The stars attending CNN Heroes on Sunday night were hit with question after question from the media as they walked the red carpet. But no matter how many queries were fired their way, none of the celebrities seemed to lose their enthusiasm for the affair.

In fact, among those I chatted with outside the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles, the longer they talked about why they were there, the more excited they became.

"Friday Night Lights" alums Scott Porter and LaMarcus Tinker both spoke passionately and at length about CNN Hero Eddie Canales, whose nonprofit Gridiron Heroes supports high school football players who have sustained spinal cord injuries.

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Today's news you might've missed:

• That photo up there, friends, is a photo of a beardless Matisyahu. The 32-year-old has shaved off his easily recognizable facial hair, and as a result, "No more Chassidic reggae superstar." [CNN]
• Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle will undoubtedly be giving Lamar Odom and wife Khloe Kardashian a warm welcome as they join the team, since he's revealed that Khloe is his favorite in the reality show family. And as far as doing a little camera work if a reality show should become of this trade, well, Carlisle says he's "never been one to rule anything out." [ESPN]
• Katy Perry is no only popular with hair colorists, but she also has scored the number one slot on one of the a 2011 Artists Of The Year list. [PopDust]
• Tony Bennett is auctioning off a hand-drawn portrait of a nude Lady Gaga. The starting price is $5,000, but we're guessing you're probably still stuck on the first sentence to pay much attention to the price. [Daily Mail]
• “Up All Night” is getting ready for a fun ‘90s flashback: Alanis Morissette is lined up for a guest spot. A source from the set confirms that the "Jagged Little Pill" singer is popping in to play Amanda, a hip-hop star from Ava’s (Maya Rudolph) ‘90s band, Sound LLC. Morissette’s arc as Ava’s old bandmate will air in early 2012. [TVLine]
• As Lindsay Lohan's nude images in Playboy were splashed across the Web this week, the actress herself has been splashing in the waves of Oahu. Take a good look at the photo, because that's probably the only other Lohan sighting you're getting this week - since she was delayed in Hawaii and has to go to court tomorrow, Lohan won't be making her scheduled taping on "Ellen" for a Thursday show. [Us Weekly/Gossip Cop]
• This is what happens when a Drake fan tattoos the rapper's name to her forehead. [PopDust]

As "Desperate Housewives" finishes its final season, star Eva Longoria’s lined up a new gig, and this time it's behind the camera.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Longoria, 36, has sold a script order to the CW network.

Legal drama "Vega v. Vega" follows a young successful lawyer forced into business with her attorney mom.

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Carrie Brownstein has been plenty busy, between working on a book and her sketch comedy TV show with Fred Armisen, "Portlandia," but she's also back to touring and recording with Wild Flag.

Wild Flag is a Frankenstein monster (in a good way), made up from parts of the Minders (Rebecca Cole), Helium (Mary Timony) and Sleater-Kinney (Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss).

On paper, the disparate sounds of these bands wouldn't seem ideal for melding, but on their debut album they emerge with a sound that manages to evoke their past projects while also remaining cohesive. They bring an energy to their live performances that evinces a hunger one might not expect from performers as accomplished as they already are.

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According to New York magazine’s Vulture, Jennifer Aniston’s beau Justin Theroux is riding the animation wave.

The actor/writer is the latest to snag a cartoon deal with a major network. (Mindy Kaling and Russell Brand are among the other stars getting animated.) Fox has snapped up Theroux’s script for an untitled half-hour program about a “present-day Archie Bunker type.”

The main character is said to be a cranky left-leaning New Yorker who misses the '90s. Theroux's previous co-writing credits include "Tropic Thunder," "Iron Man 2" and "Rock of Ages."

Which star-powered animated series are you looking forward to?

In the upcoming adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's novel "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," Oscar winner Sandra Bullock takes on an assignment she wasn't anticipating: playing a widow who loses her spouse in the 9/11 attacks.

That's not a spoiler, but rather the set-up for the film, which stars Tom Hanks as the husband of Bullock's character and Thomas Horn as the couple's 9-year-old son, Oskar.

Bullock, who is also a mom in real life to son Louis, told CNN that she had "no conscious desire to make a movie about 9/11," but that there was something about the story that intrigued her.

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We've seen her hunt caribou (and draw fire from Aaron Sorkin while doing it) and camp out with Kate Gosselin on her TLC show "Sarah Palin's Alaska," but perhaps we haven't seen enough of Sarah Palin's husband, Todd.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Palin has been pitching a new reality series that would train the spotlight on her husband's snowmobile racing career.

The show, like "Palin's Alaska," would be produced by reality vet Mark Burnett, but THR reports that the potential program isn't gaining interest with networks like TLC and A&E.

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Actress Nikki Blonsky has a new job aside from slinging shoes: The 23-year-old, who starred alongside John Travolta in the 2007 version of "Hairspray," has picked up a gig in a Long Island hair salon, reports RadarOnline.

Blonsky confirms it via her Twitter account, writing, "Its true Im workin@ Superstar Salon as a makeup artist & more Im proud 2 b workin & helpin pay bills BUT ill NEVER loose sight of my dreams."

She adds, "Just cause Im part time workin doesnt mean Im gonna give up on my dreams n dont give up on urs I might book something big soon keep positive."

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It looks like June 29, 2012 will bring you twice as much Channing Tatum, as the actor appears to have two movies lined up to open on that date.

There's his stripper flick "Magic Mike," and then there's "G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation" - although, admittedly, we don't see a lot of 31-year-old Tatum in the trailer for the "G.I. Joe" sequel below.

The two-minute clip gives an idea of how "Step Up 3-D" and "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" director Jon Chu handled the reins on this follow-up to 2009's "Rise of the Cobra," and it offers plenty of explosions, mountain-side battles and machine gun firing.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Adrianne Palicki have joined the "G.I. Joe" cast along with Bruce Willis, because, as the Rock says, "the world ain't saving itself."

What do you think of the trailer?

Disney’s many princesses are wildly popular with kids, but characters like Belle and Cinderella behave as adults. The New York Times reports that Walt Disney Co. is remedying this by adding yet another princess to its line… and this one is a little girl herself.

The new princess, Sofia, is aimed at children ages 2 to 7. A television movie and series called “Sofia the First” featuring the new character will air on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior.

According to Just Jared Jr., "Modern Family's" Ariel Winter landed the role of the young, animated royal, who actually starts out the film as a regular girl. After her mom marries a king, that's when Sofia is introduced to "a glamorous, but sometimes confusing, castle world" - one that includes step-siblings. (Now where have we heard that one before?)

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