Mary-Kate Olsen won’t smile for the camera

Mary-Kate Olsen won’t
smile for the camera

NEW YORK — You see a tabloid shot of Mary-Kate Olsen and think, “Why does she look so depressed?” Well, there’s a reason for that. “I don’t want my picture taken,” the 21-year-old actress tells Entertainment Weekly magazine.

“The only time I think it’s OK is at a red-carpet event or a photo shoot. So every time I see paparazzi, I cover my face so they don’t get a picture, and I’m just ‘the mean person who doesn’t smile.”’

Olsen, whose waiflike figure has made her a target of media scrutiny, avoids public displays of attention. “I would love to be able to swim in the ocean in Malibu,” she says. “But that is asking for a bikini shot. That’s inviting something that I don’t want to happen. I don’t need to be on a ‘Who’s Skinny, Who’s Fat, Who’s Looking Healthy, Who’s Not Eating?’ list.”

After a hiatus from acting, Olsen — who rose to fame on TV’s “Full House” in a shared role with twin sister Ashley — will portray an alluring Christian girl on Showtime’s “Weeds.”

Her 10-episode arc begins Sept. 17. She also returns to the big screen in “The Wackness,” co-starring Ben Kingsley. The film is slated for release next year.

TV anchors apologize
for fake bullet holes

PHILADELPHIA — Two morning TV show anchors apologized on-air for a movie promotion that involved giving away a jacket riddled with fake bullet holes.

“Good Morning Philadelphia” anchors Clayton Morris and Sue Serio had promoted the new Clive Owen movie “Shoot ’Em Up” with the jacket and other paraphernalia.

They were subsequently criticized by Philadelphia Daily News columnist Jill Porter, who wrote that the promotion was inappropriate in a city besieged by gun deaths and on pace to record its highest murder total in a decade.

The anchors, whose show airs on the Fox affiliate WTXF-TV, cited the column in their apology on Wednesday’s show. “It was in poor taste,” said Morris, who modeled the jacket on the air. “I was a complete idiot. ... Our sincere apologies.”

Social worker visits
Madonna’s home

LONDON — Malawi’s chief social welfare official has paid a visit to Madonna’s London home, part of a long-delayed assessment into whether the pop idol can adopt a little boy from the Southern African country.

Simon Chisale was spotted leaving the singer’s home Wednesday afternoon clutching a blue binder, but he refused to comment and attempted to hide his face when approached by The Associated Press.

Chisale is due to file a report on the suitability of Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie as adoptive parents for toddler David Banda, who was plucked from a Malawian orphanage during a visit there by Madonna last autumn.

In October, Madonna and Ritchie were granted temporary custody of David, then 13 months old, but that could be revoked if it were found that David was being treated differently from their other children or if the toddler’s rights were being violated in any way.

The assessment originally was to have been made by Penston Kilembe, the director of Malawi’s Child Welfare Services. However, he was removed from the case following allegations that he had solicited money from the singer for his trip to London.

The removal sparked renewed concern that the singer had used her wealth and celebrity status to speed David’s adoption.

Today’s birthdays

Heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey is 99. Senator Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, is 83. Jazz musician Sonny Rollins is 77. Actor John Phillip Law is 70. Singer Alfa Anderson (Chic) is 61. Singer Gloria Gaynor is 58. Rock singer Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) is 56. Actress Julie Kavner is 56. Actor Corbin Bernsen is 53. Pianist Michael Feinstein is 51. Rock musician Leroi Moore (The Dave Matthews Band) is 46. Actor Tom Everett Scott is 37. Rock musician Chad Sexton (311) is 37. Actress Diane Farr is 36. Actress Shannon Elizabeth is 34. Actress Evan Rachel Wood is 20.