'Brothers & Sisters' star is coming home

PopGoesTheNews.com >> Canadian actress Emily VanCamp, who is leaving the popular ABC series Brothers & Sisters this season, is coming home to make Break Away, a movie produced by Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar.

The Indo-Canadian flick, directed by Robert Lieberman, will shoot in Toronto from Sept. 20 to Nov. 1. Little is known about the project, which is the first North American movie for Kumar's Hari Om Productions.

VanCamp, 24, (pictured) was born in Port Perry, Ont. and grew up in Montreal, where she worked steadily in film and TV before moving south of the border. While in Toronto she will be able to reunite with her Everwood co-star Gregory Smith (who is in the city filming season two of Rookie Blue) and her Glory Days castmate Erin Karpluk (whose Being Erica is made in the city).

Lieberman, the ex-husband of actress Marilu Henner, directed a 2007 episode of Brothers & Sisters. He recently directed several episodes of the CBC series The Republic of Doyle in Newfoundland.

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Elisabeth Shue finds horror in Ottawa

PopGoesTheNews.com >> Elisabeth Shue is spending the next month in the nation's capital. The Leaving Las Vegas star has signed on to star in House At The End of the Street, which also stars Jennifer Campbell and Max Thieriot. Production takes place in Ottawa until Sept. 3.

In the movie, Shue (pictured) plays a mother who moves into a house across the street from the scene of a double murder with her daughter (Campbell), who befriends the son (Thieriot) of the murdered couple.

Since starring in the 2000 hit Hollow Man, 46-year-old Shue has made stinkers like Hamlet 2 and Piranha 3D. Lawrence, who will turn 20 while working in Ottawa, is best known for playing Lauren on The Bill Engvall Show and has signed on to play Mystique in the X-Men prequel First Class.

House At The End of the Street will be the 10th movie for L.A. native Thieriot, 21, and his fifth made in Canada – he made The Pacifier, Jumper, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl and Chloe in Toronto.

Earlier this year Ottawa played host to Cuba Gooding Jr. and Christian Slater while they shot the drama Sacrifice.

U.S. cable network is busy in Canada

PopGoesTheNews.com >> The SyFy cable channel isn't available in Canada but more and more of its programming is being made here. Production of a new pilot for SyFy is about to begin in Toronto, just as filming of two other shows is wrapping up.

Described by a network exec as "a smart, offbeat spin on the superhero genre," Three Inches is about an underachiever with the power to move anything using his mind – but only as far as three inches – who assembles a group of people with other less-than-superhuman abilities. The 90-minute pilot will be made in Toronto from Aug. 30 to Sept. 23.

Only three days before cameras roll on Three Inches, production of another SyFy pilot, Alphas, ends. The potential series about people with extraordinary powers who investigate mysteries that federal agencies haven't been able to solve stars veteran actor David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) as well as Malik Yoba (Defying Gravity) and Laura Mennell (Watchmen).

And SyFy has just finished filming the second season of Warehouse 13, starring Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly, in Toronto. The first season of the series has been airing in Canada on CityTV.

The network, owned by NBC Universal, is also home to the made-in-Nova Scotia series Haven (seen in Canada on Showcase) and such B.C.-produced series as Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Sanctuary and Stargate Universe (all airing here on Space).

Official criticized for approving Celine Dion's water park is out of a job

PopGoesTheNews.com >> The government official who approved development of a private water park on Céline Dion’s property in Florida is out of a job.

Jeff Newell, who was reportedly forced to resign last month, had been reprimanded for allowing the Canadian songbird to build a wave pool, lazy river and water slides at her $20 million Jupiter Island estate.

“You have showed very poor judgment in granting the approval and thus creating an adverse impact on the adjacent properties and the town as a whole,” reads a letter of reprimand from town manager Gene Rauth.

Dion’s neighbours on the posh barrier island near Palm Beach claim the $1 million water park was built on ecologically sensitive land. They are also upset that the recreational facilities were not included in architectural plans Dion and her husband René Angélil filed with municipal and state officials in 2006.

But Rauth told the Palm Beach Post that Dion will not be ordered to tear down her water park.

The Quebec-born singer was fined for excessive water use in 2008 and later had several wells dug on her property to supply her aquatic playground with the 6.5 million gallons of water it needs every year.

Dion, ranked as the fifth richest woman in show business by Forbes magazine in 2007, is worth an estimated $250 million. The 42-year-old singer, who is pregnant with twin boys, shares the 9,825-square-foot home on 5.7 acres of oceanfront land with Angélil, 68, and their nine-year-old son René Charles.

Photo courtesy SplashNewsOnline.com. Click on image to see full size.

Rachel McAdams takes a role close to home

PopGoesTheNews.com >> She's a bona fide Hollywood star but for the fourth time in her career Rachel McAdams is making a movie in the Canadian city she calls home. The actress will co-star with Channing Tatum in The Vow, shooting in Toronto from Aug. 3 to Oct. 31.

McAdams, 31, and Tatum, 30, will play newlyweds recovering from a car accident that leaves her with severe memory loss. The romantic drama is being directed by Michael Sucsy, who made the HBO movie Grey Gardens in and around Toronto.

McAdams, who has a home in Toronto, made The Time Travelers Wife in the city as well as 2004's Mean Girls and 2002's Perfect Pie. (Some scenes for McAdams' 2002 flick My Name Is Tanino were also shot in Toronto.)

The native of St. Thomas, Ont. has spent her summer in France as part of the all-star cast of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. After The Vow she will reportedly reprise her role as Irene Adler in the Sherlock Holmes sequel and then co-star with Javier Bardem and Christian Bale in Terrence Malick's next film.

McAdams will be seen in November's comedy Morning Glory.

Tatum's film credits include Step Up and Dear John. He made 2006's She's The Man in B.C., where he also shot some scenes for Battle in Seattle.

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The girls of Dawson's Creek at work in T.O.

PopGoesTheNews.com >> The girls of Dawson's Creek are in Toronto working on separate projects. Michelle Williams (pictured on left) who played Jen Lindley, and Katie Holmes (pictured on right), who played Joey Potter, are in the city shooting the feature drama Take This Waltz and the miniseries The Kennedys respectively.

Dawson's Creek, the popular teen drama series that ran from 1998 to 2003, launched the careers of both actresses. Prior to the show, Holmes had done only one small role (in the movie The Ice Storm) and Williams had only a handful of TV credits to her name (including Baywatch and Home Improvement).

Both women are working moms. Holmes, 31, has a daughter with Tom Cruise and Williams, 29, has a daughter with the late Heath Ledger.

Williams has worked in Canada before – she made 1999's political comedy Dick in Toronto and 2005's Brokeback Mountain in Alberta – but Holmes is making her Canadian acting debut as Jackie Kennedy in the History miniseries. Both stars are being directed by Canadians – Holmes is working for Ottawa's Jon Cassar and Williams for Toronto's Sarah Polley.

>> For more photos of Williams and Holmes working in Toronto, go to CanadianTabloid.com.

Photo of Michelle Williams by John R. Kennedy / SplashNewsOnline.com; Photo of Katie Holmes by Todd Gillis / SplashNewsOnline.com. Click on images to see full size.

Veteran actor treated for heart problem

PopGoesTheNews.com >> Canadian actor Harvey Atkin – familiar to TV audiences as Sgt. Ronald Coleman on the '80s series Cagney & Lacey and more recently as Judge Alan Ridenour on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – is in a Toronto hospital tonight after receiving cardiac treatment.

Atkin, 67, underwent a procedure earlier today at the Schulich Heart Centre at Sunnybrook Hospital to correct an arrhythmia after complaining of heart problems several weeks ago. The actor, whose distinctive voice can be heard in commercials for furniture retailer Leon's, received cutting-edge treatment to restore a regular heartbeat in one of only three robotic arrhythmia invasive labs in Canada.

According to Sunnybrook, cardiac arrhythmias occur when the electricity that flows through the heart to trigger the pumping action "short circuits" or gets blocked, disturbing the heart's normal rhythm and potentially leading to heart attack and/or stroke.

Atkin is expected to be released from hospital on Wednesday morning.

The actor will be seen next in the feature film Barney's Version, which co-stars Dustin Hoffman and Minnie Driver.

Noah Wyle and Ray Liotta among the stars working in Ontario

PopGoesTheNews.com >> Noah Wyle, best known for his role as Dr. John Carter on ER, will spend more than three months in Hamilton, Ont. filming his new TV series Falling Skies. The 39-year-old actor (pictured) was in the province last August filming the pilot for the Steven Spielberg-produced series, which will air on U.S. cable channel TNT.

Wyle is just one of the stars working on new projects in Hollywood North.

In Falling Skies, Wyle stars as a former college professor who leads a group of soldiers and civilians fighting an occupying alien force. The series also stars Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation) and Will Patton (Armageddon).

Wyle and Bloodgood will attend Comic Con in San Diego on July 23 to promote the series, which is scheduled to debut next summer. It will shoot July 26 to Nov. 5.

In Toronto, production is about to begin on the pilot for Alphas, a series for the U.S. cable channel SyFy about a team of ordinary citizens with extraordinary mental skills who take on cases that law enforcement agencies are unable to solve. The 90-minute pilot, starring Oscar nominee David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck), will be shot July 30 to Aug. 27.

Veteran actor Ray Liotta and Woodstock, Ont. native Kevin Zegers are in the city until the end of the month filming the thriller Entitled with Canadian stars Victor Garber (Alias), Dustin Milligan (90210), Devon Bostick (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and Laura Vandervoort (V).

Zegers, 25, plays the ringleader of a group of college students who kidnap three young socialites only to have things go horribly wrong.

Maggie Q and Shane West are shooting the first season of Nikita for The CW in and around Toronto until mid-December. The new version of the '90s series that was based on two films follows Nikita as she seeks revenge on the government agency that made her an assassin. The pilot was shot here in February.

Production is getting underway on the Sarah Polley-directed feature Take This Waltz starring Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman and Michelle Williams. The drama will shoot in Toronto until Aug. 27. Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear and Tom Wilkinson are in and out of Toronto until Sept. 24 working on the eight-hour History mini-series The Kennedys.

The city is also hosting the made-for-TV movie Reviving Ophelia with Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle) and Kim Dickens (Treme), which is set to air later this year on U.S. cable channel Lifetime. Production wraps up on Aug. 1.

Further north, in Sudbury, cameras are rolling on the '70s feature drama High Chicago with British actor Colin Salmon and Karen LeBlanc of the Global summer series Shattered. The film is about the effects gambling has on a family in a small mining town.

Wrapping up on Aug. 4, the flick is also scheduled to do some scenes at an Oakville drive-in theatre.

Photo courtesy TNT.

Injury sidelines Canadian dancer on 'SYTYCD'

PopGoesTheNews.com >> The Canadian competitor on this season of So You Think You Can Dance has been sidelined by an injury and could be forced off the show.

Alex Wong of Vancouver, B.C. suffered what producers suspect is a ruptured Achilles tendon during rehearsals on Tuesday night. Wong had an MRI earlier today and is awaiting the results.

"At best he is going to be off for this week," executive producer Nigel Lythgoe explained on tonight's show. "With the new rules this year he is going to be placed in the bottom three this week and if he can't appear next week then he is automatically out of the competition."

As Wong sat in the studio audience with tears in his eyes, Lythgoe described the injury as "heartbreaking." Just last month, PEOPLE said Wong has "set the bar high" for this season of the show.

"We are all, as he is, devastated," said Lythgoe. "We're keeping our fingers crossed."

Wong was chosen for last season of SYTYCD but had to bow out because of contractual obligations to the Miami City Ballet, where he was a principle soloist. The 23-year-old native of Edmonton, Alberta left the company this year so he could appear on the show.

Wong joined the Miami City Ballet in 2005 and was promoted to principle soloist last year. He trained in tap and jazz at the age of seven before studying ballet at Vancouver's Goh Ballet Academy. In 2004, he became the first Canadian to win the Prix de Lausanne competition in Switzerland and briefly danced with American Ballet Theatre.

A rupture of the Achilles tendon is quite common among athletes and dancers, usually when jumping or pushing off. Soccer star David Beckham was sidelined for several months after suffering the same injury.

Photo courtesy of Fox.