Small world, Hollywood
Hollywood seems such a small town if you keep track of the constant pairings and un-pairings. Take this one, for example: When "Alias" TV series stars Michael Vartan and Jennifer Garner became an un-couple, she went on to become engaged to Ben Affleck, who broke up with Jennifer Lopez, who is the love interest of Michael in the hit comedy, "Monster-in-Law."
Despite their break-up, Jennifer (Garner, not Lopez) and Michael continued working together on "Alias." In a recent hotel interview, Michael said to me: "Jennifer and I are friends first and foremost, always have been and always will be. When there is that base of friendship between two people, they can behave in a professional manner toward each other no matter what happens. But I'd be lying if I say that there weren't a few uncomfortable moments in the beginning. I'm 36. I'm not going to tell you how old she is, but I'm an adult. Things happen in life. I'm lucky enough to have a great friend in her."
According to this humble French-American hunk, who is the subject of a tug-of-war between J Lo and Jane Fonda (all these women with names that start with J!), not in real life but in "Monster-in-Law," he is shy about approaching women.
"I'm terrible," he told me. "I really don't know how to talk to women very well. I've never been good at it. I've never been a ladies' man in terms of knowing how to talk to them or saying the right thing. I've always had a hard time. If you meet or you see someone that you really like, what are you going to say, 'Do you come here often?' I found that the best approach is to just say, 'Hi, my name is Michael.' Then you can tell right away by a woman's body language if she is interested."