Valerie Harper, who is fondly remembered for, and fondly remembers, playing Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1974) and its spinoff Rhoda (1974-1978), takes a turn as another fast-talker in The Office, her new CBS sitcom, which premiered March 11. "My character's name is Rita," says Harper, 54, who plays a career secretary. "But when I got the script, I thought, 'Hmmm...starts with an R, ends with an A.' Well, it worked for me two decades ago. Rita could be Rhoda's older, more sensible sister. She's Italian, not Jewish, but it's almost the same sound, look and attitude. Plus, how could you not get a little Rhoda with me playing it?"
PHONE HEX
Rene Russo, who partnered with Clint Eastwood in the 1993 hit In the Line of Fire, had a very different experience working with Dustin Hoffman in the medical thriller Outbreak, which was No. 1 at the box office last week. "Clint is like a rock," says Russo, 41. "I found myself babbling uncontrollably in his presence. I'd be like, 'Hi, Clint! How are you doing, what's going on, how's the weather?' And he would just say, 'Hi.' So I'd babble more." She found Hoffman looser-lipped. "He drove me nuts," says Russo. "We were supposed to be doing all these serious scenes on the telephone, and he would purposely try to crack me up. I'd be telling him that a virus is sweeping America and millions will die, and Dustin would whisper, 'So my little tart, are you upset?' "
ERIN GO BRAGH
Scent of a Woman's Chris O'Donnell plans to raise a pint of Guinness and toast the folks back in County Kilkenny, Ireland, where he filmed his new romance, Circle of Friends. "I hung out at this bar called O'Donnell's—no relation," says O'Donnell, 24, who grew up one of seven kids in Illinois. "I told Eddie O'Donnell, the owner, about my huge family, and he laughed. He was one of 21 kids." As the cast's only American, O'Donnell found a brogue tough to master. "My great-grandfather came from Ireland, so people expected me to talk the talk. I was like, 'Whoa, laddies!' I had a dialect coach the whole time." But he fell right in step with easy Irish ways. "People were so relaxed. You're working, and then, 'Oops, it's time for a tea break!' There I was, eating scones at 10 a.m., going, 'Why don't they do this in Hollywood?' "
PLANNED UNPARENTHOOD
Everyone's mad about Mad About You's Paul Reiser. This month he hosted both the Grammy Awards and Saturday Night Live and has a starring role in Bye Bye Love, an ensemble comedy with Matthew Modine and Randy Quaid, which opened last Friday. How does he cope? "A friend told me to listen to my heart," says Reiser, 37. "Another friend told me to listen to my gut. Maybe I need an autopsy, because right now my colon is kind of iffy." But his head's in the right place. Reiser is sticking by Mad, his hit sitcom. "People want Jamie [played by Helen Hunt] and Paul [Reiser's character] to have a baby, but I'm not sure I want to get that in-depth when it comes to diaper changing," he says. "Maybe people will be happy that our dog Murray had puppies."
