WEEK IN REVIEW: Colin Farrell to Play Dad

By Rachel F. Elson

Friday March 21, 2003 11:00 AM EST

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FATHER FARRELL: Hotshot actor Colin Farrell has a new role coming up: dad. Sounding excited, the 27-year-old serial playboy and "Daredevil" costar recently confirmed reports of his impending paternity to a British ITV interviewer. "It's cool," he said. "I'm chuffed, so over the moon. (The baby's) due in about six months." Farrell didn't name the mother, though there are plenty of possibilities: The Irish-born actor, whose other 2003 films include "The Recruit" and the upcoming "Phone Booth," has been linked in the past with Playboy Playmate Nicole Narain and actress Demi Moore, and cameras caught him smooching pop princess Britney Spears at a January premiere.

LIZA RESTING: It's that time of the year again for Liza Minnelli. The actress-singer has checked herself into a drug and alcohol rehab center in rural Pennsylvania as part of an "annual self-help program," her publicist told the AP. Minnelli spends eight weeks out of the year at the Caron Foundation, in a former resort hotel in peaceful Wernersville, Pa., her rep said in a statement. Last week, the original "Cabaret" star, 57, and husband David Gest scuttled a planned one-year anniversary bash for 1,200 guests, saying the timing was wrong. "We held off sending our invitations out because we want to have our party when the world is at peace," Minnelli said.

RUSSELL WEDDING: "A Beautiful Mind" star Russell Crowe and longtime girlfriend Danielle Spencer reportedly plan to tie the knot on April 7, his 39th birthday, with a quiet ceremony in Australia. Crowe met Spencer, an actress and singer, during the filming of the 1990 film "The Crossing"; the two had an on-again/off-again relationship until last November, when the Oscar-winning actor publicly declared his love for her on his band's Web site -- and then popped the question. Crowe's publicist told an Australian newspaper that "the wedding will be an intimate affair for family and friends," Reuters reports.

TONY'S TRUCE: After facing off with his own bosses in a tense legal showdown, TV mob boss Tony Soprano will be back for a fifth season. Actor James Gandolfini, 41, who plays the patriarch in the HBO hit "The Sopranos," turned to the courts in his pursuit of a raise from his most recent $400,000-per-episode paycheck. But after Gandolfini sued the network (which, like PEOPLE, is part by AOL Time Warner), claiming it never properly notified him of plans for another season, HBO fired back with a $100 million countersuit. Gandolfini dropped his case this week in a deal that, according to The New York Times, will have him earning $11 million a year -- double his previous salary, though not quite the $16 million a year he was seeking.