New mother Julia Roberts has started telling fans to get used to not seeing her on the big screen - because she'll only be signing up for projects that blow her away. The 37-year-old Closer actress, who gave birth to twins at the weekend, insists she's planning a lengthy break away from the limelight to become a full-time mom and she'll only act if scripts are impossible to turn down. She explains, "The script will have to blow me away. The babies will be a great factor, like anything that makes your life more interesting and more enjoyable. Scripts will have to continue to compete with the quality of my life."

French actress Julie Delpy has set her sights on the role of cryptologist Sophie Neveu in the forthcoming movie adaptation of best-selling book The Da Vinci Code. The Before Sunset star is a huge fan of Dan Brown's novel and is desperate for director Ron Howard to cast her opposite Tom Hanks in the mystery thriller. An American Werewolf in Paris and The Passion of Ayn Rand star Delpy enthuses, "The character is French, in her thirties and has a shade of red in her hair. I can become a redhead."

Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry has taken a major step in her romance with Michael Ealy - she's moving him into her new home. The Monster's Ball beauty started dating the Barbershop star after her marriage to Eric Benet came to an end last year, and now pals say that once construction is completed on her Malibu, California, home, she'll move her new beau in. The two were recently seen inspecting the $8 million four-bedroom, five-bathroom home, where they shared a champagne toast before going for a romantic beach stroll.

Actor Colin Firth has devastated fans of the Bridget Jones movies by warning film-makers not to shoot a third installment. The hunky star of Bridget Jones' Diary and the recent Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason is adamant the story of the thirty-something singleton - played by Renee Zellweger - has nowhere left to go. Firth further hints the franchise has come to an end after just two films, insisting all the lead actors are reluctant to sign up again. He says, "In the abstract, it's unthinkable. I can't think where a sequel would go. The only way where I could possibly imagine (a third film) being interesting is that if it showed us in an advanced state of decrepitude. Really puncturing the fairy tale completely might be a way to take it."

Movie-maker Oliver Stone is lining up another historical figure for his next biopic - former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The director is refusing to let the critical mauling and disastrous box office performance of his latest film Alexander - based on Macedonian warrior Alexander The Great - and is pursuing his current dream of bringing the British leader's life to the big screen. And Stone is determined to land Meryl Streep for the lead role. He says, "Margaret Thatcher is an amazing woman and a good subject for a film. I'm thinking about Meryl Streep to play the Iron Lady." Pals claim Stone - who's documented the lives of shamed President Richard Nixon, assassinated leader John F. Kennedy and rock star Jim Morrison - is now keen to focus his films on some of his female idols. One friends says, "Oliver is one of Baroness Thatcher's greatest fans. Alexander was slammed by critics, so maybe he think it's time to concentrate on a great woman for a film. Thatcher was one of the most powerful political figures in the world and her life has been as colorful as any superstar."

British actor Hugh Grant is horrified by his waxwork double in London's Madame Tussaud's museum, insisting it looks like Mary Poppins star Julie Andrews "on heroin". The Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason hunk was determined his wax lookalike was flattering, so encouraged artists to measure his entire body, but he was horrified with the result and advised them to hide it away in the London museum's chamber of horrors. He explains, "In 1994, they asked me whether I wanted to work with them in creating a wax figure and let myself be measured up, or they would do it from photos. To make sure the result was good, I played along and let every inch of me be measured. The result is awful! They ought to put my figure into the chamber of horrors alongside the mass murderers. I look like Julie Andrews on heroin."

British rocker Rod Stewart has unveiled how his body works - by playing fans a video of the inside of his knee. Stewart appeared on Jay Leno's chat show Wednesday night, and told the host all about his recent surgery to correct damage done by years of soccer playing. He then played a video taken from inside his right knee, showing surgeons scraping away a large amount of build-up. He told the stunned audience, "That's the inside of Rod Stewart's knee. We are desperate for ratings, aren't we? It actually looks like it's in the Caribbean to me." Stewart is hoping his knee will heal in time to allow him back on the soccer field next summer.

R&B beauty Beyonce Knowles has been attacked by animal rights group People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA) for wearing rabbit fur boots. Peta are furious the singing star spent a staggering $492 on the Canadian Mukluk shoes, because the campaigners claim rabbits are cruelly slaughtered to make the fashionable footwear. PETA spokesman Sean Gifford complains, "The rabbits are sourced from Asia and crammed into small, wire boxes before being electrocuted or strangled. Many are skinned alive. As far as we can see, this kind of treatment is what celebrities - those who don't give a damn - are supporting. Fake fur looks every bit as good." This singer infuriated the animal rights group earlier this year by expressing her love of leather and fur clothes and accessories.

Actress Kate Beckinsale has defended her decision to star in the critically-mauled vampire movie Van Helsing - she did it to prove she's sexy. The British beauty's role in husband Len Wiseman's film Underworld was ridiculed by studio chiefs, who deemed her too motherly to successfully portray a sexy big screen character. So when she was approached to appear alongside film hunk Hugh Jackman in this year's Van Helsing, she was determined to spark the lusty desires of the male cinema-going world. She says, "One of the reasons I actually decided to do Van Helsing was that people didn't think I could play sexy. Len told me much later that when he wanted me to do Underworld, all the executives at the studio, 'But she's just not sexy - she's like someone's mom.'"

Gwyneth Paltrow has signed up to appear in a sexy new Martini ad in Italy and Australia, in which she wears only a man's shirt. The Hollywood beauty is seen hopping over a bar to pour vermouth for locals in the commercial. She agreed to star in the ads after Martini bosses reassured her the campaign would never be seen in Britain or America.