Ferrera back at Sundance as star

From wire reports

PARK CITY, Utah -- America Ferrera came to the Sundance Film Festival eight years ago as an unknown with only one professional acting gig behind her. She's back as a star.

The star of "Ugly Betty" had her coming out party at Sundance in 2002 with "Real Women Have Curves," the tale of a Mexican-American teen caught between her parents' traditional working-class values and her own desire to go to college.

The film won the audience award as the festival favorite chosen by Sundance fans, earned Ferrera an acting prize, and became a calling card for a Hollywood future with "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and its sequel, along with her TV show.

It was the first professional acting job for Ferrera, who was 17 at the time and struggling for a toehold in a town where curvy Hispanics tend to get cast in working-class ethnic parts while wafer-thin blondes score the best lead roles.

"What's so kind of beautiful about the whole thing was that everything that made me not right for all of those hundreds of commercial auditions that I went on and no one ever wanted me for is what made me perfectly right for 'Real Women Have Curves,"' said Ferrera, 25, who is back at Sundance with the Iraq War homecoming drama "The Dry Land."

Written and directed by Ferrera's boyfriend, Ryan Piers Williams, "The Dry Land" features her as a troubled wife dealing with the violent mood swings of her husband (Ryan O'Nan), a soldier afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder from combat in Iraq.

Ferrera had her doubts that Williams would get the film into production, given how other war-on-terror movies have failed to find an audience. Yet her boyfriend was determined, and Ferrera eventually signed on as an executive producer as well as co-star.

Group seeks robotic stand-in for Phil

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. -- An animal rights group wants organizers of Pennsylvania's Groundhog Day festival to replace Punxsutawney Phil with a robotic stand-in.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says it's unfair to keep the animal in captivity and subject him to the huge crowds and bright lights that accompany tens of thousands of revelers each Feb. 2 in Punxsutawney, a tiny borough about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. PETA is suggesting the use of an animatronic model.

But William Deeley, president of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, says the animal is "being treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania." The groundhog is kept in a climate-controlled environment and is inspected annually by the state Department of Agriculture.

Deeley says PETA isn't interested in Phil from Feb. 2 on, and is looking for publicity.

NBC picks up O'Brien company pilot

NEW YORK -- NBC says it has a deal with Conan O'Brien to produce a possible series, only days after his rancorous exit as host of the network's "Tonight Show."

NBC is picking up a pilot from O'Brien's production company, Conaco. The drama, as yet untitled, focuses on a Supreme Court justice who leaves the bench to start his own practice.

Casting has yet to be announced for the pilot, which is bucking for a series slot on NBC's fall schedule.

Despite O'Brien's recent split from NBC as an on-camera star, he retains a development deal with the network.

Past series produced by Conaco include the comedy "Andy Barker, P.I.," which featured O'Brien's longtime talk-show sidekick Andy Richter.