Chelsea Handler began her campaign to succeed Barbara Walters as television's blondest interviewer with last night's Big Interview Special. The E! special featured conversations with Gwyneth Paltrow, Anne Hathaway and Christina Aguilera. Only unlike the 86-year-old 20/20 anchor, Handler came off less like your nosy great-aunt, and more like your gabby best friend who wanted to know everything about your sex scenes, gay best friends, Oscar disappointments and bucket bathroom habits. Let's check out the highlights ahead.
1. Gwyneth Paltrow loves her booze
"I like red wine, but I'll drink white, rosé. Guinness is my favorite beer, and I love a dirty vodka martini. I'm just a lush, basically. I'll drink whatever."
2. Gwyneth Paltrow learned about addiction from her Iron Man co-star
When asked how Paltrow prepared to play an alcoholic/drug addict in the upcoming film Country Strong, she revealed, "I actually emailed Robert Downey Jr., who has been sober for a long time, but I was like, Explain to me addiction.' And he wrote me the most amazing email and it really helped me understand it. It was really cool."
3. It was hard for Gwyneth Paltrow to win an Oscar
"It was at a time where my grandfather, who I adored, was dying and my father was very ill with cancer," the Shakespeare in Love star told Handler. "It was just a lot. It was a hard time. And then all of that attention. It was kind of tough. I kind of took to my parents' house for three weeks and didn't leave. It's a lot of energy though. All of that attention. I don't think it's necessarily a good thing."
4. If you give Gwyneth Paltrow your email address, she might become your best friend
That is what happened with former Tonight Show intern Ross Matthews when he met the actress in the press line of the Vanity Fair Academy Awards party.
5. Anne Hathaway was relieved to not win the Oscar last year
"I'm a shy person," explained the Love and Other Drugs actress. "I can't imagine having to stand in front of that huge audience and speak. I get nervous talking to my barista in the morning!" [Editor's note: Yeah, right.]
6. A deconstructed thong is all that kept Hathaway's "lady bits" from Jake Gyllenhaal's "man bits" during the many Love and Other Drugs sex scenes
Pretty much "a thong with a lot of tape, and the sides were cut off," is all that separated both actors private areas while filming their new Edward Zwick film. "I spent weeks and weeks naked with Jake Gyllenhaal...and they paid me!"
7. Anne Hathaway stole underwear from the set of Brokeback Mountain
It may seem ridiculous but the actress, who played Jake Gyllenhaal's onscreen wife in the film, had a two-prong explanation for the thievery. 1) "It was my most memorable bit of costume" and 2) "I didn't want anyone else to have it."
8. Of all the clothing Anne Hathaway wore on The Devil Wears Prada, she kept her butt pad
The actress revealed that not only does she have the piece of padding used to accentuate her posterior during the first scenes of the movie, but she plans on preserving it in a glass case in her house.
9. Christina Aguilera will relieve herself in a bucket if necessary
So this was probably where the hour-long program veered most dramatically away from any Barbara Walters special. Somehow, Handler found herself discussing how the Burlesque actress is sometimes forced to relieve herself -- in more ways than one -- into a bucket being held by a handler during her concerts.