While channel-surfing recently, I noticed that Harry Dean Stanton, who plays the ghost of Juniper Creek Compound's prophet Roman Grant in Season 4 of Big Love, was the duplicitous Army sergeant --- in 1980's film Private Benjamin, leading Goldie Hawn to believe she'd be living in condos while seeing the world as a Army recruit. Harry Dean Stanton is now 83, and admittedly kicks ass, even as a ghost, in an acclaimed HBO series. Goldie Hawn is only 64 and hasn't made a movie since 2002.

Advice for actors: Beauty is fleeting, but the need for duplicitous, manipulative con artists is never ending. Play ugly characters frequently, let your face wrinkle and sag and develop an ear for country music.