Toil 'n' Troubled

By Ted Casablanca Jun 28, 2007 12:25 PMTags
With the summer heat in full force, when are celebs at their moistest? And what past jobs do Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller wish they could forget about? Grab a cold one, 'cause we've got the sizzling scoop from H'wood and beyond!
Kabluey, a flick about family and making ends meet, premiered this week at the L.A. Film Fest. The cast, including Lisa Kudrow, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Christine Taylor, cut it up afterward at the Moving Pictures mag postsoiree. In the movie, one character takes a job as a big blue company mascot to help pay the bills. So, we were curious as to what crummy jobs Taylor had taken before hitting it big.

"I've been so lucky, because the jobs I had before I was an actress were actually kinda fun," giggled a bubbly, blond Christine, decked in a tight, green frock. "I was a lifeguard at a swimming pool. I never had to really save lives—I just got a tan. But I've been in some bad movies! I can't name them, because you don't want to burn bridges."

John Sciulli/WireImage.com

Oh, I can name some...Room 6, anyone? Surely her hilarious hubby, Ben Stiller, had some bad gigs to bitch about?

"The jobs I've done weren't bad—I was just bad at them," Ben dished. "I was a horrible busboy and the worst waiter. I would be very interested in people's conversations when I would go to clean their tables, and I think people picked up on that. I never managed to master the technique of the ashtray change out, where you put the new one on top of the old one. I bagged garbage at a camera store."
Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Hmmm...sounds semipainful, but I still say the prize for suckiest job ever done by a celeb goes to Brad Pitt for being the El Pollo Loco chicken. Readers, suckiest pro sitch you've ever endured? 

Me? Construction work in Texas. Not only was it more than 100 degrees every day that summer, I got stuck digging ditches around the sewage pipes. Who knew one day I'd be doing this for a full-time job!
ALM 138/ZumaPress.com
I'm told by publishing sources that Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas are mucho interested in my pal Anna David's book, Party Girl. Just out from HarperCollins, it's a thinly veiled novel about Anna's days as a drug- and booze-addled journalist and a dame who doesn't exactly discriminate between penises. But then, this character sobers up and decides to trade raunchy revelry for rehab—so last season on Oprah—but Anna, a mucho talented words wizard, 'course, manages to make it all work.
Albert L. Ortega/WireImage.com
Oh, and there's some bit in there about working as a party reporter for a certain rag Anna and I both used to toil at and how hard that gig happened to be as a nonimbibing broad. But I think the book's much grander than that: You know, bad girl gets even badder (as in, even), and she didn't have to get loaded in the process!
Melanie and Antonio, should you buy Anna's tome, don't tell me you'll be executive producing this for Lindsay. Please. I think the fun tale—sort of a Devil Wears Prada for the painkiller 'n' pad set—should go to that great pretend slut-goddess, Mandy Moore.
With the BET Awards going down Tuesday in Hell-Ay, some of hip-hop's fiercest came out to the first My Black Is Beautiful pre-awards dinner, hosted by Debra Lee, chairman and CEO of BET, Monday night. The event was emceed by Wild 'N Out's Nick Cannon, and the do was anything but...wild, that is.
Maury Phillips/WireImage.com
At Boulevard3 in WeHo, Nelly, Ashanti, Tyrese, T.I., LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes and Gabrielle Union came out to coo for the cameras. Smashing would much better describe everyone, so I had to ask peeps when they're at their most beautiful? "Definitely not in the morning," a smiling LL replied, eagerly making his way inside.
Paul Fenton/ZUMApress.com

To the contrary, Tyrese, who was looking absolutely doable in a black Dolce suit, offered, "When I wake up in the morning." T. then started laughing with his amigo and R&B bud, Tank: "I have to tell you one of my best pickup lines." 

Oh, please do! Although I'm not sure, prior to my engagement, I would have needed a line to go home with munchable T. So, here goes: "It must be incredible waking up to yourself every morning," Mr. T. offered as his mattress-worthy wowin' words. 

Eh, come again?

This utterance by the fine-lookin' dude makes girls forget their fear of the "morning-after look," Ty claimed. Apparently, this prenooky nonsense actually works for the guy, who knew.
1591/Most Wanted/ZUMAPress.com
Oh, wait! And in regard to Paris Hilton's release from Lynwood, Tyrese offered nothing but good thoughts for our fave jail babe. He purred: "I love her. I'm happy she's coming out. Hope she had a little time to think about her life and to think about the people in her life who never supported her when she was behind bars. You know who your real friends are when you're on your back."
Guess we’ll wait and see if Paris will kick some old frenemies to the bad-girl curb (along with that sometimes racist mouth of hers, already!).