Vin Diesel Kids Around

Plus, get the gossip on Teri Hatcher, Ashley Olsen and more

Originally posted Wednesday March 09, 2005 06:00 AM EST

Vin Diesel Photo by: Lionel Hahn / Abaca

Though the old Hollywood adage says never work with animals or children, Vin Diesel, who costars with a brood of tykes in the hit comedy The Pacifier, disagrees. "I think that it's so inaccurate because when you work with kids, all you have to do is step out of the way and let them shine. It was so easy," he tells us. Easy, but also hard to shake. While filming his next movie, the Sidney Lumet-directed drama Find Me Guilty, "I would be standing on-site rocking back and forth," Diesel recalls. "Sidney said, 'Why are you rocking back and forth? You're (playing) a 48-year-old attorney that's living in prison. Why are you doing this?' I was so accustomed to having a baby that I kept going back and forth like this. I couldn't stop it. I kept doing this like I had a baby on me."

The Play's the Thing
Teri Hatcher is a busy Desperate Housewife, but she's making time to hit the stage for a good cause. The actress will star in a production of the Eve Ensler play The Vagina Monologues in Los Angeles on March 17. Directed by Penny Marshall, the production will raise money for the 2005 Worldwide V-Day campaign to end violence against women and will honor local organization The HerShe Group.

Ciao, Italia!
Penelope Cruz had to learn Italian before starring in the upcoming film Don't Move (Non Ti Muovere). "I had to lose my accent completely," she says. "My character's name is Italia, so I really couldn't have any accent." To do so, she undertook an Eliza Doolittle-like schedule: "I had like four- or five-hour lessons every day. I loved the challenge of having to do that."

Caught in the Act
Spotted Recently:
• Ashley Olsen and boyfriend Scott Sartiano, dining at hip New York eatery Nobu Next Door. The couple sat at a corner table, where they chowed on an asparagus appetizer, beef skewers and an array of sushi.

• Friends we never knew were friends boogied the night away at L.A. club Chi. While Lindsay Lohan's ex Wilmer Valderrama stood on a seat and danced with a drink in his hand, Jennifer Lopez's ex Cris Judd and Shannon Elizabeth's future ex Joe Reitman joined him in the booth. Talk about the ex factor.

• AMY LONGSDORF, VANESSA DIAZ, KATY HALL and KIM LANSING