The Weekly Casting Couch: Winona Ryder, Kelly Lynch, Wanda Sykes and Carrie Underwood

The holidays arrived early as the Jim Carrey starrer A Christmas Carol claimed the weekend boxoffice crown with a $31 million take. Michael Jackson's concert documentary This Is It collected an additional $14 million in its second week to finish at No. 2; George Clooney's military satire Men Who Stare at Goats finished third with $13.3 million. But the big story from the weekend was the first weekend gross for the Lee Daniels helmed Precious. The openly gay director's film that stars Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton and Mariah Carey grossed a whopping $1.8 million from just 18 theaters in a limited release in four cities.

Gwyneth Paltrow has been cast to join Nicole Kidman in The Danish Girl, the story of a relationship between the first post-operative transsexual. An adaptation of the David Ebershoff novel, Paltrow will play Greta, who stands by Einar (Kidman) when he transforms into Lili.

Winona Ryder has signed on to play an older dancer opposite Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in Fox Searchlight's Black Swan, a supernatural thriller set in the world of New York ballet. Ryder also booked a starring role, opposite Barry Pepper, in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story, the story of the Al-Anon co-founder.

Former L Word drag king Kelly Lynch will co-star along with Mickey Rourke and Megan Fox in Passion Play, which revolves around an angel under the thumb of a ruthless gangster who is saved by a down-on-his-luck trumpet player. In addition, the former Charlie's Angel will also join the CW's 90210 as a love interest for Ryan Eggold.

Former Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer Marti Noxon will pen DreamWorks' revamp of the 1985 horror comedy Fright Night. The contemporary take will update the effects of the vampire pic. Noxon currently serves as a writer on such shows as Mad Men, Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.

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The country's love affairs with other-worldly beings cooled a bit this week as ABC's V came back down to earth in its second week on the air. More than 10.7 million viewers tuned in to see Elizabeth Mitchell inch closer to discovering that the Visitors aren't exactly good. The numbers are down 27 percent and mark the biggest decline for a freshman show this season, however, they're still strong and will likely prevent V from meeting Dollhouse's fate.

For TV fans going through Edie Falco and Toni Collette withdrawals, get your calendars out: Showtime has set a March 22 return date for Nurse Jackie and United States of Tara, which will feature the newly crowned Emmy winner's male alter-ego, Buck, in a relationship with Chasing Amy's Joey Lauren Adams.

Wanda Sykes made her late-night talk show debut last weekend, but ran into stiff competition from NBC's Saturday Night Live, which featured Taylor Swift as a guest host who, among other things, poked fun at Lilith Fair founder Sarah McLachlan.

Martha Plimpton will star in Fox's comedy pilot Keep Hope Alive, the story of her son (Lucas Neff) who winds up raising a baby after a one-night stand with a woman who winds up on death row. Plimpton, who recently had a guest arc on Grey's Anatomy, will next be seen in HBO's How to Make It in America.

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Candice Bergen, who will be elected into TV's Hall of Fame on Jan. 20, has joined the cast of The Romantics, the story of eight best friends from college who reunite for a wedding. Katie Holmes and True Blood's Anna Paquin co-star.

Shifting to the Billboard charts, Carrie Underwood and her amazing legs landed her second No. 1 album as "Play On" landed at the top of the album charts. Meanwhile, the soundtrack to Fox's freshman musical dramedy Glee landed at No. 4.

Looking to the weekend at the boxoffice, the end of the world action drama 2012 has the weekend to itself as the only wide opener. The pic stars John Cusack, Woody Harrelson and Thandie Newton. Opening in limited release, Pirate Radio stars Philip Seymour Hoffman in story based on true events of Canadian radio broadcasters who find a way around the rules to broadcast rock music.

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