview with The Life Files, Lauren talked about her new role in the Fox film which is slated to hit theaters next spring, saying:

“Paula is great, we were destined to play sisters… Its our dynamic.  Between shooting Baggage Claim and prepping for The Game, everything is moving at the speed of life… Its a good time, I’m excited to share these new characters with the world.”

Lauren and Paula are just the tip of the celebrity iceberg when it comes to the names attached to this flick. Taye Diggs, Derek Luke, Adam Brody, Jill Scott, and Octavia Spencer are all said to be a part of the cast along with aspiring actress Lala Anthony who will play Paula’s energetic coworker and accomplice. Lauren’s old boo-thang Trey Songz has a part in the film too as a “hot shot record producer with plenty of ‘swag.’”  Interesting…

“Baggage Claim” is based on a novel of the same name by David E. Talbert who is also writing, directing, and producing this film adaptation. Let’s hope the acting comes through. What do you think about this cast so far?

Source:Getty Images

From The Grio

Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis and newcomer Danai Gurira dazzled on the arrivals carpet for the 19th annual Elle magazine Women in Hollywood Celebration held yesterday at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills. The yearly awards ceremony honored a bevy of iconic women this year, and drew a throng of supporters who cheered on those awarded.

Read more at The Grio

I’m sure you’ve seen a newscast, a photo gallery, or something online where one celebrity was mistaken for another. People do it all the time! How many times have you looked at a photo of “New Girl” star, Zooey Deschanel and thought you were seeing Katy Perry? Sometimes it’s understandable confusion. But with a lot of black celebrities, the mistakes can be head-scratch worthy. From women being mistaken for men and people of two totally different complexions and sizes being mistaken for the same person, sometimes this ish gets out of hand. For example…

T. Whiteside for Elle

For ELLE magazine’s new “Women in Hollywood” issue, the magazine enlisted not only women like Sarah Jessica Parker for the cover (a usual face–don’t front), they also asked sista girl Octavia Spencer to sit and get glammed up for her own separate magazine cover. The Oscar-winning actress, who made a huge name for herself after playing the outspoken, headstrong maid, Minny, in The Help, put on her big hair and some fly fashions for the shoot. Inside the magazine, Spencer talked about the bullying she had to deal with in Hollywood as she tried to make a name for herself. In fact, she called out, without naming names specifically, a famous producer who tried to play her in front of a group of people in a crowded office, and told the magazine that even though he made her cry, she had to put him in his place first:

“Early on I had to stand up to a producer – I won’t say who, but he is famous, famous.  He dressed me down in a crowded office.  I told him right there in front of a hundred people, ‘You don’t know me well enough to use that tone’…And then I ran to the bathroom and cried like a baby.  But he never addressed me that way again.  And he is known as a yeller.”

I know that’s right! I think we’ve all heard the stories from celebrities about rude and/or very thirsty movers and shakers in Hollywood who use their clout to make people do just about anything, or treat them like crap. Good to see Spencer pulled her backbone out and stood up for herself, and of course, knew that a smart lady always cries like a baby in the bathroom–never in public. *winks*

If you’re aching to find out what else Spencer had to say in her interview, you know what to do–pick up the new issue of Elle when it drops on newsstands on Oct. 16!But in the meantime, check out more foxy images of this very lovable lady.

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Source: WENN

Winning an Oscar is said to be the pinnacle of an actor’s career, but is walking away with a gold statue and recognition from your peers really worth anything tangible, like better movie roles and more money? Octavia Spencer says no.

This past award’s season was all about “The Help” actress, and she cleaned up in virtually ever best supporting actress category she was nominated in, from the SAGs to the Golden Globes, and the coveted Academy Awards. Octavia knew the hoopla wasn’t going to be all it was cracked up to be, remarking after she won her Golden Globe, “The studios are still not going to beat down my door unless it’s a small part in a big comedy, and I’ve done those.” Months later, and with an Oscar under her belt, her prophecy is proving to be true. In an interview with The Vulture, the star of the upcoming flick, “Smashed,” talked about how not much has changed since award season when it comes to her career. Here’s a bit of the Q&A:

While you were on set [for "The Help"], did you have a sense that your career was in the middle of a big shift?
No, the reality for me was that I thought my phone would be ringing a lot, and it wasn’t. And this project ["Smashed"] came along, and it was a great film, and it was [prior to] the success of “The Help.” Now, looking back, they get huge kudos from me. So no, because my phone wasn’t ringing off the hook, I didn’t feel like anything was changing.

Well, it must have started ringing at some point, because you have some pretty great projects coming up, like Diablo Cody’s movie andSnow Piercer.
Well, the funny is thing is that I got the Diablo Cody movie and I got “Snow Piercer” before I got any nominations, so I knew I had both of those projects in November. I don’t want to sound as if [I'm complaining]. The reality is that there are so few roles out there for women and for women of color, and I’m a character actor, this I know. And I’m getting to see more of the roles that are out there, but there aren’t many. And zilch have been studio movies. Zilch. So my challenge and my opportunity now is to take the opportunity to create my own work. I’m fine with that.

So what you’re saying is that you booked a lot of roles off The Help, but winning the Oscar — lovely though it may have been — wasn’t necessarily a big needle-mover.
It’s a needle-mover in the sense that I get to go into room and meet with really important people. If that translates into job offers, then we’ll see. It’s a needle-mover, but not that much.

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newsone.com

Octavia Spencer, the recently awarded Oscar winning actress for her role in The Help is not shy about her battles with weight loss. The 5 ft 2 in actress recently underwent a risky gastric bypass surgery and lost a significant amount of weight. Unfortunately, it seems as though she is having a lot of trouble losing any more weight due to her hard to break eating habits

Sources say “The problem is Octavia is always hungry, and she doesn’t want to eat a salad or fish for dinner,”  “Octavia likes her favorites – fried chicken, mashed potatoes and hot rolls with plenty of butter. Once you have that surgery, you can’t eat like that.”

Read more here…

They say old habits die hard, but do you think one should deprive themselves of what they love when it comes to food?