Nicolas Cage Needs Protection; Doogie to Broadway and Mamet?

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Nicolas Cage apparently feels he needs protection… from the movie industry. At last night’s party sponsored by In Style magazine for the Hollywood Foreign Press Assoc., Cage arrived late and brought not one but two bodyguards. One of them told me he’d been flown up from Florida just for the occasion.

Why did Nic need so much protection? Hard to say considering the other people in the room, besides movie execs, agents and buyers, were Clive Owen, Patricia Clarkson, and Sarah, Duchess of York. It should be noted that Sarah, aka Fergie, who is technically royalty, had no obvious guards ‘ if she had any at all.

Cage is in town to promote yet another bad movie, the remake of “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.” He may have been nervous about real people coming up and demanding their money back for tickets to a half dozen or so pain-inducing flops including “The Wicker Man,” “Bangkok Dangerous,” “Next,” and “Ghost Rider.” He actually has a movie ready for 2010 called “Kick Ass.” But it’s directed by Matthew Vaughn, so it might be okay. When did Nicolas Cage, who won an Oscar, become Steven Seagal?

Fergie is in Toronto to promote the first film she’s produced, “The Young Victoria.” Her co-producers include Martin Scorsese and Graham King. Not bad! The film has an all-star cast including Emily Blunt, Paul Bettany, and Miranda Richardson. Classy. Sarah, er, Fergie, never looked better. She’s in fine form, too, unpretentious and ready to roll up her sleeves. She told me she’ll be in New York soon for the premiere.

Meanwhile, hot actress Kerry Washington is a hit in “Mother and Child,”’ in which she co-stars with Annette Bening, Naomi Watts’and Samuel L. Jackson. “Mother and Child” like a lot of movies at Toronto’has an interesting history. It’s produced by Lisa Maria Falcone, the’New York philanthropist who’s responsible for’reviving the High Line park, and works on the New York City Ballet and the Museum of Natural History. Falcone’s company Everest Productions has pledged to donate all its proceeds from “Mother and Child” to children’s charities. Who says a movie can’t do a little good?

…And Kerry Washington is headed to Broadway this fall in David Mamet’s “Race” with James Spader and Richard Thomas. I’ve heard that rounding out this cast will be Doogie Howser, hot-as-a-pistol Neil Patrick Harris. From the Tonys to the Emmys to Broadway. And Mamet. He would never have made this much money as a doctor!