Sure, thousands in show business are out of work, cheesy reality shows are overtaking TV, and even the Oscars are threatened. But Christine Baranski is loving the writers’ strike. “I can’t work, but I go to films, I go to theater, I read books, I take long walks,” the Tony-winning actress, who just finished shooting the Mamma Mia! movie, said at a Persepolis screening January 24. “I’m doing yoga classes. This strike has been marvelous for my physical, intellectual, spiritual life.” That morning, she said, she had a few hours to kill, so she went to the Met to contemplate art. “It’s like there’s some kind of great correction going on,” she said. “It’s forcing us all to go inward.” And she doesn’t miss scripted TV. “It’s made me watch a lot of politics and news,” she said. “I mean, forget reality shows. What’s going on in our country is the ultimate reality show.”

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• Archive: “Intelligencer”
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