It’s a gorgeous Malibu day and I’m sitting in the lobby of a luxury beachfront hotel, gazing out the window at a sky so blue and perfect it takes my breath away, and then he walks in. The blue eyes trump the sky in color and intensity, and seem to literally twinkle. The familiar, chiseled face that has stared back at me from the large and small screen is still gorgeous at 56, and although he’s not wearing a tux — and is in fact dressed “Malibu casual” — there is an air of urbane elegance that clings to him like a second skin. There is star quality and then there is movie-star quality and let me tell you, folks, there is a very big difference. Although there are lots of good-looking men in Malibu and vicinity, as well as plenty of good-looking actors all over Southern California, there is only one Pierce Brosnan. As we settle into our booth in the dining room, the previously unflappable concierge blushes to the roots of her hairline and the waitress’s hands tremble as she takes our order. The once quiet room seems to hum with the whispers of the “ladies who lunch,” who have begun to notice his arrival. This is a man who by the very act of entering a room can turn women of all ages into sighing, whimpering masses of jellylike substance, and he’s

The rise of David Arquette was inevitable, when viewed from a historical perspective. His greatgrandparents were vaudeville duo Arquette and Clark. His grandfather was Cliff Arquette, who carved himself a niche as TV’s Charley Weaver, a “Jack Paar Show” regular. His father was Lewis Arquette, a journeyman actor and comedian, a recurring character on “The Waltons,” and a prolific day player, showing up on “Barney Miller,” “Fantasy Island,” “Simon and Simon,” “Remington Steele,” “Seinfeld,” and dozens of other popular television shows. A straight shot from the earliest days of American show business, through the dawn of television and the rat race of primetime, the youngest star in the Arquette dynasty was a long time coming. And alongside siblings Rosanna, Patricia, Richmond, and Alexis, the offbeat performer carries the torch of a hundred-year-old family tradition.

Claire Danes’ blond hair gleams like pure gold in the sunlight streaming through the windows of the Soho Grand on an early winter afternoon. Her slender figure is layered with classic clothes that keep her warm in style. She orders a cup of mint tea and holds it firmly between her palms to enjoy the heat. She laughs sweetly at times, and adopts a serious tone when speaking about her craft.

 Jeff Bridges turned sixty on December 4th, and he is still as gorgeous as ever. The veteran actor strides into the photo shoot looking fit and youthful; he exudes warmth and a laid back energy, and genuinely makes you feel that he is happy to be there. Most actors don’t love doing press, even if they love the movie they’ve made as much as Bridges does. Currently, Bridges is starring in the indie drama Crazy Heart from writer-director Scott Cooper. Bridges portrays Bad Blake, a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who travels the Southwest playing dive after dive. Bad is a hard-living guy who’s had a few too many marriages, far too many years on the road, and one too many drinks way too many times. His performance has already earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead and

From sitcom stardom to big-screen blockbusters, Woody Harrelson can’t be pinned down. He’s played a naive bartender, a basketball hustler, an unconscionable killer, and a porn tycoon, and has made it all flow. Harrelson’s range was scarcely pre­dicted when he showed up to replace Coach on NBC’s “Cheers” back in 1985. His character, who by sheer coincidence was also named Woody, was childlike, senti­mental, a little slow on the uptake, and instantly embraced by audiences upon his arrival in season four. He assumed his place as an essential member of an ensemble cast on a show that endures as a landmark in television history. Harrelson had made his film debut in Wildcats (1986) with Goldie Hawn, but it wasn’t until the seventh of his eight seasons on “Cheers” that he stepped back into features. His transition was impressive, with White Men Can’t Jump (1992) and Indecent Proposal (1993) both opening number-one at the box office — but no one could have foreseen what happened next. Oliver Stone handpicked Harrel­son to star as serial killer, Mickey Knox, in 1994’s blood-steeped, pathological, romance-thriller dreamscape, Natural Born Killers. Side by side with Juliette Lewis’ Mallory Knox, the two slaugh­tered their way to pop stardom, and transformed both perform­ers into icons.

Once establishing himself as impervious to typecasting, Harrel­son continued to take on a diverse array of roles, including rub­ber-handed bowling champion, Roy Munson, in the Farrelly Brothers’ gorgeous gross-out comedy, Kingpin (1996); ex-con, Harry Barber, in the modern film noir, Palmetto (1998); and singing cowboy, Dusty, in Robert Altman’s final film, A Prairie Home Com­panion (2006). And it was his turn in the title role of Milos For­man’s The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) that cemented the Lebanon, Ohio-raised lead as a master of his craft. His com­manding performance as the adult-entertainment luminary and unlikely patron of the First Amendment earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

After 18 Years of Acting, the Star of Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse” Comes Into Her Own. As Echo/Caroline on Fox’s “Dollhouse,” Eliza Dushku is a different character every week, depending on what the clients who pay to have her programmed want. As Dushku sits in her trailer on the Fox lot to talk with Venice, we find there are some def­inite similarities between the actress and her TV alter-ego.