• February 24, 2003
• Vol. 59
• No. 7

Scoop

Gold Shoulder
Big name? Check. Fine performance? Ditto. Still, on Oscar day the phone doesn't always ring

Richard Gere kept his reaction brief on learning that—unlike Chicago mates Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly and director Rob Marshall—he was not part of the film's 13-nod Oscar juggernaut. "It would have been better if I had been nominated," the actor said with a laugh at the film's Paris premiere.

So what happened? For every joyous moment created by the Feb. 11 Academy Award announcements--Jack Nicholson receiving his 12th nomination for acting (if he wins, he'll tie Katharine Hepburn's four Oscars); My Big Fat Greek Wedding's Nia Vardalos receiving her first, for screenwriting—there were those that left Award-watchers scratching their heads. Like Gere's absence from the list. (He wasn't the only one. Tom Hanks, Dennis Quaid, Leonardo DiCaprio and even Jennifer Aniston all had been discussed as potential nominees.) Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc., notes that singers who have become actors—Cher, Diana Ross, even Queen Latifah--seem to have no trouble getting respect from the Academy. "But when an actor [like Gere] becomes a singer, there may be some prejudice there."

Nevertheless, for this year's nominees, the sun outshone the shadow. "It was very lovely," says Kathy Bates, who was already celebrating her Best Supporting Actress nomination for About Schmidt by 7:25 that morning. "I'm having a glass of champagne right now."

And the Nominees Are...

BEST PICTURE

Chicago

Gangs of New York

The Hours

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Pianist

BEST ACTOR

Adrien Brody
The Pianist

Nicolas Gage
Adaptation

Michael Caine
The Quiet American

Daniel Day-Lewis
Gangs of New York

Jack Nicholson
About Schmidt

BEST ACTRESS

Salma Hayek
Frida

Nicole Kidman
The Hours

Diane Lane
Unfaithful

Julianne Moore
Far from Heaven

Renée Zellweger
Chicago

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Chris Cooper
Adaptation

Ed Harris
The Hours

Paul Newman
Road to Perdition

John C. Reilly
Chicago

Christopher Walken
Catch Me If You Can

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Kathy Bates
About Schmidt

Julianne Moore
The Hours

Queen Latifah
Chicago

Meryl Streep
Adaptation

Catherine Zeta-Jones
Chicago

Mediums Rare: In Search of Diana
Can clairvoyants speak with the spirit of Princess Diana? More important, will she respond? A clue may come Feb. 18, when mediums will gather to videotape a séance in a Paris apartment near the Eiffel Tower, which acts, they claim, as a giant antenna for psychic energy. A special, The Spirit of Diana, will air March 9 on pay-per-view for $14.95. Production executives believe the princess, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997, would approve. "Diana had a tremendous interest in the psychic world," claims Spirit director Paul Sharratt. "[She] believed in an afterlife." Participants include Oonagh Shanley-Toffolo, an acupuncturist and former nun whom Diana described as her "spiritual guide." Although producers have no specific questions for Spencer's spirit ("It's not like picking up the telephone," Sharratt says), Scoop is curious: How is the afterlife? Is there a buffet? And why do all British spiritualists have hyphens in their last names? As to whether there'll be a response, says psychic Craig Hamilton-Parker, who will appear on the show: "It's up to Diana."

Separate Lives, for Now
While the press speculated that his six-year marriage to actress Sadie Frost was on the rocks, Jude Law took the pointed step last week of consulting with lawyers about whether he could sue the papers. Although the couple's rep admitted that Frost, 37, was suffering from postpartum depression following the birth of their third child, Rudy (PEOPLE, Feb. 17), they insisted that talk of a split was baseless. But on Feb. 11 Law's publicist Simon Halls said that the actor had moved out of the couple's London home and into a house down the block. "They've been going through a difficult time over the last several months," says Halls. "They are still married but are living in separate houses about a block away from one another. They see each other and [their three kids] every day. They are just trying to cool off." Is divorce far off? Says Halls: "They are nowhere near that."

Spacey: New Man at Old Vic

Madonna isn't the only American celeb with a thing for the U.K. "I'm an Anglophile, let's face it," Kevin Spacey, 43, said Feb. 5 at the announcement that he will become the artistic director of London's storied Old Vic Theatre Company, selecting actors and plays. Beginning in 2004, the Oscar-winning actor will appear in two stage productions a year at the Old Vic and "may try my hand at directing."

His passion began as a child. "My parents took theater trips from America to London starting when I was about 7," says Spacey, who joined Elton John, Sting and Courtney Love at a theater fund-raiser. "To find myself as the director of the Old Vic is beyond my wildest dreams." So...no more films? "The theater is my primary allegiance [now]," says Spacey. 'I will do films. They'll just have to be arranged around my priorities."

Out for Justice
There was a reason, Steven Seagal explained on the witness stand in Brooklyn federal court on Feb. 11, why he used to do business with the Mob. "I'm a movie star," he said. "If you want to keep making movies, you don't want to start a war with these people." Seagal testified as a government witness in the racketeering trial of alleged Gambino crime-family member Peter Gotti and six others. Last year prosecutors explained how reputed gangsters tried to extort a $150,000 cut from each of his films. Seagal said one participant at a meeting later told him, "I'm glad you didn't say the wrong thing, because they would have killed you." Was he afraid? Said the tough-guy actor: "I was uncomfortable."

Dude! I Got Busted!
It was, like, a total bummer. On Feb. 9, Benjamin Curtis, the 22-year-old actor who gained fame as Dell Computers' slacker pitchman ("Dude, you're getting a Dell") was busted by New York City cops for buying marijuana. Having just left a party Curtis, a drama student at New York University, was on a street comer wearing a tuxedo jacket and kilt when police spotted him allegedly buying a small bag of pot. The next day Curtis appeared in court where his case was adjourned. That means that "if one year later he has no other run-ins with the law," says his lawyer, Philip Karasyk, "the case will be dismissed and sealed."

POP QUIZ
with Kurt Russell

In Dark Blue, which opens Feb. 21, Kurt Russell plays a tough and tortured L.A. cop investigating a multiple homicide. In real life Russell, 51, is in a much sunnier frame of mind, thanks to a very special day coming up.

Any Valentine's Day plans?

Actually Valentine's Day is my 20th anniversary with Goldie.

Whoa—that long?

I know. It's gone by in a flash. I've been racking my brain for six weeks trying to think of something really good to do for the day. I'm still working on it.

Just don't sit around at home watching hockey.

[Laughs] Oh man, you don't know how on the head you've hit the nail.

How does your career change as you grow older?

With three kids up and moving on their own and Wyatt the last one left, I don't have to focus so much on being the provider anymore. I can concern myself with "Gee, this would be a fun part to play."

Was that the case with Dark Blue?

It's the best thing I've ever done. I hate it when actors say that, but it's true. I've looked at it objectively and I've gotten a lot of feedback, and this is the best thing I've ever done.

Has it been harder to keep in shape after age 50?

I've been less concerned about it, honestly. My training regimen for this movie was cutting down on the doughnuts somewhat. I didn't do anything, and yet people kept saying, "You really look like you're in great shape." I'm in the worst shape of my life. I guess I should have been doing this for years.

Have Goldie's beliefs rubbed off on you at all?

Goldie practices Buddhism. But it's not something that's part of my world.

Ever think of joining Goldie in her yoga?

I should, but it's more fun to watch her do it in the mornings and then doze off back to sleep.

ON THE BLOCK

MILANO'S MANSION
No longer bewitched by her Beverly Hills mansion, Charmed star Alyssa Milano is selling the 5,700-sq.-ft. estate for $2,295,000. The actress bought the house from comedian Martin Lawrence in 1997. The five-bedroom home features a master suite leading to an outdoor terrace, views of L.A. and a nearby canyon from the dining room and a wood-paneled library with a secret passage leading to a loft. With its pool, spa, media and billiard rooms, says listing agent Kevin Godley, guests seeking entertainment will be spellbound.

• Contributors:
• Ting Yu,
• Anna Holmes,
• Jennifer Wren,
• Caris Davis,
• Jen Doman,
• Michael Fleeman,
• Oliver Jones,
• Julie Jordan,
• Regine Labossiere,
• Cathy Nolan,
• Rebecca Paley,
• Ellin Stein,
• Michele Stueven,
• Pamela Warrick.

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