I stayed up later than usual last nite (March 13, 2008) to watch Kate Beckinsale on Letterman and Minnie Driver on Leno. Fortunately, their appearances did not conflict.
Kate was there to promote her new indie movie SNOW ANGELS (?). I always enjoy her intellect and wit. She can easily outmatch Letterman who seemed less than thrilled by her then he has been about many lesser mortals. She spoke about her wildlife encounters.
Minnie's appearance had a couple surprises. She's beginning to show -- pregnancy, that is. And most of the talk was about that delightful experience. The father remained nameless. Unfortunately, Howie Mandel was the other guest and I found his interruptions unbearable. Minnie's was there in part to promote the start of Season 2 of her tv show THE RICHES which begins airing today. But the other surprise was her singing a song from her CD. She doesn't have a great voice but she has style (with a Country-Western influence) and the arrangement was rockin'. I'll probably have to buy her CD.
PS, I downloaded the MP3 of "Mockingbird" the one Minnie performed from AMAZON.com -- it's nice but the performance on THE TONIGHT SHOW had a more vigorous and exciting arrangement.
Kate appeared with Jay Leno on THE TONIGHT SHOW on Monday March 17th. It was a much happier experience than her brief Letterman appearance. Due to, in large part, the fact that Leno seems to really like her. She gets plenty of time to display her wit before the perfunctory promo for her upcoming film.
This time there was plenty of culture clash talk. Her 9-year-old daughter, despite considerable time here, speaks like "Harry Potter" -- according to her school classmates.