\t\tThe Little Round Pill That\u2019s Winning Awards Season\t<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen EGOT winners step up to the mic, they usually thank Steven Spielberg, Bryan Lourd or whichever other deity delivered their career. Lately, though, a new name keeps sneaking into the acceptance-speech shout-outs: beta-blockers.<\/p>\n
\n\tOver the past year, a slew of stars \u2014 from Rachel Sennott to Robert Downey Jr. \u2014 have been openly admitting that their preshow ritual involves more than Spanx and stylists. It now also includes a little pill to help to steady the hands and keep one\u2019s pits dry.<\/p>\n
\n\tAt the 2024 Tonys, Stereophonic playwright David Adjmi quipped, \u201cOh, no. My agent gave me a beta-blocker, but it\u2019s not working,\u201d before collecting his best play award. Downey cracked a similar gag at the last Golden Globes: \u201cI took a beta-blocker, so this will be a breeze.\u201d Kristen Bell at the 2025 SAG Awards<\/a>, Natasha Rothwell at the 2025 Spirit Awards and Sennott at the 2025 Oscars also jokingly \u2014 perhaps not entirely \u2014 confessed to popping blockers before staring down ballrooms filled with black ties and gowns.<\/p>\n \n\tDoctors say the pills don\u2019t exactly cure stage fright \u2014 they just keep the body from betraying it. \u201cUsing beta-blockers for performance anxiety is off-label, but it\u2019s not uncommon,\u201d notes Dr. Andrew Leuchter, director of UCLA\u2019s neuromodulation division. \u201cThis is a drug that prevents adrenaline from activating the fight-or-flight response.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tStill, like most Hollywood quick fixes, there\u2019s a dark side. Harvard psychiatrist Helen Riess warns that overuse or a too-high dose can lead to \u201ca risk of fainting.\u201d And fainting, as any publicist will tell you, makes for a much worse viral moment than a sweaty brow. \u2014 ANDREW ZUCKER<\/p>\n \t\tWho Launched Armani in Hollywood? It Wasn\u2019t Richard Gere\t<\/p>\n \n\tPaul Schrader\u2019s American Gigolo gets all the credit, but it was a very different film \u2014 Brian De Palma\u2019s The Untouchables \u2014 that really put the late, great Giorgio Armani on the map. Or at least so claims one legendary Hollywood heavyweight.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cEverything Giorgio designed after that got better and better,\u201d says former \u00fcber agent Mike Ovitz, 78, who, in a completely unrelated and not-at-all self-serving coincidence, happened to package De Palma\u2019s 1987 star-studded drama about Eliot Ness and his gang of G-men. Yes, Untouchables came out seven years after Richard Gere<\/a> made a huge splash swanning around Gigolo in Armani\u2019s breezy, unstructured tailoring, but never mind. \u201cAll our clients were in it \u2014 Sean Connery, Kevin Costner, Bobby De Niro, Andy Garcia,\u201d Ovitz goes on.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI introduced Bobby and Sean to Giorgio, and he ended up getting the nod from Brian to do everybody\u2019s wardrobe.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHistory will judge which film was more responsible for making soft-shouldered, mini-malistic menswear a fashion hit, but Ovitz\u00a0can rightfully grab credit for turning Armani\u00a0\u2014 who died Sept. 4 at the age of 91 \u2014 into the go-to power-suit designer for Hollywood agents. \u201cWe told both the men and women in our office that they had to dress a step up \u2014 a suit and tie for the men, and the women had to dress accordingly,\u201d Ovitz tells Rambling, recalling how, after co-founding CAA during the mid-1970s, he\u2019d send his executives to the Armani outpost in Beverly Hills to get fitted with what quickly became the agency\u2019s de facto uniform.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe gave that store a lot of business, and in return, they gave us a bit of a discount,\u201d he says. \u201cNot that they were losing anything by doing so \u2014 they did very well with us, and they were smart to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhat made Armani\u2019s designs so appealing to Ovitz and his minions wasn\u2019t just their confident power-suit cut. It was the comfort. Compared to the boxy old Brooks Brothers armor that had once dominated the agency biz, Armani felt downright breathable. \u201cThey had this loose fit, and that was novel for the time,\u201d Ovitz says. \u201cWhen you had to wear a suit from 8 in the morning until you\u2019re getting home from a dinner at 10 p.m., comfort was important.\u201d \u2014 LAURIE BROOKINS<\/p>\n \t\tHow Emily Bront\u00eb Got Her New Bra Font\t<\/p>\n \n\tMonet took inspiration from the Seine. Van Gogh found his spark in a star-filled sky. Teddy Blanks? He discovered his muse in his wife\u2019s underwear drawer.<\/p>\n