Actress Catherine Zeta Jones is scoffing at rumors that she's going to be a Bond girl in the next 007 adventure. The Welsh star, 31, hoping for an Oscar for her performance as a drug baron's wife in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000), reveals herself as something of a feminist in an interview due out next month in a trade magazine. She says, "There's no way I'm going to play Pierce Brosnan's sidekick, thank you. I'll play Bond. Jane Bond."

Beautiful brunette actress Katie Holmes will be seen in her first nude scene in the psychological thriller Gift, The (2000). The actress who celebrated her 22nd birthday a week before Christmas goes topless in her role alongside Keanu Reeves and Cate Blanchett. Co-star Greg Kinnear said that the scenes also had plenty of good humor. "I think we set out to make the scene as impactful as we could, but not make Katie uncomfortable. She's a real actress; she took the role very seriously."

Actor Stephen Dorff shocked New Year's vacationers on a Caribbean beach as a speedboat he was travelling in ran over a 21-year-old woman and severed her leg with its propeller. Holiday-makers in St. Barts, St. Lucia, looked on in horror as Lauren Peters was swimming close to the shore on New Year's Eve when one of the yacht's tenders was suddenly pushed into her by a wave. An eyewitness reports, "There was blood everywhere. It looked like a shark attack. People were throwing up and fainting." Fortunately, Dr. Howard Sobel, an American dermatologist, happened to be nearby and rushed to the striken woman's aid, staunched the flow of blood, and saved her life. Peters was then rushed to a hospital on St. Barts before being air-lifted to L'Hospital De Meynard on nearby Martinique, where doctors began to reattach her leg.

Hollywood heavyweight Helen Hunt has slammed reports that she found "comfort" with Kevin Spacey after her marriage broke up. Helen married her long-term boyfriend, actor Hank Azaria, in July 1999 only for it to crumble after less than a year. She mocks, "Don't believe everything you read. Truly, the papers have got their fingers on the pulse. I don't ever talk about my personal life, although in this case it is tempting to comment. But no, I won't."

Actor Mark Feuerstein had his masculinity challenged while making What Women Want (2000) - the experience left his feeling like "one of the girls". Feuerstein, who plays Mel Gibson's co-worker Morgan in the flick, says he talked about hair and shoes, and gossiped with the women in the cast over lunch, while Gibson sat outside with his shirt off, eating a raw steak. Feuerstein says, "You can't be more Braveheart than that!"

Even though his latest film is not yet released, plans for legendary horror character Hannibal Lecter's return to screen are already in place. Screenwriter Ted Tally, who won an Oscar for Silence of the Lambs, The (1991), is now working on the screenplay for Red Dragon, the Thomas Harris book which first introduced Hannibal Lecter to the world. Tally, who passed on writing the screenplay for the soon-to-be- released sequel Hannibal (2001) because he found the book's violence excessive, is altering the plot of Red Dragon to feature more of Hannibal Lecter because, he says, Anthony Hopkins is willing to return yet again in the role. The writer says his interpretation of Red Dragon will feature Lecter running loose after an escape from prison, but he will, "never show Lecter eating people. It's just too gross. I just imply it." Some fans are already against the idea of "ruining" the book, claiming there's already a very solid adaptation of Red Dragon, Manhunter (1986), written and directed by Michael Mann, and another is not necessary.

Angered Catholics have responded to Heather Graham's tirade against their Church's alleged repression of sexuality - by saying the sexy actress needs counselling. William Donohue, head of the American Catholic League, says Graham's comments to Talk magazine that the church "is made up of closed-minded men who believe a woman's sexuality is evil", show she has severe sexual hang-ups herself, and is going to extreme lengths to resolve them. Donohue says, "Poor Heather. Life has been so unfair to her. Having been subjected to the sexual reticence of the Catholic Church, she is now free as a bird to throw off all her shackles. So she now accepts film roles posing either as a slut or porn star...It is our hope that Heather soon gets a grip on her sexual hang ups." Donohue adds, "She doesn't need therapy - just some counselling from a priest."

Animal-lover Charlize Theron has sent letters to shopping mall managers nationwide, asking them to replace pet stores with animal adopting centers. The South African beauty, who plays a dog walker in her next movie Sweet November (2001), wants the malls to work in conjunction with local animal shelters and took time from her shooting schedule to take part in a video on puppy mills made by PETA. Theron is herself the owner of dogs rescued from animal shelters.

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is enjoying her first taste of pop stardom, as her debut single has climbed from Number Three to Number Two in the Australian charts. The single, "Cruisin'", a duet with Huey Lewis, is taken from the soundtrack to Paltrow's new movie, Duets (2000), where she appears as a karaoke hustler. However, the blonde beauty is being kept from the top spot by American rockers Wheatus with their track "Teenage Dirtbag".

Veteran actor Keir Dullea will be honored by his local council this year (01) - because he starred in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). The Fairfield Arts Council of Connecticut will present Dullea, an area resident, with its artist of the year award at a ceremony this month. The award is given annually to an artist who has achieved national or international recognition in the visual or performing arts. In the 1968 Stanley Kubrick film, Dullea played an astronaut on a flight to Jupiter who duelled with HAL, a computer that tries to take control of the spaceship. Council president Ryan Odinak says, "We felt it was a nice year to have him as artist of the year because of that association. It just kind of seemed like a natural thing for 2001." Dullea was also chosen for the award because of his involvement in local theatre, Odinak said. Dullea, who has appeared in 24 motion pictures, co-founded the Theatre Artists Workshop of Westport and has performed in theatre productions around the state.