Kate Winslet's Oscar 'Prep'

Plus, get the gossip on Minnie Driver, Alicia Keys and more

Originally posted Wednesday February 23, 2005 06:00 AM EST

Kate Winslet Photo by: Debbie VanStory / Abaca

With the Oscars only days away (not that we're counting or anything), certainly all the nominees are busy with dress fittings, makeovers, last-minute workouts, interviews and the like. Not Kate Winslet – our spies spotted the down-to-earth star (a Best Actress nominee for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) lunching with her husband, director Sam Mendes, and her two tots on the patio at the Hotel Bel Air. Like any mom, Winslet (dressed in a green T-shirt, baggy pants and UGGs) reprimanded her 4-year-old daughter, Mia, for ordering fries and not eating them – and we're told the slimmed-down actress did help herself to a few. When a nearby table of ladies wished her luck at the Academy Awards, our spies say Winslet stopped to visit with them, and said she hadn't yet had time to think about it much, "what with kids and all." She did admit that there "was a lot of pressure, if you stopped to think about it," but then was off to show her children the swans.

A Jolly Good Fashion Week
Rachel Hunter drew cheers from the crowd when she made her London Fashion Week modeling debut strolling the catwalk for designer Ronit Zilkha. "It was great, and the clothes were really beautiful and romantic and feminine. I just loved it," Hunter tells us. The model-actress is also in London to prep for her new reality show, Make Me A Supermodel, airing in the U.K. in the spring. "In about a month's time the girls actually go and move into a house together, and we will take them through all sorts of things," she says. The show, to be hosted by Hunter, will culminate in a live catwalk show where the public votes for the winning model. So, is she enjoying the London nightlife? "I'm getting to the embarrassing age of really not knowing whether I should be in there or not now," says Hunter. "I still like to have a good time, for sure."

Meanwhile, also during London's Fashion Week, a radiant Minnie Driver left the Jenny Packham show holding tightly onto her pregnant sister Kate. "It was fantastic. I love the '30s evening dresses, they really are very beautiful – the shape of them especially, for a tall girl," gushed the star of The Phantom of the Opera. "I love jewels and appliqué and beading, it's all the things I love. Very fairytale-like." So, will Driver – who just finished a sold-out tour of England – leave acting behind for her singing career? "Do as much as you can – that's my motto. Do it all!"

Caught in the Act
Spotted Recently:
• Grammy winner Alicia Keys, dining with a male friend at L.A. eatery Blowfish.

• Singer and Ashlee Simpson's on-again, off-again beau Ryan Cabrera, at Chicago's Rockit Bar & Grill with bandmates and a posse of approximately 20 people. The group ate heartily, drank shots and played pool before leaving to continue the party at hotspot Le Passage.

• Tom Green, dining at L.A.'s Hollywood & Vine restaurant with a small group. After dinner, Green went next door to the club Vine Street Lounge to catch the fashion show for Yana K's spring-summer collection, hosted by Blu Cantrell. Green later jumped behind the turntables and started mixing and rapping for the audience.

• By MAUREEN HARRINGTON, MONIQUE JESSEN, HILLARY ATKIN and MICHELLE EDGAR