Philipps’ memoir gets busy in starry ‘Hurt’
Busy Philipps isn’t holding anything back in her new memoir.
“This Will Only Hurt a Little” (Touchstone, 320 pp.) details all the memorable moments from the actress’ life, from dislocating her knee in a middle school mosh pit to her campaign to become the first female host of “The Tonight Show.” (Meanwhile, her own talk show, “Busy Tonight,” makes its debut Oct. 28 at 10 p.m. EDT on E!)
Two revelations made advance headlines: a story alleging James Franco assaulted her on the set of “Freaks and Geeks” and another about receiving “absolution” from Pope John Paul II after getting an abortion as a teenager.
Working in Hollywood since her late teens on shows such as “Freaks and Geeks,” “Dawson’s Creek” and “Cougar Town,” Philipps, 39, has more than a handful of stories to tell about the showbiz industry.
Here are six interesting celebrity anecdotes:
1. James Franco was ‘weird and intense’
Aside from the allegation that Franco screamed in her face before he “threw me to the ground. Flat on my back. Wind knocked out of me” during a scene for “Freaks and Geeks,” Philipps writes that she thought he was “weird and intense and his whole vibe both annoyed and intimidated me.”
She says he would often carry a copy of Dante’s “Inferno” around the “Freaks and Geeks” set.
2. A Lady Gaga moment on election night
Philipps was at Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election night party in New York and started to get visibly upset when Donald Trump began pulling ahead. Lady Gaga, who noticed Philipps crying from across the room, pointed at her and shouted, “NO! WE NEED POSITIVITY!!!!!! NO TEARS! THIS ISN’T OVER!”
3. Kristin Chenoweth – a life-size Barbie?
As a teenager, Philipps worked acting as a life-size Barbie doll in New York City toy fairs. Another actress once pointed out a fellow Barbie, who apparently turned down an offer to play Maureen in “Rent” on Broadway because of religious beliefs.
Philipps writes that she’s never been able to verify it, but she’s almost certain “the petite singing religious girl was Kristin Chenoweth, two years before the revival of ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,’ for which she won her first Tony Award.”
4. Linda Cardellini’s invite to join ‘Freaks’
During her “Freaks and Geeks” days, Philipps would hang out in Cardellini’s trailer between scenes, where the two would lie on the floor and talk about their careers.
It was Cardellini who convinced her to join the show. They ran into each other in an airport, where Cardellini said she would be starring as Lindsay Weir and pleaded with Philipps to join the cast. “Dude! You HAVE to do ‘Freaks and Geeks,’ ” she said. “It’ll be so much FUN! We’ll do it TOGETHER!”
Philipps called her agent the next morning and accepted a part.
5. Seth Rogen gets to graduate
When “Freaks and Geeks” was canceled after the first season, writer/director Judd Apatow and creator Paul Feig threw the mostly teenage cast a prom-themed wrap party. Rogen, who finished his high school education on-set with a tutor, was awarded his real-life diploma halfway through the party.
6. Michelle Williams’ marital advice
Still very close friends to this day, Williams and Philipps met on the set of “Dawson’s Creek,” which Philipps joined in Season 5.
“I liked her immediately,” Philipps writes of their first meeting, during which Williams offered her a Fig Newton. “She talked quietly, as if the things she was saying were just for me, but I loved when she would have moments of laughing loudly or shrieking in agreement at something I had said.”
More recently, Williams helped talk Philipps out of divorcing her husband, Marc Silverstein. The couple, married since 2007, have reconciled.