Singer and actress Mariah Carey is refusing to rule out a career on the silver screens of Hollywood - despite receiving scathing criticisms for her role in box-office bomb Glitter. The 31-year-old sex symbol is hoping to sink her teeth into more screen roles, although she insists she'll never ditch her first love, music, for a chance to truly shine as a Hollywood star. She says, "It's hard to decide which creative thing I enjoy most. I have been singing since I started talking. I have been a songwriter most of my life. I enjoy acting as well. I look forward to further projects, one which I just completed. It allows me to use a different side to my creativity." But Carey, who is set to hit screens again next year in her new movie Wise Girls, alongside Mira Sorvino, does admit that film- making isn't exactly what she'd originally thought it would be. She continues, "There are a lot of variables, directors, producers, and a lot of people who are in control and it's their vision. It is a different situation and in life I like to go through different situations. It is different than making a record, but I enjoyed it and look forward to my next acting experience. I will never stop writing and singing songs. I felt acting in this film made me more connected to the music." The singer also admits that the acting lessons she took in preparation for her movie debut have boosted her confidence levels.

Actor Bruce Willis is so shocked by recent attacks on America, he's sworn never to play an action hero again. The brooding star, known for fighting bad guys in the Die Hard films, has greatly enjoyed the new seriousness he's reached in M. Night Shyamalan's hit movies The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. He says, "I'm not an action hero anymore, and I think it would be inappropriate for me to compare anything that happens in Hollywood and the entertainment industry to the tragic loss of life on September 11th. I know people who died in that tragedy. It's impossible to wrap your mind around what happened there. What happens in Hollywood isn't real - it's about diversion. What I'm trying to do is just entertain people. I'm proud to be an entertainer."

Thrash-metallers Anthrax are considering changing the name of their band after the recent biological warfare scares in America. The rockers, who recently appeared on the soundtrack of John Carpenter's Ghosts Of Mars, have become more than a little uncomfortable since the disease after which they are named has become the country's number one fear. Lead singer Scott Ian says, "It's as though it's 1937 and I'm a bandleader named Freddie Hitler. Maybe we should change the name now. A friend suggested Basket of Puppies." Ian, who came up with the name 20 years ago in a high school biology class, continues, "People keep coming up to me and saying, 'Hey, wouldn't it be funny if you got anthrax?' I'm like, 'Oh, that would be hilarious.'" He's even stocked up on Cipro, the antidote for the germ, and adds, "I will not die an ironic death."

Nicole Kidman pulled out of a duet with Robbie Williams at his London concert Thursday - because she was too shy to sing live. Williams, who has recorded the Frank and Nancy Sinatra hit Somethin' Stupid with Nicole, was desperate for her to join him on stage at the gig in London's Albert Hall. But Nicole declined, insisting her voice wasn't strong enough for a performance in front of 3,500 fans, forcing disappointed Williams to axe the performance from his set. A close pal of Williams says, "We thought we'd persuaded her but she pulled the plug on it. But fair enough, it was her decision, she just seemed to lose her bottle." Kidman watched the show from a box with Billy Elliot director Stephen Daldry, who is directing her in her new movie The Hours.

Paralysed actor Christopher Reeve has accepted $2 million from American federal funds to establish an education resource center for people with paralysis and their families. The Christopher And Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center will provide educational materials, referral services and other information aimed to improve the lives of the more than two million Americans with paralysis. Reeve says, "One of the greatest fears that people with disabilities have is that we will be pushed to the margins of society." Reeve has been paralysed from the neck down since a horse-riding accident in 1995. He thanked members of Congress on Wednesday for what he said was their dedication to the effort even while America is at war. Reeve adds, "That's a big message saying that the government cares about our everyday lives."

Clothes creator Stella McCartney is facing the prospect of legal action after being accused of pinching ideas from another designer. Clay O'Shea, a fitness trainer whose clients include Spice Girl Mel B, alleges that the T-shirts emblazoned with Cockney rhyming slang slogans seen at McCartney's Paris catwalk show on Monday are suspiciously similar to a series designed by her for the Slang label. O'Shea creations including the words `Trouble and Strife' and `Bristols' - both of which featured in the collection by Stella, the daughter of former Beatle Paul McCartney. The Slang label have been on sale for a number of months, and have been worn by stars including singer Melanie Blatt and Lisa Stansfield. An annoyed O'Shea says, "The Slang label has been in stores for almost six months. Stella McCartney is clearly a talented designer, so frankly I was surprised to see the slogans on the runway for next season. I will be seeking legal advice." McCartney's spokesman denies any influence.

Legendary screen actor Robert De Niro saw red, white and blue when a would-be film-maker approached him in the wake of the September attacks on America. The Oscar-winner was at his New York restaurant when a man came in and handed him a script focusing on the World Trade Center tragedy. The man apparently told him, "You'll play Mayor Giuliani - and win an Oscar!" Visibly stunned, De Niro snapped back, "I can't believe you're trying to cash in on this. Up yours, buddy!" De Niro then grabbed the stunned man by the collar and marched him out of his restaurant - to a chorus of cheers from diners.

Hollywood actor George Clooney is re-teaming with the directors behind his hit film O Brother, Where Art Thou for another big screen success. Brothers Joel and Ethan Coen are in negotiations to direct Clooney's next project, a dark romantic comedy called Intolerable Cruelty. Clooney is expected to shoot the project in the spring, after he wraps his feature directorial debut Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind - in which he also stars.

Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton loved sharing the screen for a new comedy - because they're such good pals in real life. The pair play bank robbers in new film Bandits, Willis had a great time with Thornton. He says, "Billy Bob and I are a hoot together in real life. Depending on what day you catch us, we can just laugh off being movie stars. We had a lot of fun together on Armageddon and we said to each other, 'Maybe we ought to try a comedy.' And in Bandits, we had the latitude to fool around and do some of our own shtick. It hardly ever felt like we were working to be funny. I don't think we could have gotten to the place we did in this kind of comedy - which is hard to do - if we didn't have that feel and fun off the screen."

Robert Redford suffered personal heart-break when he couldn't find his youngest daughter on 11th September. The legendary star was unable to locate Amy Hart Redford for at least 30 hours after the two jetliners had struck the World Trade Center. He says, "I shared what everybody shared, which was the shock, the fact that it had to sink in. "t had to sink in that this was real. Once I got past that, I tried to locate the part of my family that was in New York. It took me a day and a half. My youngest daughter got through first from a cell phone, but she had witnessed part of it. She had witnessed the second building being hit, and that was tough, so she was having a rough time." He continues, "She dealt with it by going down and volunteering. I think a lot of people did that."