• April 04, 2005
• Vol. 63
• No. 13

Have Movie, Will Travel: Stars Strut Their Stuff at the Showest Fest in Vegas

When Bernie Mac was told he'd be getting ShoWest's comedy star of the year award, "I was like, 'Sho what?' " he admitted in his acceptance speech. He quickly learned better: Stars flock to the annual Las Vegas convention for movie-theater owners to court those who put their faces up on the big screen. At this year's March 14-17 blowout, Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon, costars of the upcoming Fever Pitch, led a lunch crowd in a sing-along of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," and footage from Star Wars: Episode III and appearances by Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston (see p. 50) were the talk of the Strip. When not schmoozing, stars struck a pose at PEOPLE'S photo booth.

JIMMY FALLON & DREW BARRYMORE
"I've definitely been the luckiest girl of the last decade," said Barrymore of her award. "I've done a tremendous amount of looking back and thinking what these 10 years meant. There is no question that they have been the best of my life."

MATT DAMON MALE STAR OF THE YEAR
Accepting his award, Damon dropped a hint to Star Wars director George Lucas: "I'm available for [episodes seven, eight and nine].

How did George Clooney, Damon's costar in the thriller Syriana (above), cope with packing on 30 lbs. for the role? Not well, said Damon. "George isn't a very vain guy, but he is a very active guy. I think it depressed him to be forced to not [exercise]. Then you have to take it off. And he's 50, and when you do that at the age of 50..." (Damon's just kidding: Clooney is 43.)

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN
MALE STAR OF TOMORROW

Making the final Star Wars film, due May 19, was "such a whirlwind," he said.

JESSICA BIEL
FEMALE STAR OF TOMORROW

The actress gave an onstage shout-out to her beau (below), Fantastic Four actor Chris Evans: "And to Chris: I love you!"

GEORGE LUCAS
GALACTIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

The father of the Star Wars franchise unspooled the first six minutes from the series' sixth and final installment, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, to eager conventioneers. "I'm happy to be able to go on and do other things," said Lucas, 60. "It's been 20 years of my life working on this thing." While he declared the series over for good (sorry, Matt Damon), he reflected with a sense of triumph. "When you start [a project like this], the biggest challenge is to make sure you finish and not get halfway done," said Lucas. "That was the biggest challenge, and I met it."

RACHEL McADAMS
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR

On St. Patrick's Day, the star of Mean Girls and The Notebook proved to be a wee bit flirty. "Although I
am not visibly wearing green," she said, "I am wearing green."