Eugenie Bouchard and Jim Parsons
WHEN SHELDON MET EUGENIE
Canadian tennis sensation Eugenie Bouchard has one very famous fan cheering for her as she progresses up the ladder at Wimbledon.
And no, we're not referring to the Twitter praise coming from Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper.
These days, Bouchard's highest-profile supporter is none other than actor Jim Parsons, best known for playing the hopelessly nerdy Sheldon Cooper on the long-running CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
The 41-year-old Parsons and partner Todd Spiewak were front and centre at Wimbledon when Bouchard beat opponent Alize Cornet on Tuesday.
And Parsons and Spiewak were watching again when Bouchard handily breezed past Germany's Angelique Kerber in Wednesday's quarterfinals match.
Bouchard will now advance to the semifinals of the annual Wimbledon tournament. Her next match is slated for Thursday against Simona Halep of Romania.
But naturally many people are wondering how the Emmy-winning star of TV's most-watched comedy series ever became a fan of the 20-year-old tennis prodigy from Westmount, Que., in the first place.
The ever-accommodating Parsons explained the genesis behind his fascination with Bouchard during a recent interview on ESPN.
Said Parsons: "She played her first professional Wimbledon last year and her manager contacted my manager and apparently she watches Big Bang and he knew I was a fan of tennis and he said, 'Is there any chance Jim could come to Wimbledon? He could sit in the players' box with us."
Bouchard confirmed the connection with her famous fan in a recent interview.
"It's amazing that he's a fan of me 'cause I'm like the biggest fan of him," said Bouchard. "He's e-mailed me after every single match I've played. He's more positive than all of my team combined. So it's a refreshing change to get a nice e-mail with exclamation marks and smiley faces."
Last week, Bouchard posted a selfie of her and Parsons to her Twitter account with the caption, "My most positive supporter :)."
But Parsons could find himself competing for the rising tennis star's affections in the near future: Bouchard recently revealed she has another powerful ally in her current Wimbledon quest: The Wimbledon roof itself, which has its own Twitter account.
"I follow the roof on Twitter," said Bouchard before her Tuesday match with Cornet, "and he's kind of funny. I hope he's proud of how I played today. He was looking down. Hopefully he enjoyed the match."
And Bouchard reiterated her love for the roof on her Twitter account with the tweet, "It was an honour to play under you @WimbledonRoof."
CRIME PAYS
It was bound to happen: The felon whose mugshots earned him worldwide admirers now has a Hollywood agent. Sources say Jeremy Meeks, who was recently arrested on felony weapons charges in Stockton, Calif., has inked a deal with agent Gina Rodriguez, whose other clients include Teen Mom-turned-porn-star Farrah Abraham, reality star Tila Tequila and V. Stiviano, the alleged former mistress of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Meeks shot to fame last month after a mugshot showcasing his piercing blue eyes and chiselled jaw went viral after it was posted to the Facebook page of the Stockton police department.
Source: ABC
BACK ON THE TUBE
Jennifer Love-Hewitt has joined the cast of Criminal Minds. The TV veteran will take on the full-time role of Kate Callahan – "seasoned undercover agent whose stellar work at the FBI has landed her a coveted position with the Behavioural Analysis Unit" – which will commence when the show returns for its eighth season in September. Hewitt, who recently gave birth to her first child, was previously the star of CBS's The Ghost Whisperer for five seasons from 2005 to 2010, which she followed with a two-season run on the cable series The Client List.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
ON SECOND THOUGHT
Fox has pulled the plug on the ambitious historical series Hieroglyph before airing a single episode. The network has officially shut down production on the drama set in ancient Egypt that originally received a rare straight-to-series order. Only one episode of Hieroglyph was filmed but scripts had already been written for several more episodes. The abrupt cancellation follows the recent departure of Fox programming chief Kevin Reilly, who commissioned the series.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
NOT-SO-MODERN FAMILY
Iranian TV viewers now have their own version of Modern Family, with some significant modifications. Launched with no consultation or co-operation of the original series, Haft Sang presents a letter-perfect copy of the Emmy-winning comedy, right down to the camera angles and sight gags. What's missing: Any hint of the gay couple Mitch and Cam (portrayed on the ABC version by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet).
Source: Time
AUTHOR! AUTHOR!
David Duchovny has plans to release his first music album. Best known for his recent Showtime series Californication and his nine-season run on The X-Files, Duchovny said in a recent interview that he has been playing the guitar for the past few years and is planning to release his debut album some time next year. "I can only compare my music to artists that you know, so it's going to sound like bragging," Duchovny told Rolling Stone. "But in my wildest dreams, I would sound like Wilco or R.E.M. I'd put it somewhere in there – if I'm lucky."
Source: Rolling Stone