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Role Model
In spite what you may have heard, not every role requires massive weight gain/loss or months of training in an obscure, ancient martial art. Take Katie Holmes, for example. "I?m going to start a movie called Thank You for Smoking in a couple weeks," she told us at a party thrown by Tod's and Miramax in honor of The Aviator production designer Dante Ferretti's new autobiography. "I'm playing a Washington Post reporter. It's a dark comedy about the tobacco industry. Aaron Eckhart is starring in it, and Robert Duvall." And to research it, "I'll probably watch a lot of reporters on the television and maybe go to Washington, but I'm not sure," she tells us. Well, as long as she doesn't take up smoking. Also at the soiree: Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Dennis Hopper, Mena Suvari, Andie MacDowell and Angela Bassett.
Making the Scene
You won't find the more mature, statelier celebs in New York's sexy downtown clubs – but you may catch them on Broadway these days. After seeing the play Democracy recently, Bill and Hillary Clinton joined star James Naughton and his family for a late dinner at Angus McIndoe's in the heart of the theater district. Escorted by McIndoe himself to the exclusive third-floor dining room, the Clintons ran into Uma Thurman, who was dining with boyfriend Andre Balazs and actress Natasha Richardson. It was hard to tell who was more excited to see whom, spies tell us, as dinner out turned into an impromptu party. Thurman jokingly apologized to the former President for appearing in two movies called Kill Bill – but the laughs really began when Billy Crystal and his wife dropped in for dinner after his one-man show. Thurman, who soon will play Ulla in the film version of The Producers, got a chance to compare notes with Broadway's current Ulla, Angie Schworer. As the party wore down around 1:30 a.m., the ever-cordial Bill Clinton took time to seek out every waiter and waitress in the place and personally thank them for their service before saying good-bye.
Caught in the Act
Spotted Recently:
• Leonardo DiCaprio, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, John Cusack, Mena Suvari, Paul Giamatti, Emmy Rossum, Ben Chaplin, Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson, Thora Birch, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, Anjelica Huston, Marcia Cross, Jane Kaczmarek, Michael Chiklis, Oliver Platt, David Spade, Gina Gershon and Sylvester Stallone, at producer Mike Medavoy's L.A. home for a Vanity Fair party celebrating the 2005 Golden Globes nominees.
