Minka Kelly — Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive 2010

For this week's Rule 5, with video at the link:

Blake Lively at Interview

Consider this a Rule 5 entry, with special mention for American Perspective and Pirate's Cove. Plus a bonus entry at Theo Spark's.

Interestingly, Ben Affleck performs the interview:

AFFLECK: We met when you came to do The Town, and when you turned up, I was a little taken aback. I was like, "How did you learn this Boston accent? How did you learn all of this stuff?" Which I thought was hard to get because I had been doing readings with all of these actresses in New York and L.A., and it was just hard to find the right person. You were by far the best, and when I asked you how you got everything down, it turned out that you had tried to work with this one dialect coach, and then tried another one, and then just started doing all of this incredibly thorough, diligent, independent research on your own-seeking out people who spoke the way your character does, seeking out people whose own life experiences you could draw upon. How did you get to the point where that became your approach? Because it's certainly nothing I ever did at any point in my twenties. Where does that instinct come from?

LIVELY: I don't know. I think it comes from the fact that I never really thought about acting as a child. It wasn't like, "This is the career that I want to pursue." So when I first started acting, I was more concerned with just being on a set and all of the woes of that, and I didn't really know it or understand it as a craft yet. When I saw my first movie, I was fine, but I thought, "Oh, my heavens. It's not about just standing there on my mark and saying these lines. I need to actually act." It was great to have my first opportunity be such a big role, but also not great because all of the mistakes I made-the entire learning process was on the big screen for everyone to see. That's been something, movie by movie, that I've been able to grow and learn from-that I always need to work harder to be better because it's still a new craft for me.

AFFLECK: Did anyone help you learn that?

LIVELY: I just did it on my own. I've never worked with an acting coach, but my parents had acting classes and I grew up around them my whole life just because I didn't have a babysitter. I'm actually a very shy person-that's a big secret, so don't tell-but being in those classes pushed me to break out of that a little bit. It's like nature versus nurture: I'm naturally very shy, but I was brought up in a way where I had to get up and get out of that.

AFFLECK: I wouldn't really describe you as shy. That hasn't been my experience of you.

LIVELY: Well, I had to be bold with you! I had to be brave because this role was terrifying. But it was all smoke and mirrors because I read the script and I didn't know how I couldn't do it. I loved this character so much. I was a little selfish in wanting to do it because I also thought, Well, maybe I'm not the best person for this, but I really want it. I didn't know how to do a good Boston accent, so I went and got a dialect coach, and she was really good, but it was a real proper accent I was learning, and my character is from the projects. But she'd lived in Charlestown her whole life, and the kind of accent she would have had is very different from an across-the-board Boston accent. So one of my best friends, Jennifer, who is a hairdresser on Gossip Girl, is from Boston and she had her family come down to New York one weekend.

RTWT.

Revving Up Weekend Rule 5 — Rachel Maddow Masturbation Edition!

You think the butch MSNBC host might get off on this? From Theo's:

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And be sure to visit some of other friends of American Power:

* Another Black Conservative.

* American Perspective.

* Astute Bloggers (Honorary).

* Blazing Cat Fur.

* Bob Belvedere.

* Cold Fury.

* Classical Liberal.

* Daley Gator.

* Fausta.

* Hall of Record (Honorary).

* Left Coast Rebel.

* Mind Numbed Robot.

* Not a Sheep.

* Paco Enterprises.

* Panhandle Perspective.

* Pirate's Cove.

* Political Byline.

* POWIP.

* Proof Positive.

* The Other McCain.

* Reaganite Republican (Honorary).

* Right Klik (Honorary).

* Saberpoint (Honorary).

* Serr8d (Honorary).

* Snooper's Report (Honorary).

* Stormbringer.

* Theo Spark.

* TrogloPundit.

* Washington Rebel.

* WyBlog.

* Yid With Lid (Honorary).

BONUS: Don't forget Instapundit. And Linkmaster Smith!

And drop your link in the comments to be added to the weekly roundups!

Oh, and since I missed Rule 5 last weekend, be sure to check out the entry at American Perspective: "Vote: Who do you like for Transformers, Megan Fox or the New Victoria's Secret Model."

Phenomenal Rule 5

From Theo's.

Click the image to enlarge.

Weekend Bikini Blogging — Brandy Robbins!

More preparation for Sunday's entry from the Linkmaster!

Rule 5 Penelope Cruz — Where Have You Been Edition??!!

Man, I'm slacking!

I've got to get back to some regular Penelope Cruz blogging! I'm sure Linkmaster Smith will agree!

Adriana Sklenaříková Mystery Solved!

At Stormbringer's, thank goodness! (More here.)

And happy Rule 5 Saturday everybody! Washington Rebel's really kicking things off!

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And here's another roundup for the friends of American Power:

* Another Black Conservative.

* Astute Bloggers (Honorary).

* Blazing Cat Fur.

* Bob Belvedere.

* Cold Fury.

* Classical Liberal.

* Daley Gator.

* Left Coast Rebel.

* Mind Numbed Robot.

* Not a Sheep.

* Paco Enterprises.

* Panhandle Perspective.

* Political Byline.

* POWIP.

* Proof Positive.

* The Other McCain.

* Reaganite Republican (Honorary).

* Right Klik (Honorary).

* Saberpoint (Honorary).

* Serr8d (Honorary).

* Snooper's Report (Honorary).

* Stormbringer.

* Theo Spark.

* TrogloPundit.

* Washington Rebel.

* WyBlog.

BONUS: Don't forget Instapundit.

And drop your link in the comments to be added to the weekly roundups!

Ana de la Reguera

At Esquire's "Women We Love":

Drew Barrymore ELLE Cover Shoot — August 2010

Drew Barrymore looks fabulous in the latest ELLE Magazine:

More pics here and here.

Rule 5 Saturday: Paulina Porizkova

Well, looks like Rule 5 weekend has gotten off to a great start!

My good friend Opus #6 has posted her link-fest entry, "Paulina Porzikova: A Top Notch Supermodel."

And that's a reminder for me: I first started Ruling 5-ing with Paulina Porizkova at Sports Illustrated. She's a darling.

Who else is joining the fun? At The Point of a Gun?

Great stuff, although not too much babe-blogging over there. Which is why folks head over to Theo Spark's for their totties! Never a disappointment at Bob Belvedere's or Washington Rebel, for that matter. And Gator Doug gets it going a bit as well. (And not to mention WyBlog!)

More weekend Rule 5 a bit later today!

Candice Swanepoel, Chanel Iman and Erin Heatherton — Mini-Rule 5 Saturday

I'm sure readers would prefer some weekend hotness blogging over my battles with the extremist left, so perhaps some Victoria's Secret beauties might be a little more cheerful:

And as always, I look forward to Linkmaster Smith's Sunday roundup.

And see Bob Belvedere, "Some Lion Cubs Have All The Luck…", The Daley Gator, "Your Saturday Linkapalooza," Opus #6, "Brooke Shields - Beauty Through the Years," and Washington Rebel, "Sweet Mystery of Life."

RELATED: At Fausta's, "Hugo Chavez, Tomb Raider."

Weekend Bikini Blogging!

It's weekend Rule 5 time. Remember this is the chance to exchange links with like-minded bloggers (which sadly doesn't always happen as much as it should, so again thanks to Linkmaster Smith for his weekend labors).

My good friend Opus 6 is expected to join the fun this weekend, and I've been in contact with some good friends over at The Practical State blog, and it looks like a practical place to check out. And if you haven't been reading The Blog Prof regularly you're missing out. For example, "Video of Ed Shultz: Unemployment extension is a "moral issue" and not extending it for 99 weeks makes US a 3rd world country or something."

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And be sure to visit some of the other friends of American Power:

* Another Black Conservative.

* Astute Bloggers (Honorary).

* Blazing Cat Fur.

* Bob Belvedere.

* Classical Liberal.

* Daley Gator.

* Left Coast Rebel.

* Mind Numbed Robot.

* Not a Sheep.

* POWIP.

* The Other McCain.

* Reaganite Republican (Honorary).

* Right Klik (Honorary).

* Saberpoint (Honorary).

* Serr8d (Honorary).

* Snooper's Report (Honorary).

* Stormbringer.

* Theo Spark.

* Washington Rebel.

* WyBlog.

BONUS: Don't forget Instapundit.

And drop your link in the comments to be added to the weekly bikini roundups!

Katy Perry Goes Topless for Cover of Esquire

Yep.

It's the real deal, and she looks fabulous.

See Esquire, "Katy Perry: A Woman We Love."

Also, full cover shot and more at Hollywood News, "Katy Perry Goes Topless on Cover of Esquire Magazine."

I'd say this is a bit more classy than Lady Gaga's bid to use dead bodies as props for the Monster tour. After a while shock is a turnoff. But hotness sells, over and over again. Katy Perry's got that side of the business down cold.

And Celebuzz quips, "Russell Brand is a really lucky guy."

This isn't quite like "going nuclear" at The Classical Liberal, but it's good. Very good.

And I'd say this post deserves billboard status at Sir. Smitty's Rule 5 Sunday!

Before Heidi Klum and Sarah Brandner: The Incomparable Claudia Schiffer

Marlene Dietrich was a little before my time, but more recently, before the fame and glamor of Heidi Klum and the Sports Illustrated hotness of Sarah Brandner, we were graced with the loveliness of Claudia Schiffer:

See also Proof Positive, "Friday Night Babe: Claudia Schiffer."

And don't miss Sir Smitty's "Rule 5 Sunday" for a huge roundup of hotness, a post that makes up for last weekend's babalicious hiatus.

'California Gurls'

Embedding's disabled, so click the screencap to listen. And check Theo's for additional screencaps:

I've been posting Lady Gaga quite a bit, so some equal time is the least I could do. See, "Katy Perry Slams Lady Gaga's 'Alejandro' as Cheap Blasphemy."