Beyoncé’s dream of winning an Oscar helps keep her in shape.

She actually has a painting in her gym featuring the iconic gold statuette so she can run toward her goal. “I look at it, and I’m like, OK, I have to stay in shape,” she explains in the new issue of Self magazine.

That’s not her only motivator…

Shopping also comes in handy. “I buy something too small and then say, ‘I have a reason,’” the 27-year-old singer says. “I need to wear these jeans or this hot dress.”

And then there are the tiny Thierry Mugler costumes she’s been squeezing into for her tour. “[All it takes is to] do a fitting and see that my costume doesn’t fit anymore,” Beyoncé says. “I know I have to keep things in all the right places.”

Anne Hathaway’s favorite Oscars moment was being swept off her feet by Hugh Jackman.

The “Rachel Getting Married” star – who was nominated in the Best Actress category – performed on stage with 40-year-old Hugh in a musical tribute to Best Picture nominee “Frost/Nixon” on Sunday (February 22, 2009).

When asked what the best part of her evening was, Anne said: “I’d have to say being in Hugh Jackman’s arms and him carrying me on stage!”

Anne, 26, played the role of former US President Richard Nixon in the comedy routine which the pair had rehearsed the previous week.

She said: “I didn’t really have that much input for what went into it.”

“They just said, ‘Show us what you got, and we’ll work around that.’ I’m a theater-trained actress, so that kicked in for the singing.”

Anne – who lost out on an Oscar to Kate Winslet – admits she was anxious before the ceremony.

She explained: “I think I was nervous for that performance and nervous about the nomination and the two just canceled each other out. But when you have a job to do, you just have to do it well – no time to be nervous.”

The “Devil Wears Prada” actress became rather emotional during the evening when she was praised by former Oscar winner Shirley MacLaine, 74.

She explained: “That was so, so special. Just really touching. Could you tell?”

“I was crying and visibly overwhelmed. As such a powerful actress as she is, that she would say something like that to me, I felt so honored.”

“Slumdog Millionaire” took home eight Oscars Sunday night, including Best Picture and Best Director, and when Access Hollywood caught up with stars Dev Patel and Freida Pinto after the show, the magnitude of their big night was still sinking in.

“What just happened in there hasn’t really sunken in and it’s kind of just hit us,” Freida told Access’ Nancy O’Dell Sunday night at the Governor’s Ball. “I don’t think the reality has sunken in yet.”

Freida’s co-star was almost left speechless by the film’s big win.

“As you can see, I’m very silent,” Dev said. “I’ll be bouncing off the walls in a second.”

When “Slumdog” was announced as the Best Picture winner, Freida said she too was left speechless – almost literally.

“I’m losing my voice but I still found it somewhere to scream,” she laughed. “We were like, ‘We did it!’ But, the kids coming up on stage was the highlight of the moment. Ah, oh my God!”

Now that “Slumdog” is among the Oscar-winning elite, the stars of the movie got to rub elbows with some of Hollywood’s biggest names.

“Brad and Angie did congratulate us,” Freida said. “And, I think all the kids were really happy that they got to meet them.”

As for Dev, he was able to meet one of acting idols.

“I met Will Smith today! Finally!” Dev said with a giant smile. “Which was a dream for me. So that was surreal. I just sank into my seat and go, ‘Oh my God!’”

In fact, Will even came looking for the young star.

“He came off stage and goes, ‘Where’s Dev? Where’s Dev Patel?’” Dev said of Will. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God! He’s looking for me!’”

“You’re equal with Will Smith,” Nancy pointed out.

“No, not equal. Don’t be silly,” Dev replied. “He’s just showing some appreciation, which is very nice for someone of his caliber.”

Despite reports that Madonna was set to debut her rumored new boyfriend and W magazine model, Jesus Luz, at the Vanity Fair post-Oscar bash on Sunday night, the singer walked the red carpet solo and spoke to Access Hollywood about a different man from her life – ex-husband Sean Penn.

Decked out in an elegant sheer black gown, Madonna posed for photographs alone at the 2009 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at the Sunset Tower Sunday night.

“Powerful speech by Sean tonight,” Access’ Tony Potts said to the singer on the red carpet.

“Yeah, amazing,” Madonna said of Sean Penn’s win for Best Actor for his work in “Milk.”

Though the Material Mom might not have had a date for the party, she kept manager and longtime friend Guy Oseary close by – along with a slew of Hollywood’s biggest names.

Inside the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, Madonna celebrated Hollywood’s big night with Sacha Baron Cohen, Gwen Stefani, Gavin Rossdale, Sheryl Crow, and Jerry Seinfeld.

The singer – and sometimes actress – was also spotted chatting with her former “League Of Their Own” director Penny Marshall.

“Slumdog Millionaire” took the best-picture Academy Award and seven other Oscars on Sunday, including director for Danny Boyle, whose ghetto-to-glory story paralleled the film’s unlikely rise to Hollywood’s summit.

The other top winners: Kate Winslet, best actress for the Holocaust-themed drama “The Reader”; Sean Penn, best actor for the title role of “Milk”; Heath Ledger, supporting actor for “The Dark Knight”; and Penelope Cruz, supporting actress for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

A story of hope amid squalor in Mumbai, India, “Slumdog Millionaire” came in with 10 nominations, its eight wins including adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing and both music Oscars (score and song).

“Just to say to Mumbai, all of you who helped us make the film and all of those of you who didn’t, thank you very much. You dwarf even this guy,” Boyle said, holding up his directing Oscar.

The filmmakers accepted the best-picture trophy surrounded by both the adult professional actors who appeared among the cast of relative unknowns and some of the children Boyle cast from the slums of Mumbai.

The film follows the travails and triumphs of Jamal, an orphan who artfully dodges a criminal gang that mutilates children to make them more pitiable beggars. Jamal witnesses his mother’s violent death, endures police torture and struggles with betrayal by his brother, while single-mindedly hoping to reunite with the lost love of his childhood.

Fate rewards Jamal, whose story unfolds through flashbacks as he recalls how he came to know the answers that made him a champion on India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

As he took the stage to accept his prize for playing slain gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk, Penn gleefully told the crowd: “You commie, homo-loving sons of guns.”

He followed with condemnation of anti-gay protesters who demonstrated near the Oscar site and comments about California’s recent vote to ban gay marriage.

“For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it’s a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that support,” Penn said. “We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone.”

For his demented reinvention of Batman villain the Joker, Ledger became only the second actor ever to win posthumously, his triumph coming exactly 13 months after his death from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

His Oscar for the Warner Bros. blockbuster was accepted by Ledger’s parents and sister on behalf of the actor’s 3-year-old daughter, Matilda.

“I have to say this is ever so humbling, just being amongst such wonderful people in such a wonderful industry,” said his father, Kim Ledger. “We’d like to thank the academy for recognizing our son’s amazing work, Warner Bros., and Christopher Nolan in particular for allowing Heath the creative license to develop and explore this crazy Joker character.”

Since his death, the 28-year-old Ledger has gained a mythic aura akin to James Dean, another rising star who died well before his time.

The Joker was his final completed role, a casting choice that initially drew scorn from fans who thought Ledger would not be up to the task given Jack Nicholson’s gleefully campy rendition of the character in 1989’s “Batman.”

In the months before Ledger’s death, buzz on his wickedly chaotic performance swelled as marketing for the movie centered on the Joker and the perverted clown makeup he hid behind.

Ledger’s death fanned a frenzy of anticipation for “The Dark Knight,” which had a record $158.4 million opening weekend last summer.

The previous posthumous Oscar recipient was Peter Finch, who won best actor for 1976’s “Network” two months after his death.

Cruz triumphed as a woman in a steamy three-way affair with her ex-husband and an American woman in Woody Allen’s romance.

“Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one,” Cruz said, who went on with warm thanks to Allen. “Thank you, Woody, for trusting me with this beautiful character. Thank you for having written all these years some of the greatest characters for women.”

“OK, that fainting thing, Penelope,” Winslet joked later as she accepted her best-actress prize for “The Reader,” in which she plays a former concentration camp guard in an affair with a teen. “I’d be lying if I haven’t made a version of this speech before. I think I was probably 8 years old and staring into the bathroom mirror, and this would be a shampoo bottle. But it’s not a shampoo bottle now.”

It was Winslet’s first win after five previous losses.

“Slumdog” writer Simon Beaufoy, who adapted the script from Vikas Swarup’s novel “Q&A,” said there are places he never could imagine being.

“For me, it’s the moon, the South Pole, the Miss World podium, and here,” Beaufoy said.

The epic love story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which led with 13 nominations, had three wins, for visual effects, art direction and makeup.

“The Dark Knight” had a second win, for sound editing.

“Milk” writer Dustin Lance Black offered an impassioned tribute to Milk.

“If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told they are less than by the churches, by the government, by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours,” Black said.

“Man on Wire,” James Marsh’s examination of tight-rope walker Philippe Petit’s dazzling stroll between the towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, was chosen as best documentary.

The acting categories were presented by five past winners of the same awards, among them last year’s actress winners, Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton, plus Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman, Kevin Kline, Sophia Loren, Anthony Hopkins, Shirley MacLaine and Robert De Niro.

It was a much different style for the Oscars as each past recipient offered personal tributes to one of the nominees, without clips of the nominated performances. Awards usually are done in chit-chat style between a couple of celebrity presenters.

After last year’s Oscars delivered their worst TV ratings ever, producers this time aimed to liven up the show with some surprises and new ways of presenting awards. Rather than hiring a comedian such as past hosts Jon Stewart or Chris Rock, the producers went with actor and song-and-dance man Hugh Jackman, who has been host of Broadway’s Tony Awards.

Instead of the usual standup routine, Jackman did an engaging musical number to open the show, saluting nominated films with a clever tribute.

Jackman later did a medley staged by his “Australia” director Baz Luhrmann with such performers as Beyonce Knowles and “High School Musical” stars Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron.

“Slumdog Millionaire” went into the evening after a run of prizes from earlier film honors.

The film nearly got lost in the shuffle as Warner Bros. folded its art-house banner, Warner Independent, which had been slated to distribute “Slumdog Millionaire.” It was rescued from the direct-to-video scrap heap when Fox Searchlight stepped in to release the film.

“Slumdog” composer A.R. Rahman, a dual Oscar winner for the score and song, said the movie was about “optimism and the power of hope.”

“All my life, I’ve had a choice of hate and love,” Rahman said. “I chose love, and I’m here.

Complete list of winners at the 81st annual Academy Awards, presented Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles:

— Motion Picture: “Slumdog Millionaire.”

— Actor: Sean Penn, “Milk.”

— Actress: Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”

— Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight.”

— Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

— Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

— Foreign Film: “Departures,” Japan.

— Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

— Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, “Milk.”

— Animated Feature Film: “WALL-E.”

— Art Direction: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

— Cinematography: “Slumdog Millionaire.”

— Sound Mixing: “Slumdog Millionaire.”

— Sound Editing: “The Dark Knight.”

— Original Score: “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman.

— Original Song: “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Gulzar.

— Costume: “The Duchess.”

— Documentary Feature: “Man on Wire.”

— Documentary (short subject): “Smile Pinki.”

— Film Editing: “Slumdog Millionaire.”

— Makeup: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

— Animated Short Film: “La Maison en Petits Cubes.”

— Live Action Short Film: “Spielzeugland (Toyland).”

— Visual Effects: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

___

Academy Award winners previously announced this season:

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (Oscar statuette): Jerry Lewis

Gordon E. Sawyer Award (Oscar statuette): Pixar Animation co-founder Ed Catmull

Angelina Jolie will wear a $20 million necklace to the Oscars.

The “Changeling” star has reportedly visited several jewelers in New York to find dazzling gems to wear to the glitzy event on Sunday (Feb 22, 2009).

A source told America’s OK! magazine: “She’s been driving all of the high-end jewelers of New York crazy. She’s looking for the impossible – a drop dead gorgeous $20 million diamond necklace to wear to the Oscars.”

Angelina is nominated for Best Actress for her role in “Changeling” but is particularly keen to look her best in case she runs into her love rival – partner Brad Pitt’s ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, who is also set to attend.

The insider added: “Angelina really wants it to be a show-stopper and is making sure that she is the one everyone has their eyes on this Sunday – and not Jennifer Aniston.”

Meanwhile, racing driver Danica Patrick says she wants Angelina to play her in a movie of her life because Jennifer is “too old.”

The 26-year-old sports star said: “I’ve always said Angelina Jolie would be great at playing me because she’s an action star. I don’t think it would be age appropriate for Jennifer to do it. She’s older than me!”

Madonna and Demi Moore are throwing an Oscars party.

The “Hung Up” singer will again team up with her actress friend and her manager Guy Oseary for a glitzy bash on February 22 following the success of the bash they threw last year at Guy’s Los Angeles home.

The party will be strictly invitation only, and it should be a star-studded affair as last year’s guests included Tom Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes, Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi, Cameron Diaz and Orlando Bloom.

Despite hosting their own post-awards bash in aid of charity, Elton John and David Furnish also attended the gathering last year after their AIDS Foundation benefit ended.

They will be throwing their party again this year for the 17th time and singer Raphael Saadiq admits he is stunned to have been asked by the couple to perform.

He said: “I won’t believe it’s happened until it’s happened. It’s unbelievable.”

Vanity Fair magazine will also host their own Oscar night party after taking a break last year due to the Hollywood writers’ strike but have promised next week’s revelry will be less elaborate than previous functions.

Organizers are planning a smaller guests list and will use recycled decor to help save money and the environment.

Oscars organizers had better hope that red carpet doesn’t get waterlogged.

Last-minute preparations for the 80th annual Academy Awards geared up Sunday amid a forecast of showers for the arrival area along Hollywood Boulevard, where stars mince about in front of photographers, reporters and bleachers full of cheering fans.

A rainy outlook wasn’t going to dampen spirits for Hollywood’s biggest night, which was serving double duty as a ceremony honoring the year’s best in film and a celebration for a town relieved to return to business as usual following the screenwriters’ strike.

Settled just two weeks before the Oscars, the 100-day strike had left the fate of the show in doubt as stars indicated they would not cross writers’ picket lines to attend. The celebrity bash at the Golden Globes wound up canceled for just that reason, so Oscar organizers figured everyone was ready for a big party.

“Not only have there not been any awards shows, but I think there’s a good solid buzz about the strike being over (and) everybody back to work,” academy president Sid Ganis said going into Oscar weekend.

Too bad there wasn’t as much suspense over likely Oscar winners as there had been about the show itself.

The surprise best-picture win of “Crash” over “Brokeback Mountain” two years ago remained fresh in awards watchers’ minds, but Sunday’s show generally had been expected to crown favorites that had dominated throughout awards season, led by the Coen brothers’ crime tale “No Country for Old Men.”

Past screenplay winners for “Fargo,” Joel and Ethan Coen went into the evening positioned to make Oscar history with potential wins in all four categories in which they had individual nominations — best picture, director, adapted screenplay and editing (under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes).

Only one other person, Walt Disney, had ever won four Oscars in the same year, his prizes coming as producer of three short films and the documentary that won for 1953. No one has ever won four Oscars for the same film.

“No Country for Old Men” and the oil saga “There Will Be Blood” lead with eight nominations each, followed by the tragic romance “Atonement” and the legal thriller “Michael Clayton” with seven apiece.

All four films competed for best picture, with the pregnancy comedy “Juno” earning the fifth slot for the top prize.

Past Oscar winners were the favorites in the lead-acting categories, with Daniel Day-Lewis of “There Will Be Blood” and Julie Christie of “Away From Her” expected to triumph.

Javier Bardem was the front-runner to win supporting actor for “No Country for Old Men.” Supporting actress was a toss-up, with many critics favoring Amy Ryan for “Gone Baby Gone” and much sentiment riding on Ruby Dee of “American Gangster,” who at 83 would be the oldest acting winner ever.

A heartwarming comedy about the potentially tricky subject of teenage pregnancy, “Juno” has emerged as an unlikely dark horse in Sunday’s best picture Oscars race.

While the grimly violent “No Country for Old Men” is the clear front-runner to take the Academy Awards’ top honor, pundits increasingly believe that if any film is going to score an upset it will be the low-budget “Juno.”

An Oscars win would be the ultimate Hollywood ending for the film that has been affectionately dubbed “the little movie that could,” was made by a 30-year-old director and was written by a novice screenwriter.

Made for just 2.5 million dollars, the film about a witty teenager coping with an unplanned pregnancy was the most successful of this year’s Oscar contenders, earning more than 125 million dollars at the box-office.

The film is the lone feel-good movie in a line-up of best picture nominees dominated by dark, serious themes.

Lew Harris of Movies.com said while “No Country” remained the favorite, “Juno” had a better chance of a victory than other recently nominated comedy contenders “Sideways” and “Little Miss Sunshine.”

“It’s really filled with great performances and I think that it’s going to help it,” said Harris. “‘No Country for Old Men’ is a movie that people like. It really has everything going for it.

“(But) I think it’s a lot more possible for Juno to be the dark horse than it was for ‘Sideways’ and ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. Its screenplay is so good, it could sneak through … it’s not just a little piece of fluff.”

Jeff Bock, an analyst with movie industry tracker Exhibitor Relations, said “Juno’s” strong performance at the box-office — none of the other nominees have come close to breaking the 100 million mark — could count in its favor.

“In years where the best picture nominees are films that have not been that big at the box-office, the winner has tended to be the film that has made the most money,” Bock said.

“So in that sense, ‘Juno’ has to be considered a strong outside chance. Although it does look as if that ‘No Country for Old Men’ has a big edge.”

“Juno” has won nominations in four major categories — best picture, best director (Jason Reitman), best actress (Ellen Page) and best original screenplay (Diablo Cody.)

The film follows Juno MacGuff (Page) as she grapples with the implications of her pregnancy and eventually decides to give the unborn child up for adoption to a couple, the Lorings (Jennifer Garner/Jason Bateman).

With geeky “Superbad” star Michael Cera cast in the role of Paulie Bleeker — Juno’s best friend and father of her child — “Juno” benefits from perfectly weighted performances across the board.

But it is novice screenwriter Cody’s script that is the real star.

Director Reitman said he was hooked on “Juno” as soon as a copy of Cody’s script fell into his lap.

“A friend called me one night and said, ‘This is one of the best scripts I’ve ever read, you’ve got to read it’ and he was right, it just knocked me out,” Reitman told an interviewer.

“This story took a very enlightened view on the subject (teen pregnancy) and was a story that allowed all the characters to react in a very original way.

“It was a screenplay that every time a decision had to be made a line of dialogue to be said, it was unpredictable.”

Reitman had identified Page for the lead role almost immediately, having been impressed by the Canadian actress’s performance in “Hard Candy.”

“I had already seen ‘Hard Candy’ so I was already a big Ellen Page fan,” Reitman recalls. “And when I got the job she just seemed perfect so I went to meet with her immediately and it was just like meeting Juno, she was perfect.”

Like Reitman, Page instantly spotted the brilliance of Cody’s script.

“It was an incredible screenplay written by Diablo Cody — one of the best screenplays I’ve ever read — and a teenage female lead that I felt we’d never seen before, a character devoid of stereotype,” Page said.

Cody meanwhile is on record as saying that she eventually wants to direct, partly to redress the balance about how women are portrayed in movies.

“The attitude toward women in this industry is nauseating,” she told a New York Times interviewer last year. “There are all sorts of porcine executives who are uncomfortable with a woman doing anything subversive.

“They want the movie about the beautiful girl who trips and falls, the adorable klutz.”

Production has been shut down on Oscar nominated star Heath Ledgers last movie.

The actor was on a break from filming fantasy adventure movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus when he passed away in New York on Jan 22.

A source on the sets of the movie revealed that hours after Ledgers untimely death, crew members were let off.

I just got the call [Tuesday] saying everyone was being let go, the on-set source tells Usmagazine.com.

We were supposed to start this weekend, but obviously they fired everyone today.

They dont know yet what they are doing with the footage that was already shot.

Right now, everyone is in complete shock and cant even speak, the on-set source says.

He will posthumously be seen on the big screen when The Dark Knight, the sequel to the 2005 film Batman Begins, debuts on July 18, 2008. Ledger played the villain The Joker in the movie.

Lindsay Lohan landed her first nominations of the 2008 awards season Monday. But it’s probably best to leave this one off the résumé.

The 21-year-old actress was recognized by the Razzies – the annual awards show recognizing the year’s “worst” films and performances – for her part in the thriller I Know Who Killed Me. In fact, she earned two nominations for a single role.

The movie – in which Lohan plays two characters, a stripper and an abducted small-town girl – led the pack with a total of nine nominations, including one for worst picture of 2007.

Eddie Murphy also received multiple nominations for his many roles in Norbit, People reports.

Razzie “winners” will be announced Feb. 23, the day before the Oscars.

Two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster plays a vengeance killer in her latest film, but in real life, she gets angry at electronic gadgets, not at people.

“I have a problem with electronics. I can’t ever make them work. It drives me crazy,” she told a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday to promote “The Brave One”.

In the thriller, Foster plays a Manhattan radio personality who goes on a killing spree after her fiancee is murdered in a Central Park attack. A reporter asked if there was anyone in real life she wanted to take revenge on.

“It’s the only time where I lose my temper, is on inanimate metal objects,” she said, to chuckles from the audience.

Actress Hilary Swank has revealed that she owes her fit physique to her genes.

Swank, who was present at the yet-to-open Almada restaurant in Mayfair to celebrate her role as the face of beauty house Guerlain’s new Insolence fragrance, was in an ultra figure hugging black Dolce and Gabbana dress.

The Oscar winning actress said that despite good genetics, she still enjoys the result of working out.

“I really appreciate exercise because I think it’s a great stress relief. I do this thing called power Pilates, which I love. love, love,” the People quoted Swank, as saying.

However, the 33-year-old actress holds her genes responsible for her slender fitness.

“But ultimately it’s Dad who gets the credit. I try and get out as much as I can but I think in the end I really have to give it up to my genes,” Swank said.

Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson has joined the cast of “Sex and the City: The Movie,” which begins filming next week in New York.
Hudson will play the assistant to Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Carrie Bradshaw, in the film based on the hit HBO comedy series.

In July, the show’s four leads, including Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, came aboard for the film after New Line Cinema agreed to finance and distribute it. Chris Noth also joined the cast to reprise his role as Mr. Big.
Michael Patrick King is writing and directing.

Hudson, who won an Oscar for her supporting role in “Dreamgirls,” recently completed production on the ensemble drama “Winged Creatures” starring Kate Beckinsale, Forrest Whitaker, Jackie Earle Haley and Dakota Fanning. Sony is distributing the film.

The former “American Idol” contestant is also in the studio working on her debut album for Arista Records, due for release in the first quarter of 2008.

Oscar winners Billy Bob Thornton and Kim Basinger are in various stages of negotiations to star in the ensemble drama “The Informers,” an adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel.

Set in 1980s Los Angeles, the script follows seven stories taking course during a week in the life of a movie executive, his wife, his mistress, a rock star, a vampire and a kidnapper.

Thornton will play the movie executive, and Basinger his wife. “Superman” star Brandon Routh has been cast as the vampire, while Ashley Olsen will play a sexually promiscuous girl.

Principal photography will begin in October, with shooting taking place in Los Angeles, Uruguay and Buenos Aires. Gregor Jordan is directing the independently financed project.

Thornton returns to theaters on September 14 in “Mr. Woodcock. Basinger, last seen in “The Sentinel,” next stars in “While She Was Out,” directed by Susan Montford.

Welsh star Catherine Zeta-Jones admits that she has the bad habit of using a lot of swear words when she’s taking. And, she blames her Welsh roots for this.

“I’m from Wales, I have a mouth like a truck driver,” Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.
As a result, Zeta-Jones has to constantly mind what she is saying, especially in the company of her two young children with American actor Michael Douglas.

The Oscar winning star recently admitted that preparing for her role in her most recent movie ‘No Reservations’ was “pretty terrifying”, as she had to wait on tables – something she had never done in her life.

Zeta-Jones spent time working in a restaurant to prepare for her performance as perfectionist chef Kate in the romantic comedy, and quickly realised that she had a lot to learn.

“I went out on the floor, which was really pretty terrifying because I’ve never been a waitress,” she said.
“I know that other actresses have but I’ve never been out there before and I started screwing up my lines and forgetting what sauce it was,” she added.

Hollywood stars Nicole Kidman and Ralph Fiennes will act together in a movie titled ‘The Reader’.

Based on a best-seller book by German author Bernhard Schlink, ‘The Reader’ is set in contemporary Germany, where “a man recounts the story of his erotic awakening in a covert love affair with an older woman in the wake of World War II”.

Quite understandably, Kidman will play the older woman and Fiennes will play the man reminiscing his youth. Interestingly, Kidman is five years younger than Fiennes in real life.

According to reports on Variety, Anthony Minghella will produce the film along with Sydney Pollack and Scott Rudin.
Stephen Daldry will be the director while David Hare will write the script.

It is pretty much the same team that made ‘The Hours’ in 2002. Nicole Kidman won an Oscar in 2003 for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in the film.

The shooting of ‘The Reader’ will begin in Berlin in September this year.

Actress Julia Roberts will be honoured at the 22nd American Cinematheque award.

The American Cinematheque Award annually honours ‘an extraordinary artist in the entertainment industry who is fully engaged in his or her work and is committed to making a significant contribution to the art of the motion pictures’.

The Oscar winning actress will be presented the award at the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom on October 12, Variety magazine reports.

The award ceremony will be broadcasted exclusively on AMC in December.

The 39-year-old actress presented the award to actor George Clooney last year.

Since its inception in 1986, the non-profit committee has given awards to several actors, directors and writers including actor Al Pacino, actress Nicole Kidman, Nicolas Cage, Tom Cruise and others.

Jennifer Hudson’s performance for Starbucks bosses was cancelled due to her alleged diva-like demands.

The former “American Idol” contestant, who has received worldwide acclaim after winning an Oscar for her performance in “Dreamgirls,” was scheduled to sing at the coffee giant’s annual meeting in Seattle on Wednesday (03.21.07).

Her appearance was cancelled after she presented them with a string of extravagant demands, including having baked chicken wings for breakfast.

A source is quoted by gossip website TMZ as saying: “Jennifer’s agency William Morris demanded five cars, hair and make-up artists, security for her and her assistant and humidifiers.”

“But the final straw came when they told Starbucks she would need baked chicken wings at 10am.”

“Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz decided he had enough and pulled the plug because he didn’t like the way the agent was dealing with his people.”

William Morris has so far refused to comment on the matter.