The Way of Cameron

Montecito actor Josh Brolin has revealed mega director James Cameron’s reaction to him rejecting a role in the Avatar sequel, The Way of Water.

The Men in Black III star, 56, detailed he declined to appear as a new character in the 2022 box office smash 13 years after Cameron’s original film became the highest grossing movie in history.

Brolin, who has been busy promoting his new autobiography From Under the Truck, was interviewed by Graham Bensinger on his In Depth podcast and said Oscar-winner Cameron, 70, was “angry” over his refusal to join the cast.

“I hear he was angry and I understand it, because when you have something in your mind you have status and power. You’re used to people feeling grateful that you are offering it to them… It was bigger than the project. It wasn’t based on him.”

Brolin declined to comment on the exact reason he turned down the lucrative part…

State of Zip Code Real Estate

America’s most expensive zip codes all have one thing in common – water.

In a ranking of the most expensive zip codes across the nation, RealtyHop declared Atherton, California, Number One with a median list price of $7.75 million in the 94027 zip code.

New York has two zip codes in the Top Ten, both in the Hamptons on Long Island.

The most expensive New York zip code is 11962 for the charming community of Sagaponack, where I used to stay at a friend’s beach house, located between the home of the late Jaws actor Roy Scheider and magazine magnate Peter Brant and his former supermodel wife Stephanie Seymour.

The Rockwellian community has a median list price of $5.995 million.

Two more California zip codes make the Top Ten with Newport in the 92657 ranking in seventh place with $4.95 million and our rarefied enclave – 93108 – in eighth with a median price of $4.85 million, both picturesque coastal communities.

Our Eden by the Beach first gained a spot in the Top Ten in 2021 when it ranked seventh with a median sale price of $4.1 million.

Travel Plans

Prince Harry and actress wife Meghan Markle are set to attend events on opposite sides of the country this week as they continue to seemingly experiment with their new brand image strategy.

The Duke of Sussex, 40, visits Manhattan to attend the New York Times’s DealBook conference and the same evening his wife, 43, attends the Paley Honors Fall Gala in Los Angeles, where she is expected to present producer-director Tyler Perry with the Paley Center for Media’s most coveted honor.

King Charles’s youngest son and the duchess were on the hosting committee; however Meghan will be the only one in attendance.

Perry famously allowed the dynamic duo to stay at his $18 million Beverly Hills estate when they first gave up being “working royals” and moved to their $14 million Riven Rock home in our rarefied enclave in 2020.

Perry is also godfather to the couple’s daughter Princess Lilibet.

Getting a ‘Clue’

In Sandy Rustin’s farce murder mystery Clue at the Granada, mysterious guests assemble for an unusual dinner party where murder and blackmail are on the menu.

Based on the 1985 Paramount Pictures movie and inspired by the classic Hasbro board game, diners turn up dead and they all become suspects.

As the body count stacks after the host turns up dead in a remote Mansion, the butler Wadsworth, Miss Scarlett, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock and Col. Mustard race to find the killer.

The hugely entertaining Theater League production is one that, appropriately enough, leaves you dying with laughter until the final surprising twists.

A side-splitting script that has nothing to do with the fare consumed!

All Judi Wants for Christmas

Dame Judi Dench was left suitably bemused after receiving a decidedly skimpy red thong for Yuletide in a hilarious charity campaign video for the Santa Barbara charity ShelterBox.

The legendary actress, 89, is unwrapping presents in the fun-filled clip, which included a pair of roller skates and a bright pink dustpan and brush, and is seen urging people to send “something worthwhile” for Christmas.

Dench, staring at the skimpy undergarment, is unable to hide her surprise, before declaring: “Red’s not my color!”

“That’s what I love about ShelterBox. And items like tents, thermal blankets, and water filters are tangible.”

“They really make a difference!”

A most meaningful message for a particularly great cause…

Home Damage

Former TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres’s new life on the scenic English countryside has gone dramatically wrong after her home with wife actress Portia de Rossi in the Cotswolds was swamped by heavy flooding just days after they moved into the six-bedroom, four-bathroom, 43-acre property.

Neighbors in the ‘hood include King Charles at his longtime country estate Highgrove and former soccer ace David Beckham and his fashion designer wife Victoria.

But rather than experiencing a pastoral retreat Ellen, 66, and Portia, 51, were left at the mercy of a raging flood which engulfed their multi-million mansion after the River Thames, which flows by their home, burst its banks following the destructive impact of Storm Bert and five inches of rain.

The tony twosome were left virtually marooned after moving to their new home, complete with swimming pool, helipad and one bedroom guest cottage.

Sightings

Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry and British actor fiancé Orlando Bloom celebrating Thanksgiving with the family on Miramar Beach… Oscar winner Kevin Costner noshing at Tre Lune… Actor Chris Pratt at Pierre Lafond.

Pip! Pip!