As a child, Frances Fisher didn’t have the acting bug. Not until after high school, when she was working as a secretary at Firestone Synthetic Rubber and Latex Company in Orange, Texas, and played the ingenue Nellie in a community theater production of Tenessee Williams’ ‘Summer and Smoke,’ did the bug bite her. ”’I found it was much more fun to go work in the theater every evening than typing and filing and trying to pretend I knew how to take shorthand,’ Fisher says. ”She was inspired to become a theater professional by John Holland, a New York actor who had retired to Texas and who encouraged her. ‘If it hadn’t been for him, God knows where I’d be, but I don’t know if I would have become an actress. I realize how important the things adults say to children or young people and how it can change the course of their lives,’ says Fisher, a Palisades resident whose latest movie is New Line’s ‘Laws of Attraction’ with Julianne Moore and Pierce Brosnan. The movie, directed by Peter Howitt, opens Friday nationwide. ”In the film, Fisher plays the comedic role of Sara Miller, the mother of Ashley, the uptight lawyer played by Julianne Moore. Sara is a youthful, fun woman who looks like a contemporary of her daughter and is much more adventurous and free-spirited. ‘I love her spirit and her optimism,’ says Fisher. ‘She’s lived, she’s made mistakes, she’s moving forward, she’s not done in her 50s.’ ”In terms of casting, Fisher says she and Moore didn’t have any qualms about the fact that biologically Fisher’s not old enough to be Moore’s mother. In fact, Sara has Botox and plastic surgery to look as young as her daughter, which led to one of Fisher’s favorite lines in the film: when Brosnan’s character, lawyer Daniel Rafferty, asks Sara, ‘Are you really 56?’ she replies, ‘Parts of me are.’ ”In real life, Fisher, 51, lives in the Huntington Palisades with her 10-year-old daughter Franny. Franny’s father is Clint Eastwood, whom she sees often; she and her mother recently spent the Easter holidays with him. ‘We’re doing the modern nuclear family kind of life,’ Fisher says. ”Fisher, who is well known for her dramatic roles in films such as ‘Titanic,’ where she played the mother of Rose (Kate Winslet), ‘True Crime’ and ‘Unforgiven,’ says of ‘Laws of Attraction’: ‘I’m hoping it’s a movie that sticks around for a while so people can see I am funny.’ Other recent credits include ‘The House of Sand and Fog,’ ‘Blue Car’ and ‘The Lyon’s Den’ TV series. ”After leaving Texas at the age of 20, Fisher worked as an apprentice at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, which involved building and painting sets, sewing costumes, running props and lights and helping the director. ”One of the actresses she was cueing had a 3-year-old daughter and invited Fisher to come to New York City to study acting. ‘I found myself living in the maid’s room on Park Avenue, taking care of a little girl and taking classes during my down time.’ After that job ended, Fisher continued taking classes and acting in off-off-Broadway productions while tending bar to support herself. She broke into television doing commercials, then was able to quit her bartending job when she auditioned for her first soap opera and got the part of Deborah Saxon on ‘The Edge of Night.’ ”After the bohemian artist in her felt like she was getting ‘too settled,’ she quit the soap after four seasons and immersed herself in theater, studying with Stella Adler, and with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. ”’I think being trained in the theater was really the right path for me. I had some great teachers who just drilled into us: You have to really be there to represent the playwright’s thoughts and ideas; it’s not about showing off or being an exhibitionist for your own purposes.’ ”Fisher entered the film world through director Henry Jaglom, working as a production manager one of his movies. He later cast her in some of his improvisational films, including ‘Babyfever’ and ‘Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?’ Her first big-paying job in film came when Norman Mailer cast her as a former porn star who went into real estate in Santa Barbara for his film ‘Tough Guys Don’t Dance.’ ”’I made more money in six weeks doing that movie than I had earned in a year doing theater. I thought maybe I should focus on film, so I could continue supporting my theater habit,’ Fisher says. ”’At 36, I came out to Los Angeles because I wanted to get myself into the film business, not realizing that 36 is a very ripe age in the eyes of people in the industry. But my mind didn’t work that way; it still doesn’t because I’m theater-trained, and I just see that I’m going to work forever.’ ”Fisher moved to the Palisades in 1996, looking for a place with a good school system to raise her daughter. ‘I looked everywhere from Malibu to Beverly Hills, then I discovered the Huntington. I kept focusing on one house and ‘I thought, man if I could have a house like that it would be perfect.’ It turned out that the house was for sale but had no for-sale sign. A realtor told her about it after she had looked at 40 houses. ‘It was so meant to be.’ ”She was also attracted to the community after coming to visit a friend for the Fourth of July parade. ‘The Fourth of July sold me. I felt as if I had gone back in time. I also love the Sunday farmers’ market. I think it’s a wonderful way not only to get fresh produce but to socialize and see each other,’ says Fisher, who also wouldn’t mind seeing a first-run movie theater in town. ”Fisher has been a judge at the town’s annual Youth Pageant the last two years. ‘I love being part of the pageant every year. It gives me hope for the future of young people.’ ”When asked about her advice for young people interested in acting, Fisher responds: ‘The advice I always give is that if you could think of anything else you might be interested in, pursue that also, because it takes so much willpower, dedication and perseverance to continue in this business. There are a few people who get lucky early, but to stay in the game takes a lot. ”’If you have a proclivity for loving acting, being creative and enjoying the process, you’re a good candidate for being in this business. If you’re there to become famous’get realistic, do something that feeds your soul, not your ego.’ ”Fisher has been showing her daughter old movies to give her a sense of show business history. ‘We’re on a Marilyn Monroe kick; she was a wonderful comedic actress.’ Franny attends public school here and has acted in local Theatre Palisades Kids productions as well as professionally. ”In addition to her work on television and in big-budget movies, Fisher continues to work in theater and on independent films. ‘It’s frustrating when you put your time and energy into something and nobody sees it,’ she says of her work on the 2002 feature ‘The Rising Place.’ ‘It fell through the cracks; it wasn’t edgy enough for film festivals, people didn’t want to see things with serious themes [treated] in a soft, gentle way.’ ”Fisher just wrapped the film ‘Mrs. Harris,’ which deals with the true-life story of Jean Harris (Annette Bening), who killed her former lover Dr. Herman Tarnower (Sir Ben Kingsley), the Scarsdale Diet author, in the 1980s. It was written and directed by Phyllis Nagy. ‘It was wonderful being on set with her,’ Fisher says. As a theater director, Nagy rehearsed the cast extensively. ‘We’d do things in two different takes and move on.’ This past week, Fisher and Franny traveled to Washington, D.C., to take part in the women’s march on Washington for reproductive rights. She is also a board member for the Screen Actors Guild, the Environmental Media Association, the Sherman Oaks Hospital Foundation, and she is a member of The Mother’s Council, whose goal is to create and sustain a culture in which all children flourish.

Last April, New York City television editor Brad Holmes took a job that was supposed to last four months while he waited to start the master’s program in environmental policy at Columbia’s School of International Public Affairs in the fall. He was thrilled about starting school and possibly making environmental documentaries. But the temporary job exploded into the national phenomenon ‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’ which premiered last July. When Holmes had to write a letter to Columbia asking for a deferment, he wondered how he would explain he was working on this show. The administrator for Columbia called and said, ‘Of course you can defer. I love the show.’ Holmes, a Palisades native, is now senior editor for the Bravo series, and still hasn’t decided whether he’ll enter Columbia in the fall. ‘I’m still enjoying working on the show,’ he says. The program features the Fab Five’gay experts in fashion, grooming, interior design, food and wine and culture’who help make over a straight guy who needs help in these areas. The combination of entertainment, humor and useful information has made the show more successful than anyone anticipated. ‘I saw the pilot and thought it was hilarious, but had no idea how successful it would be,’ Holmes said in an interview by phone from his editing studio in Soho. Each episode (airing Tuesdays 10 p.m. on Bravo) is built around the personality of the straight guy, and the gay experts incorporate his interests and personality into the makeover. The hour-long show culminates with an event’such as a party or romantic dinner’where the straight guy reveals his new look and tries to incorporate all the information he’s learned. Holmes begins with about 25 to 30 hours of multi-camera footage for each episode, which is cut down to an hour in length, a process that takes about five weeks. The five experts are not actors. ‘The idea is to keep the show as organic as possible,’ Holmes said. ‘The show feels relaxed, it doesn’t feel rehearsed. It’s a big whirlwind when the five superheroes descend on the straight guy. It’s amazing the response. He gets a lot out of it. A few tears have been known to happen.’ The show has no script, so Holmes’ role as film editor becomes very important. ‘You get to create [your own] beginning, middle and end.’ The process begins with casting the straight guy, who should be fun and outgoing and have a good story to tell. Holmes divides the show into five acts. In the first 10 minutes, the Fab Five burst into the straight guy’s apartment, tear it apart and deconstruct the guy and his lifestyle. In the show’s signature style, each expert is caught in a freeze frame, then reintroduced with a graphic stating his name and expertise. Finding the right moment to freeze each expert is a challenge, but it usually pays off with a punchline’humor is a big part of the Fab Five’s style. In the second act, the Fab Five take the guy shopping in the New York City area, where the show is filmed, and meanwhile redo his house or apartment. Although the actual filming takes place over four days, it’s made to look as if it all happens in one day. In the third act, the man sees his new house and gets lessons. Chef Ted explains how to cook a simple dish, with the idea that viewers at home can learn from it, too. ‘You can watch it once, go into the kitchen and make it,’ Holmes said. Fashion expert Carson has the man model his new outfits and explains why they fit him well and were chosen. Grooming expert Kyan shows him how to use a new skin or hair product. ‘By this point, the straight guy is bombarded with information and completely overwhelmed,’ says Holmes, 31, who admits he has learned quite a bit about style, interior design and food from watching all the footage. The Fab Five then leave, and the man is ‘left on his own to fend for himself.’ In the fourth act, the man cooks, gets dressed and prepares for the evening’s event. Meanwhile the Fab Five watch along on video and comment on the inevitable mistakes and mishaps. In the final act, the big event happens. ‘It’s very hands off; what’s going to happen, happens,’ Holmes says. Some men are able to apply all the information better than others. In one of Holmes’s favorite episodes, Alan Cory was introducing his girlfriend’s parents to his parents. ‘He poured the drinks way too strong, and he used a sweaty rag to clean a plate. It was hilarious, very organic mishaps that were really fun.’ Casting was difficult in the first season, Holmes recalls. ‘There was a lot of hesitation for straight guys. Once the show took off, it wasn’t hard.’ Holmes calls the success of the show a ‘surreal experience. The timing of the show and the popularity of the show really coincide with gay issues in the country. Gay marriage and gay rights are becoming more mainstream. I’ve had grandmothers stop me and tell me they love the show.’ Holmes attended St. Matthew’s and Loyola High School before getting his college degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. After college, he moved back to L.A. and started as a low-level runner for a movie trailer house. He stayed after work and taught himself how to use the editing machines, which led to his next job as assistant editor at a documentary company. He later became an editor working on hour-long shows for the History Channel, Discovery and A&E. He moved to New York’s West Village in 2000 and began working on MTV and VH1 music videos, programming and ‘Real World’ specials. ‘I learned how to do unscripted shows, which is a very different kind of editing.’ Currently, his editing job requires 12- to 13-hour days working along with three other editors. As for the stars of the show, he says ‘they’re all genuine, caring people and funny. That’s really who they are. There’s just a presence about the five of them that’s addictive.’ Holmes has even got his older brother Kevin, a composer, involved in the show, creating music for many of the episodes. Kevin, who lives in Silver Lake, talks to Brad on the phone and the two will discuss the particular episode and Kevin will come up with music themes to fit. ‘We get a dossier for each straight guy’his interests, his house, what his issues are, so to speak. We look at what his tastes are, try to figure out what the vibe of the show would be and make tracks for each guy,’ says Kevin, 38. As for Brad, he says ‘I’m drawn towards the reality format, non-fiction, but I am also very curious about doing features and scripted dramas.’ He’s also interested in moving into directing and has already completed an hour-long documentary on past-life therapy. Next month he will be directing an episode of ‘Queer Eye,’ which he will also be editing, with the goal of eventually move into directing permanently. No matter what he decides to do about studying environmental policy in graduate school, Holmes would like to someday find a way to combine his interests in the environment and filmmaking.

Diane Arbus famously wrote: ‘A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.’ The same might be said about the current ‘Revelations’ exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The show gives rise to as many questions as answers regarding the short life (Arbus committed suicide in 1971 at age 48) of this groundbreaking artist who is best known for boldly documenting people on the fringes of society. ”Her equal opportunity lens focused on everything from debutantes to transvestites, side show performers to celebrities, with nudist camp enthusiasts and residents of homes for the mentally disabled also given major play in her work. Arbus’ pictures have the uncanny ability to make ‘normal’ people and scenes seem bizarre and to imbue the unusual with a sense of naturalness and beauty. ”Along with over 200 of her photographs, the diaries, notebooks, cameras and other personal effects of Diane Arbus also are on view in the exhibition. These three so-called libraries provide biographical depth beyond what’s ever been seen before, yet the artist’s presence is most deeply felt in her work, especially the compelling portraiture she created beginning in 1962. ”That was the year Arbus began working with a square format ( 2 1/4-inch twin-lens reflex) camera, leaving behind her 35 mm camera, the favored instrument of most documentary photographers of her era. The artist was seeking greater clarity in her images’she’d had a period of producing grainy ‘grab and shoot’ street photography’as well as fulfilling a desire to have a more direct relationship with the people she was photographing. ” The new camera, held at the waist, required Arbus to carefully frame her subject by looking down into the view finder. The method necessitated the cooperation of her subjects, many of whom became friends. Unlike rectangular images, which lend themselves to narrative interpretations, these new square portraits took on a formal, even classical quality. ”’They’re highly iconic and emblematic,’ says Robert Sobieszek, curator of photography at LACMA. ‘She photographed real people at a specific time and place, but made them into types. The guy in hair curlers becomes every cross dresser, the Jewish giant represents all giants.”’ ”These potent, unflinching portraits’particularly of ‘freaks’ and others outside society’s mainstream’are reflections, too, of Arbus’ own psychological frailty. ” ”’Diane Arbus Revelations’ continues at LACMA through May 31. Tickets are required. Contact: (323) 857-6000.