people and celebrities

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- After making his signature years ago playing a nice guy in prime time, Neil Patrick Harris loves his chance at being a weasel. He just refuses to take much credit for it.

"Barney Stinson has a voice like no other," he says of his "How I Met Your Mother" character, "but the credit for him goes to the writers, truly."

The description "holiday movie" usually just means it comes out around Thanksgiving or Christmas. Some films, however, take that designation literally. This season there is "Four Christmases," in which Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn are forced to spend Dec. 25 with each of their divorced parents after the flight the couple had booked to Fiji is canceled.

After a week of missed connections, Jean-Claude Van Damme is calling from Bangkok, Thailand, apologizing for the early hour in his instantly recognizable French-Belgian accent: "Please, call me J.C."

On his first try, Sam Mendes won a Best Director Oscar for 1999's "American Beauty," which also was awarded Best Picture. He recalls thinking, "I have got that over with. Now I can go on and make movies. That is a huge gift."

Keeping up is hard to do with 69-year-old songwriting genius Neil Sedaka. He's now churning out not only pop hits but symphonies, a children's album and an upcoming salsa number.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Actor David Keith is suing an Alabama man he says promised to finance his movie but pulled out after Keith had worked on the project for a year.

Attorneys Gregory P. Isaacs and John T. Johnson Jr. filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court Thursday against Davis Lee and Alatrade Foods LLC, alleging breach of contract.

As far as Paul Rudd is concerned, there is only one way a comic actor can spell relief.

W-O-R-K.

Ron Perlman and Katey Sagal are compelling as the leads of the television motorcycle-club drama "Sons of Anarchy." But fans of biker cinema had to be just as excited about the supporting cast, including Mark Boone Junior, Kim Coates and William Lucking -- each of whom has ridden motorcycles during their excellent careers as character actors.

It takes a certain kind of actor to look right on a motorcycle. Over the years, the majority of TV and movie stars have looked as if they don't know what they're doing when they straddle a bike -- and some actors who became famous playing a motorcycle-riding character always looked out of place.

Award-winning actress Chandra Wilson, 39, of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," trades in her stethoscope as Dr. Miranda Bailey for life on the streets as a homeless woman in Hallmark Channel's original movie "An Accidental Friendship," which airs 9 p.m. EST Saturday. The film is based on a true story about a policewoman who befriends a homeless woman.