Brad Pitt has confirmed girlfriend Angelina Jolie will play Mariane Pearl, the widow of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, in a movie being made by his production company. The film will be adapted from Pearl's memoir, A Mighty Heart, which chronicles her experience after her husband was kidnapped and murdered by Islamic extremists in Pakistan in 2002. According to Pitt, "The film will focus on the deep collaboration between people around the world in search of Daniel in 2002. We hope the film can increase understanding between people of all faiths and portray the story and the people involved as honestly as possible without anger or judgment." Pearl, a French journalist, was pregnant when her husband was kidnapped in 2002 and gave birth to their son Adam in May of that year. She has expressed her support for the project: "I am delighted that Angelina Jolie will be playing my role in the adaptation of the book. I deeply admire her work and what she is committed to." The film will begin shooting this autumn and will be Jolie's first dramatic role since giving birth to her daughter with Pitt, Shiloh Nouvel.

Action superstar Jackie Chan has apologized and asked for forgiveness after getting drunk and jumping on stage at a concert on Sunday. Chan was attending a performance by Taiwanese singer/songwriter Jonathan Lee when he unexpectedly took to the stage, starting swearing and hassling the band and Lee. Chan's pop star son Jaycee Chan, who counts Lee as musical inspiration, has also repeatedly apologized for his father's bizarre behavior. A rather embarrassed Rush Hour star later admitted to leading Hong Kong radio show host Candy Chea that he was drunk when he jumped on stage, explaining that he "forgot there were so many people watching." Chea, revealed their conservation on her show yesterday, saying, "But Chan also said this was his first time, and it had never happened before."

The final season of TV mob drama The Sopranos has been delayed to allow actor James Gandolfini to recover from knee surgery. The actor's "unexpected" surgery comes just weeks after he took a tumble from his scooter after colliding with a taxi in New York City - and insiders claim the operation is related to that incident. And the surgery means Gandolfini won't be recovered in time for the planned debut of the final season in January - so bosses at American network HBO have decided to delay the last episodes for two months. But HBO chairman Chris Albrecht insists the finale will be worth the wait: "I know the story lines for the final eight (shows), and I am absolutely positively certain that when the curtain comes down on The Sopranos, the vast majority of people will say it's one of the greatest things of all time."

Beloved US comedian Red Buttons has died following a vascular disease. He was 87. The red-headed funnyman, who won a 1957 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Sayonara, died at his home, surrounded by family members, yesterday. After making his name as a vaudeville comedian, Buttons became a TV regular after he served in World War Two, eventually landing his own show, The Red Buttons Show in 1952. Three seasons after the show debuted, flagging ratings prompted Buttons to turn his attention to the movies and his Oscar-winning performance helped earn him movie acclaim. Film highlights included Hatari, The Poseidon Adventure and They Shoot Horses, Don't They? His final acting role came on medical drama ER in 2005, when he returned as recurring character Jules Rubadoux.

Christopher Walken has been forced to pull out of a theatrical reunion with his The Deer Hunter co-star Meryl Streep due to conflicting schedules. The actor signed on to play The Cook in The Public Theater's Mother Courage & Her Children in Central Park, New York City, last month, but has since quit the project. He'll be replaced by Streep's Sophie's Choice co-star Kevin Kline. The Bertolt Brecht play will debut at the Delacorte Theater on 8 August. The play marks Kline's first stage performance since he was inducted into the Theatre Hall Of Fame. The actor is also set to play King Lear in the Public Theater's production of the classic William Shakespeare tragedy later this year.

Matthew McConaughey was given a very special job at the ESPY Awards in Hollywood on Wednesday night - host Lance Armstrong's personal bartender. The two Texans have become firm friends and retired cyclist Armstrong often stays with the Sahara star when he's in Los Angeles. The hunks have even started training together. And, to thank him for all his cycling tips, McConaughey agreed to make margaritas for Armstrong backstage so the Tour De France champ could calm his nerves during the sports awards ceremony. Armstrong says, "He said, 'What do you need from me?' I said, 'I need you there at 5:30, making 'ritas.' He said, 'I'll be there.'" Armstrong, who claimed the night's Athlete Of The Year honor for the fourth time, was surprised by another famous pal when funnyman Will Ferrell took to the stage for an unannounced musical tribute to the cycling hero. Other big winners at the ESPY Awards included movie mogul Jerry Bruckheimer, who claimed the Best Film prize for his sports movie Glory Road.

Under The Tuscan Sun star Diane Lane chopped off all of her hair on live TV Thursday to help make a wig for a women's cancer charity. The star was supporting the Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign which encourages people to grow, cut and donate healthy hair to make wigs for women who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment. Lane appeared on the US morning show Today and had her hair cut by co-host Ann Curry, who also cut off her own hair in March for the children's charity Locks of Love. The Unfaithful star explains, "I've always wanted to cut my hair short and nobody would ever let me. In movies they always want Pantene gorgeous hair. You just want to help people with cancer and you have a natural resource that only you can give. It's for a beautiful, beautiful cause." As the nervous star made her way over to the hair stylist's chair she quipped, "My husband (Josh Brolin) promised that he will still find me cute!" Curry took several minutes to cut her way through Lane's thick stresses, as Lane remarked, "It's still going! This is like a taking down a giant oak!" After eight inches of her hair was chopped off, a delighted Lane said, "Go for it, send in your hair! It's so fun and liberating! I've wanted to do this for years!" An hour after receiving her cut, the star appear on US talk show The View to discuss her new short bobbed hair. She reveals, "I didn't sleep last night! By the time five am rolled around I was like 'Just do it!'" Lane said her step-daughter has also been inspired to cut her hair and that her husband has been completely supportive of their efforts. She added, "His hair is a bit longer than mine now! He hasn't seen it yet - he's doing a night shoot in New Mexico. I left him a voicemail describing it the best I could. I'm loving it!"

David Hasselhoff is stunned he still has the use of his hand after slicing four tendons in freak accident in London last month. The former Baywatch star was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after a piece of glass severed his arm at the posh Sanderson Hotel. Hasselhoff appeared on Ryan Seacrest's morning radio show in Los Angeles on Wednesday sporting a brace on his arm and explained how the injury happened. He said, "I was in the steam room and I came out and I was shaving and they have these trendy, trendy little Tiffany lamps. I hit the lamp, broke the lamp and a big chunk of it came down and sliced my hand wide open. I cut four tendons! It's a miracle that I still have use of my hand."

Bewitched star Kasey Rogers has died after suffering a stroke. She was 80. Rogers' companion Mark Wood said the actress passed away at USC University Hospital in Los Angeles last Thursday. Rogers, who also acted under the name Laura Elliott, played Louise Tate, the wife of Darrin's boss Larry Tate, in the 1960s TV series. One of her most memorable roles was playing Farley Granger's estranged wife Miriam, who is strangled in Alfred Hitchcock's classic Strangers On A Train. Wood tells the Los Angeles Times newspaper, "For decades, no one realized Laura Elliott and Kasey Rogers were the same woman. All of a sudden, Hitchcock fans were coming out of the woodwork. They wanted to know what happened to Laura Elliott." Rogers is survived by her brother, four children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Her funeral will take place at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood tomorrow.

Pregnant Britney Spears has vowed to get in shape again after the birth of her second child in October. The singer, 24, has been criticized by her fans and the media after appearing to become disinterested in her physical appearance since she starting dating her now-husband Kevin Federline in April 2004. Spears tells the August edition of Harper's Bazaar, "It was weird for me at first because of who I am. Wherever you go, they expect you to look a certain way. I'm not supposed to be this big huge pregnant superstar. After this baby. I'm going to get really intense with it (working out)."