English actor Daniel Craig has been chosen to replace Pierce Brosnan as the next James Bond. Craig, who is the first blond Bond, will take on the iconic superspy when filming for Casino Royale begins in January. The 37-year-old beat off competition from Clive Owen, Hugh Jackman and unknown actor Henry Cavill to star in the movie directed by Martin Campbell - who worked with Brosnan on Goldeneye. Craig said at today's press conference in London, "It's something else. I'm speechless. I've just got to step up to the plate and deal with it. I had a confidence about it but then that's because of the people around me who made me feel good about it. I knew positively on Monday. I was in Baltimore when I took the call. My first reaction was I needed a drink."

Josh Holloway's Lost co-star Maggie Grace is horrified to learn of the actor getting robbed in his home, because she knows he only just completed work on the dream property. As the actor and his wife Yessica slept in their Hawaii home on Wednesday, a gun-toting burglar reportedly awoke them as he took cash, credit cards and a Mercedes-Benz, which was later found abandoned. And Grace, who learned of the incident during her current visit to New York City, knows just how much the home and vehicle mean to Holloway. She says, "I've been running around New York so I hadn't checked my voicemail in a while. I've since talked to quite a few people. Everybody's okay, thank God. They're really important people to me and it's really scary that they had to go through that. Even though they're okay, they just finished their house and Josh has worked really hard his whole life to buy his first house and a car as a gift for his wife. And now to kind of have that sense of safety sort of shattered."

The photographer who allegedly ruined a family day out for actress Reese Witherspoon at a California theme park pleaded not guilty to charges including child endangerment and battery on Wednesday. Paparazzo Todd Wallace was arrested by police last month after he reportedly attacked staff at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim as they tried to keep him away from Witherspoon and stop him from taking pictures of her daughter Ava. The 44-year-old was charged with child endangerment, interfering with a person's liberty and multiple counts of child battery last week. Wallace claims he will present photographic and video evidence to the Los Angeles court which proves he did nothing wrong at the California theme park. If found guilty, the photographer could face up to four years in prison.

Former child star Jodie Foster has warned her kids Charles and Kit they will have to work hard if they want to follow her lead and launch an acting career. The Oscar-winning actress, who played a child prostitute when she was 13 in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, is worried her two sons, aged six and four, harbor acting ambitions. Foster insists she would only consider helping her boys if they proved their commitment. She says, "Well, it (acting) is not something I'd bring up. But if they begged me a lot and if they were really interested, I think I'd say, 'I've heard there's a great theatre group down the block, maybe if you got interested in that.' I wouldn't stand in their way, but it would depend on their personality. I don't think it's the healthiest relationship to have with your child, to be involved in their professional life. It worked out well for me, but I've seen it not work out many times."

The mother of Daniel Craig unveiled her son as the new James Bond, hours before movie bosses officially reveal the identity of the latest actor to play the spy. Proud Carol Blond is overjoyed her boy has beaten a vast list of screen idols, including Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor, to win the coveted 007 role. She says, "We're thrilled to bits. This has come at a very good time in his career. He has worked hard all his life and this will be his most famous part. It will be life-changing, but I think he is old enough and experienced enough to handle it." Bond film-makers will officially confirm which actor will take over from Pierce Brosnan, at 52 considered too old to play the secret agent, at a press conference later Friday, ending more than a year of speculation. Filming on the new movie, an adaptation of Sir Ian Fleming novel Casino Royale, begins in January - directed by Martin Campbell.

Star Wars star Peter Mayhew is set to become the latest British actor to become an American. The towering film star, who played growling wookie Chewbacca in four Star Wars films, will take the oath to become an American citizen on Monday. Mayhew, 60, will be among 441 people from 77 countries who will become naturalized Americans in a ceremony in Arlington, Texas, where he lives with his Texan wife Angelique. He joins Sir Anthony Hopkins, Pierce Brosnan and Jane Seymour, all of whom have become American citizens in recent years.

Hollywood socialites Paris Hilton and Bijou Phillips were caught up in a fight outside Los Angeles hotspot Mood on Wednesday night when Hilton's bodyguard attacked a photographer. The high-profile pair were leaving the club after partying with Bruce Willis, Lindsay Lohan and Eddie Murphy when a brawl broke out in the street. The unnamed minder took offence when one snapper got too close to him and pushed him to the ground, yelling, "Don't ever touch me." Hilton tried to defuse the situation by signing photographs from the front seat of her silver Bentley before driving off.

Pop icon Michael Jackson has been supported by crowds of fans during his visit to London, where he has been making his first public appearances since being acquitted of child molestation charges in June. The Thriller singer, who is in the British capital to work on his Hurricane Katrina charity single, enjoyed a private two-hour shopping trip to exclusive Knightsbridge department store Harrods on Wednesday night - after making his way through the crowds that had congregated outside. Jackson then returned to the Dorchester Hotel where he was met by a throng of fans cheering his name and waving banners bearing messages of support. After retiring to his room, the 47-year-old waved to fans from his window and surprised them with a bulk order of pizza which was delivered to the crowd outside the hotel.

Motley Crue hell-raiser Tommy Lee was taken to hospital on Wednesday Night after a stunt went wrong during a concert in the US. Faulty pyrotechnics exploded beneath the hitmaker as he thrilled fans by swinging from a cable several feet above the stage, in Wyoming. Del Kinswoman, who witnessed the accident, says, "The lights went out and Roman candles went off and someone cursed." Concert reviewer Tom Morton said singer Vince Neil interrupted the gig to tell the audience they couldn't perform because Lee was injured and needed medical attention. Last month frontman Neil was hurt when he fell off the stage in Atlanta, Georgia, while reaching over to sing along with the audience.

A film hailed as the evil version of Crocodile Dundee is facing delay because its psychopath main character could influence an Australian murder trial beginning next week. Low-budget thriller Wolf Creek is loosely based on the disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio from a remote outback highway in 2001. The body of the 28-year-old has never been found but former mechanic Bradley Murdoch will be tried for his murder in Darwin on Monday. However lawyers in the case are worried the release of the horror movie - about three young travelers abducted in the outback by a violent madman - could prejudice Murdoch's trial and have pleaded for its release to be delayed. Film distributors will announce their decision today.

British playwright Harold Pinter has been awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize for literature. The 75-year-old picked up a $1.3 million cash prize with the award at a ceremony yesterday. The Nobel Academy lauded Pinter's work - which includes the plays The Birthday Party and Betrayal - for the way it "uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms".