Ahead of this month’s release of The Hangover Part III, The Hollywood Reporter today published an oral history of the wildly successful franchise. Among those interviewed include the stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis as well as producer/director Todd Phillips. The story contains several gems — including one about Heather Graham having to film a Hangover spoof for her agent’s son’s bar mitzvah, yikes — but nothing is quite as interesting as reading about how this surprise hit came together.

Given that neither Cooper nor Galifianakis were major stars when the first movie came out, it’s not really a surprise that they weren’t the first picks to play Alan and Phil. But what if it was Jake Gyllenhaal who was responsible for the group’s unremembered misadventures? Here’s who could have been in the Wolf Pack:

Phil Wenneck: According to The Hollywood Reporter, both Jack Black and Paul Rudd passed on the role of the booze-swilling teacher. There were also “others” who passed before the role eventually went to Bradley Cooper. Cooper recounts he got the role after having met Todd Phillips at an audition for Starsky & Hutch several years earlier.

Alan Garner: This role went through several rewrites before Galifianakis was cast. Initially intended to be a younger brother of the bride-to-be, both Jonah Hill and Jake Gyllenhaal were considered. After he was re-imagined as an older brother, Thomas Haden Church almost got the role.

Perhaps it’s because most people weren’t familiar with any of the stars before The Hangover, but it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the infamous Wolf Pack.

The story also reports that the first Hangover movie earned Phillips nearly $70 million, so we know who’s buying drinks after the third and final movie’s premiere.

Among the most heated races at the Golden Globes are the acting categories. Denzel Washington and Daniel Day-Lewis are in a virtual dead-heat for Best Actor in a drama, while newly Oscar-nominated Bradley Cooper (The Silver Linings Playbook) squares off opposite Les Mis frontrunner Hugh Jackman for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.

On Sunday, January 13, the awards will be handed out, but who will win? Who should win? Let Celebuzz help you figure that out with our guide to the Best Actor nominees.

Just like we did for Best Actress in both drama and musical/comedy, we breakdown each of the talented actors nominated, provide an overview of their performance and the bottom line on their chances of winning.

This year is one of the most competitive ever; so many good actors cranked out some truly great performances. While a Golden Globe win is not a definite precursor to Oscar, it certainly doesn’t hurt one’s chances.

Which actor gets your vote? Tell us in the comments and watch our interview with Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook!

Celebrity photobombs, the gift that kept on giving in 2012.

From One Direction to Justin Timberlake, no star went unscathed in the art of photobombing these past 12 months.

Whether you laughed at Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman sneaking up behind a glamorous Angelina Jolie at the Cannes Film festival, or pondered with bewilderment at Lady Gaga‘s menacing stare down with Katy Perry  — there was no denying Hollywood’s sudden fascination (or, in some cases, participation) in jumping behind the camera for a candid moment.

But, despite the number of funny photos captured this year, there can only be five of the very best. Who exactly are they, you ask? Watch the video for Celebuzz’s countdown!

Which celeb had the funniest or oddest photobomb in 2012? Sound off in the comments!

Jillian Rose Reed is venturing into the paranormal with a guest role on the Jack Black-produced web series, Ghost Ghirls, a Yahoo! Screen series following the adventures of two girl ghostbusters.

Celebuzz has learned exclusively that Reed plays Lizzy, a babysitter who’s busy making out with her boyfriend when she hears creepy sounds from upstairs. But, instead of enlisting the Ghost Ghirls, she hires their competitors, the Ghost Bros.

Reed plays best friend Tamara on MTV’s hit series, Awkward. She has also starred on the network’s third installment of the movie franchise, My Super Psycho Sweet 16. He other parts include a recurring role on Showtime’s Weeds and appearances on NBC’s Community and ABC’s The Middle. She’ll also guest star on Nickelodeon’s Supah Ninjas when the series returns next year.

Ghost Ghirls will premiere its 12-episode first season in Spring 2013. It’s produced by Black’s Electric Dynamite Productions and Shine America. The title roles are played by Amanda Lund and Maria Blasucci.

Last year, the series was reportedly in development with Syfy before Monday’s announcement that it has found a new home on Yahoo! Screen, the web company’s site for syndicated video and original series.

Reed is represented by Don Buchwald & Assoc. and Fortitude & Discover Management.

The Paley Center for Media announced on Monday that not only is it awarding producer Ryan Murphy its first-ever PaleyFest Icon Award, but also his series NBC’s The New Normal and FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum have been added to the annual TV festival. Murphy will receive his award at PaleyFest’s kickoff event on Wednesday, Feb. 27. The festival previously announced that HBO’s The Newsroom, NBC’s Revolution and ABC’s Once Upon A Time will also take part in the fest. [PaleyFest]

HBO and director Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, The Departed) are partnering up for a documentary on former President Bill Clinton. The doc will feature Clinton recounting his experiences during his two-term presidency from 1993-2001 and his work and life after his service. An airdate has yet to be announced. [HBO]

E! is continuing its scripted series push with Gallerina, a one-hour project about a young girl trying to make her name in the New York City art gallery world. It is being produced by Mark Waters (Mean Girls, Freaky Friday), among others. [Deadline]

Jack Black’s comedy series, Ghost Ghirls, has found a home. It will premiere online in Spring 2013 on Yahoo! Screen. Produced by the comedic actor’s Electric Dynamite Productions and Shine America, the series follows two young female ghostbusters (played by Amanda Lund and Maria Blasucci), who solve the mysteries behind paranormal phenomena. Black, Jake Johnson, Molly Shannon, Jason Schwartzman and other celebrities will make appearances on the paranormal procedural. The 12-episode series began production earlier this month in Los Angeles. The series was previously reported to be in development with SyFy. [Yahoo! Screen]

The Insider is undergoing a makeover. In January 2013, it will return as omg!Insider with new co-host Thea Andrews. Andrews is replacing Brooke Anderson and joining co-anchor Kevin Frazier for the syndicated news magazine’s next iteration. [Deadline]

Sunday Ratings: Sunday Night Football’s San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots game delivered NBC a big win with the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demo and reaching 18.6 million viewers in the 10PM timeslot. CBS scored with the Survivor: Philippines finale with the ad demo as well and 11.7 million viewers in the 9PM slot. But, ABC’s The Bachelorette: Ashley and J.P.’s Wedding failed to attract viewers to the nuptials – topping off at only 3.5 million viewers in its second hour at 10PM. [Zap2it]

Showtime’s Dexter and Homeland broke records for its respective Season 7 and Season 2 finales. Dexter drew in 2.75 million total viewers, making it the highest-rated program in the show’s history. Meanwhile, Homeland hit it out of the park with 2.3 million total viewers with its initial airing and 2.7 million overall for the night. [The Wrap]

Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta delivered its highest-rated episode of the season with over 3.6 million total viewers tuning in on Sunday night, becoming the third highest-rated episode in the history of the series. [Bravo]

Amid the showers of praise on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the unorthodox choice of Seth MacFarlane to host next February’s Oscars, there have been a few voices of dissent. One of those belongs to fellow funnyman Jack Black. A possible Oscar contender himself for his rare dramatic performance earlier this year in Bernie, Black had some harsh words for the animator, who dissed him once on one of his FOX Sunday night cartoons.

Hours after Monday’s announcement from the Academy, New York magazine’s Vulture blog caught up to Black at a cocktail party. Asked what he thought of MacFarlane landing the MC job, Black at first offered faint praise. “I saw him on Saturday Night Live. I thought he was serviceable,” Black said. “It might get tiring if he keeps on doing the voices from Family Guy. He might give that a rest. But I think he has legit comedy chops.”

But then he spoke of his ongoing grudge against the cartoon guru. “I should be against him,” Black said. “I should say he is going to f–k it up, because he made fun of me one time on his show and it made me really mad.”

Where does Black’s grudge against MacFarlane come from?

Asked which of MacFarlane’s three shows insulted him, the School of Rock star replied, “I don’t remember exactly, but it was basically pigeonholing who I am as saying that I am just a guy that relies on being really loud.”

The Tenacious D rocker showed he can do soft, too, in Bernie, where he played the title character, a real-life devious mortician in a small Texas town. It’s a role that has a good shot at earning Black an Oscar nomination, not just because he’s good in it, but also because distributor Millennium Entertainment was smart enough to send screener copies to awards voters before any other eligible movie. In fact, the cocktail party was also an early attempt to promote Bernie even as newer Oscar contenders arrive in theaters.

Asked if the attention he’s getting for Bernie proves the Ted writer/director wrong about him, Black retorted, “Yeah, f–k him. I still haven’t seen the fuzzy-bear movie. Have you?”

At press time, MacFarlane’s camp had yet to respond to Celebuzz‘s request for comment regarding Black’s remarks.

Meanwhile, MacFarlane himself spent part of the day after the announcement of his new gig attending TheGrill, an industry conference in Los Angeles sponsored by The Wrap. Once again, he reassured industry insiders that he would keep the show classy, the way Bob Hope used to, and that he wouldn’t turn the prestigious awards show into an episode of Family Guy.

Nonetheless, he was asked to turn his own appearance at that forum into a brief Family Guy moment, as captured in the video at the top of this article. Asked for Stewie Griffin’s assessment of the current state of the 2012 presidential race, he replied, in the voice of the homicidal, British-accented toddler, “I think, at this point, you know, Obama can walk out onto a stage with his penis out; he’s still going to win.”

You stay classy, Seth.

What do you think of MacFarlane’s hiring as Oscar host? Vote in the poll below, and tell us what you think in the comments.

Disney has done it again.

The studio has rallied funnymen Russell Brand, Will Ferrell, Jack Black and Jason Segel to bring alive Disney’s most famous animated characters as a part of its Dream Portraits campaign.

First launched in 2007, the franchise features celebrities  taking on the likes of The Little Mermaid’s Ursula and The Beauty and the Beast princess Belle for editorial ads shot by world-renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Which characters were brought to life this year?

British comedian Brand took on the role of Peter Pan’s arch nemesis, Captain Hook.

Sporting the villain’s iconic scarlet overcoat and frilly white blouse, Brand, 37, was totally game — even balancing atop of a crocodile’s mouth (albeit a fake one) for the shoot.

Meanwhile, Ferrell, Black and Segel played Phineas, Ezra and Gus — the famous hitchhiking ghosts from Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion ride.

Launch the gallery — above — for behind the scenes photos from the shoot.

This past Friday LA Fashion Weekend at Sunset Gower Studios kicked off in Hollywood, where Celebuzz got an exclusive seat to all of the weekend’s designers as they showed off their hottest new collections. Opening night brought us LA-based designer Anthony Franco’s SS12 presentation where he told us about his past trip to Mexico that inspired his line,

“As soon as we landed there was a sunset and we saw the orange and pink sky meet up with the beautiful blue ocean and at that point I knew my collection was going to have those color pallets. I sort of fused the two between the men’s collection and the women’s.”

The weekend’s lineup continued with shows from the ever creative and fierce Betsey Johnson, Karen Capili, Kelly Nishimoto, Dina Bar-El and Beach Rays. Some of the top buys, industry elite and stylist were among the invitees as well as some of today’s most recognized celebs.

Jack Black was one of the first stars to come out on opening night, along with True Blood star, Tara Buck, Glee’s favorite teacher Matthew Morrison who came out to support his model girlfriend, who walked in the shows all weekend, Angela Simmons sat front row for the Betsey Johnson show, as well Grey’s Anatomy  star Sarah Ramirez,  among others.

The three day celebration consisted of five shows mixed with astonishing formal gowns for all types of celebrations, flowy light-toned beachy wear, cut out party dresses, black, grey and white patterned dresses, body hugging evening wear, fun and flirty sleepwear and of course the fierce girly looks from Betsey Johnson.

Who says you can’t laugh while still promoting a good cause?

Comedy video website Funny Or Die has always featured top celebs in their web projects, but this one in particular may have taken their tradition to new heights. In promoting the 10th anniversary of the Clinton Foundation, former President Bill Clinton makes a cameo in this A-list heavy video which features the likes of Ben Stiller, Matt Damon, Ted Danson, Sean Penn, Kristen Wiig, and Jack Black  to name a few.

In the video, the stars sit at a table to brainstorm ideas for the foundation’s “Celebrity Division.” Lead by Stiller, the brainstorming session becomes unproductive, with Matt becoming persistent in his desire to start a foundation softball team, while Sean Penn is ticked off that someone is eating his lunch that he’s marked with his name on it. 

The final scene of the video has the team pitching their new ideas over the phone to the president himself … or so they believe. We also find out who’s been stealing Penn’s lunch from the fridge. 

Fans may know Matthew McConaughey as a a constantly-shirtless surfer boy but the handsome actor hasn’t forgotten his country roots – The Lincoln Lawyer star sported a cowboy hat and a pretty awesome mustache to the opening night of the LA Film Festival on Thursday, June 16.

Matthew walked the red carpet with his beautiful wife Camilla Alves and was later joined inside the festival by his Bernie co-star Jack Black.

So, what’s up with the hat? McConaughey is a good ol’ Texas boy having grown up in Longview, Texas before taking on Hollywood with his good looks and southern boy charm. As for the mustache, we can’t really explain that – maybe Matt just wanted to get in the Texan character?

Check out more photos from the event and share your thoughts in the comments.

With Father’s Day  approaching, Jack Black is already thinking about how he wants to spend the day. So what does he hope sons Sammy, 4, and Thomas, 3, will do for him?

“Hopefully, I’ll get to sleep in a little longer — two extra hours. And then wake up to a delicious breakfast burrito,” he told Celebuzz at the Kung Fu Panda 2 premiere in New York. Yum!

Watch Celebuzz’s interview with Jack to hear more about how he plans to spend the day with his father and much more!

Although Jack left his kids at home for the NY premiere, he entertained the crowds of young fans at the theater. Acting much like his character Po, the actor admits he almost turned down the part!

“At first, I wasn’t really into it… but then they showed me a clip of panda Po synced to my voice from High Fidelity, and it clicked in my head like ‘Yes. That totally makes sense… My voice in that panda is going to be a funny movie,’” he said.

After showing off his kung fu fighting skills on the red carpet, the actor revealed he hopes to make a third film. “I’d love to do more Kung Fu Panda, but it’s up to the audience to demand that,” he said.

Jack Black found his “inner panda” at the Kung Fu Panda 2 premiere in New York on Tuesday morning. The actor walked the red carpet, showing off his killer kung fu moves and entertaining the crowd of young fans. 

Although Angelina Jolie was a no-show, her co-star Lucy Liu, glammed up for the early premiere in a black and white dress and carried a bright pink clutch.

“It feels like I’m coming back home,” Liu told Celebuzz about returning for the second film.  “I’m really proud of this movie and its powerful message about family and love.”

On Sunday, the entire cast hit the red carpet for the Los Angeles premiere.  Angelina brought along Brad Pitt — while her kids were brought into the premiere through a back entrance.

Angie pulled back her long dark locks in a chic up ‘do and wore a belted black gown that showed plenty of leg.

The Tigress, Po and Shifu take the Kung Fu to France! Angelina Jolie, Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman all showed up at the Cannes Film Festival for the photocall of their highly anticipated animated sequel Kung Fu Panda 2.

While Angelina was dressed in a casual sundress, it was her male costars that were super casual. Dustin wore a jacket and slacks but as far as shoes go, he chose a pair of trainers. Meanwhile, Jack went with a shirt that read “Juan” and a pair of jeans. The three were very friendly as they posed with the panda Po. 

Back in 2008, the voices of the first Kung Fu Panda showed up to Cannes to premiere the film, and Jack revealed to the press that his costar Angelina was in fact expecting. According to Us magazine, the actress, who was preggers with twins Vivienne and Knox, wasn’t too shaken by the slip and even gave Jack’s wife a gift. 

Jack, 41, explained in an interview while in Los Angeles with Angelina: 

“You (Angelina) were preggers, and I spilled the beans. And my wife,Tanya, was like, ‘That is the most amazing maternity dress I’ve ever seen.’ You had this gorgeous gown, and she was less preggers, but she had one on the way as well.”

According to Us, the actor said that Angelina, 35, sent over the maternity dress to his wife because she liked it so much. The actor called it “one of the sweetest gifts of all time.”

Check out the trailer below to see their new film Kung Fu Panda 2.

Angelina Jolie is currently making the press rounds with her Kung Fu Panda 2 costar Jack Black, and every interview seems to go to the same place: having more kids.

When Extra asked about the seventh tattoo she got recently that sparked rumors she was adopting again, Jolie said it’s pretty self explanatory:

“Well if they know that it’s latitude and longitude they would have figured out quickly that it was Brad [Pitt]‘s birthplace. It doesn’t take much investigation to figure that one out. It’s Shawnee, Oklahoma.”

Angie said another adoption isn’t going to happen at this time, but the topic is not taboo with her children.

“We talk very openly in our house, so ‘orphanage’, ‘birth parents’, are happy words in our house,” Jolie tells Extra. That’s a good thing considering adoption is a small theme in Kung Fu Panda 2.

Says Angie:

“They laughed out loud hysterically through the whole thing and they just loved it, and then I was serious-mom-in-the-car and said, ‘Does anyone have any questions?’”

Can’t wait to see Jolie hit the Cannes red carpet alongside Jack Black! The mother of six is so giving, that she even gave Jack Black’s wife her famous green gown from Cannes several years ago when Jolie heard Jack’s wife was expecting and fell in love with the dress.

“It was one of the sweetest gifts of all time,” Black said.

Love it!

While you trudge through slush or battle torrential rains this weekend, be comforted by the fact that weather effects all, even your favorite celebrities.

Whether wind, rain or snow, all celebs have had to deal with the headache of miserable weather, just like the rest of us. Check out our gallery of the stars battling the elements and sound off on bad weather in the comments.

Cameron Diaz raised eyebrows this week when she told talk-show host George Lopez that she had, in all likelihood, purchased marijuana from rapper Snoop Dogg when the two of them were attending high-school together in Long Beach, California.

Diaz isn’t alone among her show-biz compatriots in enjoying a bit of the spliff from time to time. Which other stars have expressed a fondness for the five-leafed wonder weed? Hit up our photo gallery to find out!

Think your holiday get-togethers can get a little messy? Check this out.

Gulliver’s Travels star Jack Black dropped in at Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday night, and in honor of the Yuletide he and host Jimmy Fallon performed a Very Special Rendition of the holiday classic “Peace on Earth”/”Little Drummer Boy”. Decked out in white clothing and goggles and surrounded by multi-colored bottles of paint, the pair of funny-men proceeded to brighten up the holidays in a most spectacular—and definitely unsanitary—way:

The “Peace on Earth”/”Little Drummer Boy” mash-up has been a favorite of celebrities for decades, starting with the 1977 David Bowie/Bing Crosby duet, which was performed by the duo on Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas television special:

Earlier this year, Will Ferrell and his comrade in comedy John C. Reilly spoofed the Bowie/Crosby performance in a Funny or Die video:

Which version do you prefer? Let us know in the comments section.

Jack Black, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt braved the rain to hit the the premiere of their new film Gulliver’s Travels in Hollywood this past weekend.

Although the weather might have been glum, their spirits were high with the three embracing in a group hug. Everyone together now: Aww! Jack and Jason must have been continuing their spread of Christmas cheer after releasing their charitable holiday single.

Will you see Gulliver’s Travels when it comes out on Christmas? Let us know in the comments!

Jason Segel and Jack Black are funny guys, and this year they’re getting serious about charity and Christmas via song.

The Gulliver’s Travels stars teamed up to record a Christmas mash-up of “Peace on Earth” and “Little Drummer Boy,” which is available for purchase on iTunes, with all proceeds will benefit Blue Star Families, a charity supporting military families.

The guys even get animated in this music video:

What do you think of Jack and Jason’s Holiday duet? Let us know in the comments!