• December 08, 1997
• Vol. 48
• No. 23

The Insider

By Mitchell Fink

Gwyneth Paltrow spent three days alone on a small deserted island in the Caribbean near Belize, without such creature comforts as a toothbrush, soap, pillow or towel, and even shucked her clothes for many of the daylight hours. "I'm positive there are no paparazzi out there," she wrote in a journal, adding, "not that I'd put it past them." This was no movie script, but an adventure Paltrow undertook in September for Marie Claire and writes about in the magazine's January issue, which the 25-year-old actress guest-edited. Though she brought a few essentials, including a pound of rice, a Swiss Army knife, fishhooks, matches and a hammock, the sabbatical was mostly about being by herself and surviving. Paltrow, who stopped smoking on the trip, wrote, "I have learned that I am stronger than I thought. I am braver than I thought."...

In writer-director James Cameron's estimated $250 million epic Titanic, Bill Paxton's character sends a diving team down to explore the sunken liner and recovers a safe that turns out to contain no jewels or money. Says one of Paxton's divers: "You know, boss, the same thing happened to Geraldo, and his career never recovered." The obvious reference to Geraldo Rivera's much hyped 1986 TV foray into Al Capone's near-empty vault gets a big laugh. Rivera, whose career has come along quite nicely, thank you, isn't bothered by the line. "All's fair in love and movies," he says cheerfully. Titanic opens Dec. 19....

Christian Slater has an interesting week ahead of him. On Dec. 8 he costars as Harry Bailey, younger brother of George Bailey (played by Bill Pullman), in a Pediatric AIDS Foundation benefit performance of It's a Wonderful Life at the Pasadena Playhouse. Then on Dec. 10 Slater is scheduled to go on trial in Los Angeles Municipal Court. The actor faces the possibility, admittedly remote, of a maximum five-year county-jail term in connection with the Aug. 11 fracas at an L.A. condominium, when he allegedly beat his girlfriend, Michelle Jonas, and bit the man who came to her defense. Slater's mother, Mary Jo Slater, a co-producer of the Pasadena Playhouse production, says her son has since broken up with Jonas, adding that of late, "the kid's been through a lot of hard times. When George Bailey was in trouble, he didn't believe anyone would come to his rescue, and maybe that's true of Christian. [The play] is his way of trying to reach out and help some people." Other Wonderful cast members include Sally Field, Martin Landau, Joe Mantegna and Slater's younger brother, Ryan, as the young George Bailey....

I will long savor the moment at the Nov. 23 party at Le Cirque 2000 following the New York City premiere of Wag the Dog, director Barry Levinson's upcoming political satire, when Dustin Hoffman was approached by disgraced presidential adviser Dick Morris. In the movie, Hoffman plays a Hollywood producer who can't stand not getting credit for helping a White House spin doctor (Robert De Niro) stage a fake war to turn the media's attention away from a White House scandal. Morris, whose fling with a call girl ended his association with President Clinton, told Hoffman how much he related to his character. "That was me. That was my story in Washington," said Morris, who went on to explain that "the only thing worse than not getting credit in Washington is watching someone else get the credit for something you did. That was my downfall—envy." Hoffman smiled politely and thanked Morris for sharing.

• Contributors:
• Hugh McCarten.