Toni Collette in 'United States of Tara' and More Exclusive EW First Looks!

In Showtime’s acclaimed dramedy United States of Tara, Collette stars as Tara Gregson, a woman with dissociative identity disorder whose multiple personalities regularly take over her life. It all gets even more complicated in the third season (premiering next spring), when Tara’s personalities — or alters — start communicating with one another. (In this scene, the June Cleaver-channeling Alice chats up hippie-happy Shoshana.) So what does Tara make of this development? ”She thinks it’s weird!” says Collette, adding that her character — who was already on the verge of a breakdown — struggles to keep her other identities from ganging up on her. ”There’s a kind of a deal that she makes with the alters this season,” the Emmy winner teases. But as things progress, ”it’s a deal that might be jeopardized.” —Tanner Stransky

Live from…Portland, Ore.? In his new IFC sketch series Portlandia, Armisen (right) and former Sleater-Kinney riot grrrl Carrie Brownstein (left) poke gentle fun at the hipper- and veganer-than-thou foibles of the Pacific Northwest. (In episode 2, airing Jan. 28, they fall in with a cult leader played by guest star Jason Sudeikis, center.) Armisen, who was a drummer before Saturday Night Live, says he and Brownstein see similarities between music and comedy. ”A sketch is three or four minutes, and that’s about the length of a song,” he notes. ”And there always needs to be a hook.” —Keith Staskiewicz

In the new sci-fi thriller Source Code (out April 1), Gyllenhaal plays a military operative who is sent back in time — over and over again — to figure out how to foil a terrorist plot on a train. On board, he falls for one of the ill-fated passengers (Monaghan). The movie’s multi-level plot has already earned blogosphere comparisons to brainteasers like Inception — which doesn’t bother director Duncan Jones (Moon) one bit. ”I’m a big fan of Chris Nolan’s and would love to be put in the same category as him someday,” he says. (Fun fact: Jones is David Bowie’s son.) But don’t look for any Nolanesque nihilism here. ”The tone of the film is quite light,” says Jones. ”We get to see Jake play a leading-man action role but still have that little sense of humor to him — almost like an Indiana Jones.” So it’s Indiana Jones meets Inception? All aboard! —Adam Markovitz

”My only question is: Do the pasties make me look fat?” Macy quips when asked about this scene from Showtime’s upcoming series Shameless (debuting Jan. 9), in which the actor plays Frank, an irresponsible alcoholic with six children. Sticky situations like this one — the botched seduction of a fellow parent named Sheila (Joan Cusack) — are a regular occurrence in the dark comedy. ”My task in this thing is to remain as irascible as I can be without losing the audience completely,” he says. ”It’s a challenge, but I was born to play this role.” —Tanner Stransky

In NBC’s new series The Cape (premiering Jan. 9), Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) plays Orwell, an investigative blogger who, aided by the titular superhero (David Lyons), tries to take down a corporation that’s wreaking havoc on the city — and that happens to be run by her father. In this scene, former dancer Orwell tests her aerial skills at the carnival where she and the Cape, who secretly watches, have sought refuge. ”She’s longing for a life she’s given up because of who her father is,” says Glau. ”It’s been years since she’s spoken to him, and there’s a part of her that wants to express who she is instead of living as an alias.” —Archana Ram

He’s mostly known for his roles in action flicks (X-Men) and romances (The Notebook). So what’s Marsden doing on ABC’s Modern Family? ”James is hilarious,” series star Jesse Tyler Ferguson (pictured lying down) says of the actor, who appears in an episode early next year as a reiki practitioner who moves in next door to Mitchell (Ferguson) and Cam (Eric Stonestreet). ”Believe me, he would not have been in Mitchell and Cam’s hot tub if he wasn’t funny — okay, funny and hot.” —Tanner Stransky

Elizabeth Mitchell (left) knows the rebooted V got off to a shaky start. ”A quiet group of people talking about doing something? That’s not fun to watch,” she says of season 1. ”I wanted to be an action hero, not an exposition hero!” Mitchell promises that the coming season (premiering Jan. 4) ups the thrills…and the moral ambiguity. In this scene, the rebels torture a disguised alien (Rekha Sharma, right) by slicing off her lizard tail. ”I was like, ‘They’re actually showing that?”’ says Mitchell. ”The effects are freakin’ gruesomely good.” —Darren Franich

It’s a WJM reunion! Moore reteams with White — her costar on the 1970s smash The Mary Tyler Moore Show (inset) — for the Jan. 19 episode of TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland. Moore portrays a woman with Mob connections who runs into Elka (White) in the pokey. (White’s character was busted for hoarding stolen goods in the season 1 finale.) ”We really have been lusting after each other for all these years, wishing we could get together on a set and do something again,” Moore tells EW. Even before the scene taped, White was anticipating how Moore’s appearance would play out with the sitcom’s live studio audience. ”For her first entrance, I’m sure they’ll go crazy for an hour and a half,” she told EW last month. ”I’ll just sit there and read something.” —Lynette Rice

For its third season (premiering Jan. 24 on Logo), the drag-queen competition series has landed comedy legend Lily Tomlin for one of its coveted guest-judge spots. The 71-year-old actress — most recently seen in a dramatic role on FX’s Damages — had a great time palling around with host RuPaul. But she was most impressed with her parting gift: a collection of latex breasts. Says Tomlin, ”They gave me, like, a whole set — small, medium, and large — to take home. So I put them in my costume room. You never know when they’ll come in handy.” —Tim Stack

The actors just wrapped Hysteria (out in 2011), a movie about…well, let’s let them explain. ”It’s about how the Victorian medical community invented the vibrator as a therapeutic massage device. There’s no other way to put it,” laughs Hugh Dancy, who stars as a doctor in 1880s Britain. But the film’s not some raunchy romp. ”It’s mischievous, and there’s something kind of naughty about it — but it’s not dirty,” says Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays Dancy’s love interest. ”It feels like one of those witty old movies from the ’40s.” —Adam Markovitz

Bringing the work of Cormac McCarthy to the screen is a daunting task, something Tommy Lee Jones knows full well from his role in 2007’s No Country for Old Men. So when he decided to adapt the literary giant’s suicide-themed novel-cum-play, The Sunset Limited, he called McCarthy to get the okay. The famously reclusive author gave his blessing, and even visited the set. ”Cormac was with us a good deal in rehearsal,” says Jones, who directed and stars alongside Samuel L. Jackson in the HBO movie (debuting Feb. 12). ”It was a wonderful experience for Sam and me. It wasn’t a wonderful experience for anyone else, though, because I wouldn’t let anyone else in. Well, [I did invite] some people from HBO, but they had to sit up against the wall with their hands folded.” —Keith Staskiewicz

In a dark retelling of the famous children’s tale (out March 11), Seyfried stars as Valerie, a village girl torn between two loves. ”I’ve never seen her like this in a role before,” raves director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight). ”She’s supersexy, wild. And those big eyes of hers are totally out of a fairy tale.” —Karen Valby

The threat of demons and werewolves further complicates the Little Red Riding Hood love triangle (which includes Peter, played by Jericho‘s Shiloh Fernandez, pictured), along with a priest (Gary Oldman) obsessed with ridding his village of evil, and townspeople hiding their own secrets and lies. ”There’s a strong whodunit through the whole thing,” says Hardwicke. ”So it’s got the weird, interesting parts of Grimm’s fairy tale and then so much more.” —KV

The actress walks down the aisle with Laz Alonso in the rom-com Jumping the Broom (out next May), but the real sparks fly as their families (including Angela Bassett and Brian Stokes Mitchell, left) struggle to find common ground. To producer Tracey E. Edmonds, Broom addresses a universal truth about marriage: ”You not only marry that individual, you also marry their family.” —Sandra Gonzalez

In her first regular TV gig, Dern plays Amy, a woman who has a breakdown — and a spiritual awakening — in the upcoming series Enlightened (debuting in 2011). ”It has the vibe of Network, one of my favorite movies of all time,” says the actress (with Wilson, who plays her ex-husband, Levi). ”Amy projects that ‘I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore’ sentiment.” —Tanner Stransky

It’s time to play the music! It’s time to light the lights! It’s time to raise the curtain on… The Muppets! After a decade spent largely out of the pop culture limelight, doing whatever semiretired celebrity puppets do, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear, and the rest of the gang are starting production this month on the first big-screen Muppet movie in 11 years. And co-writer Jason Segel, who also stars in the movie (out Thanksgiving 2011), is setting the bar pretty high, hoping to recapture the magic of the late Jim Henson’s vision. ”We’ve worked really hard to stay true to the original spirit of the Muppets,” Segel says. ”We’ve missed the same thing everyone else has been missing.” —Josh Rottenberg

Based on Emily Giffin’s 2004 book, the romantic comedy Something Borrowed (due in 2011) follows BFFs (Goodwin and Hudson) who fall for the same guy (Melrose Place‘s Colin Egglesfield, above right). ”There are zany romantic comedies, and those are fun,” says John Krasinski (above left), who plays a platonic pal. ”But this is more real. You know someone like each of these people.” —Keith Staskiewicz

Reteaming with The Messenger director/co-writer Oren Moverman (above left), Harrelson plays a crooked cop in Rampart (out in 2011), a drama set during the real-life LAPD corruption scandal of the late 1990s. ”Oren has an amazing way with words, but he uses them sparingly,” says Harrelson, who feels the filmmaker is ”like a brother” to him. ”He says just the right thing — it’s like a key that unlocks whatever wasn’t working in the scene.” —Adam Markovitz

The ’90s heartthrobs from Beverly Hills, 90210 have reunited for the Western Goodnight for Justice, a Hallmark Channel TV movie debuting in 2011. How was it working together again? ”It’s like falling into bad habits,” jokes Luke Perry, who exec-produces and stars as a revenge-seeking judge, while Jason Priestley takes on the role of director. —Lesley Savage

The Vancouver set may be many miles away from West Beverly, but Priestley and Perry’s close camaraderie remains the same. ”Luke has been developing this script for the last year and a half, so this character is very dear to him,” says Priestley. ”It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with him on this.” —Lesley Savage

When Disney acquired Marvel, there was one clear potential crossover: Tron Legacy. The result is 10 special ”Tronified” covers, like this Thor one. ”Our characters have these long character continuities,” says Ruwan Jayatilleke, a senior vice president at Marvel Entertainment, ”but we thought this would be a fun chance to put both sets of toys in the sandbox and play with them.” —Darren Franich

Disney gave the Marvel team lots of flexibility: ”We didn’t have to agonize for eight months over what the depiction of a Tronified Spider-Man would look like,” says Jayatilleke ”This was really just giving the artists on this project, Brandon Petersen and Mark Brooks, the opportunity to really stretch their pencils and inks and wow us.” —DF

”The Captain America cover might be my favorite,” says Jayatilleke, noting the nifty integration of Captain America’s shield with the iconic Tron disc. ”The fact that they kept the essence of Cap but still gave him a very slick digital rendition was cool.” —DF

Could Marvel do similar cover experiments for other Disney franchises? ”I can see that where it makes sense. Does it make sense with a film like Tron Legacy? Absolutely. With a film that doesn’t have a common demographic, it might not make sense,” says Jayatilleke. So you might not be seeing Spidey in Pirates of the Caribbean regalia after all… —DF

”The funny thing was, most of the tweaking we had to do was pulling the artist back so it wasn’t over-the-top Tron, says Jayatilleke. ”Sometimes they wanted to incorporate too much of the Tron iconography into it. We still want this to read as Marvel covers!” —DF

Kidman and Cage play a wealthy couple whose lakefront dream house is the target of a break-in in Trespass, currently filming in Shreveport, La. ”There are cross-connections between the family and the [criminals], and many secrets come out,” says director Joel Schumacher (Phone Booth), who had to dissuade Cage from playing the villain. ”I know Nic would have been brilliant as the bad guy, but I wanted him to play the hero. It went back and forth and finally ended up where it should be.” —Jeff Labrecque

In the DVD-only Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 (out Feb. 1), wisecracking pooch Papi (voiced by George Lopez), his new wife, Chloe (Cloverfield‘s Odette Yustman), and their offspring try to help their struggling owners — giving kid audiences ”a chance to relate to being courageous and secure,” says Lopez. So a talking-dog flick can truly help a child grow? Says Lopez, ”I think change can come in teacup form.” —Dan Snierson

The oft-told Arthurian legend lives again in Starz’ upcoming series Camelot (premiering next spring), which features New Moon‘s Jamie Campbell Bower (left) as the teenage King Arthur and Joseph Fiennes (right) as Merlin. As expected, there will be plenty of swordplay. ”I feel like I’m becoming Roger Federer,” says Bower. ”Wielding Excalibur, my right arm seems to be gaining in size every day as my left arm stays weak and flabby.” —Keith Staskiewicz

When Scream 4 opens April 15, 10 years have passed. Cox’s character, Gale Weathers, is now married to Dewey (Cox’s real-life husband, David Arquette). ”I kind of gave up my job as the entertainment journalist,” says Cox. ”I’m bored with my life and my marriage.” Bringing a little excitement to town is Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). Her return leads to more Ghostface murders, which reenergize Gale. Says Cox, ”Things start happening, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.” —Tim Stack

When the Glee cast recorded an episode of Fox’s The Cleveland Show last fall, it was waaay before they became megastars. ”They were happy to be a little self-deprecating,” says Cleveland‘s exec producer Rich Appel about the episode that will air this winter (in which Cleveland wants his stepdaughter to be more like the Glee kids). Some of the cast will also appear in the season premiere of The Simpsons on Sept. 26. —Lynette Rice

”We approached them, and the nice thing was that they knew our show. [Cleveland] and Glee both came on the air basically in the same week or two on Fox. So a lot of pre-premiere publicity we did in lockstep together, back-to-back,” says Appel. ”Now it’s funny to think that if I’m standing next to Corey Monteith, no one would give me a second glance.” —LR

Based on the novel that also inspired Joan Crawford’s classic 1945 weepie of the same name, this five-part HBO miniseries (airing in spring 2011) stars Kate Winslet as a troubled single mom in 1930s Southern California. Director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) says wooing the star — fresh off her 2009 Oscar win for The Reader — was surprisingly easy. ”I only met with her twice. The second time she said, ‘You know what? I’m doing this. I can’t not do this,”’ he recalls. ”I just grabbed her and we started hugging.” —Adam Markovitz