Top Story: Kilmer Says He Didn’t Diss New Mexico
Actor Val Kilmer is claiming Rolling Stone magazine misquoted him on comments he made about New Mexico, where Kilmer now lives, The Associated Press reports. The magazine’s Oct. 16 issue features an interview with the Wonderland star, where Kilmer is quoted as saying he lives in the “homicide capital of the Southwest” and 80 percent “of the people in my county are drunk.” “I didn’t say I live in the homicide capital of the Southwest,” Kilmer told AP Tuesday. Kilmer, who owns a ranch outside Pecos, N.M., said the community has embraced him, and he was saddened by the comments attributed to him. “You can ask anyone who knows me; I’ve never said a racist or prejudiced thing in my life,” Kilmer said. Rolling Stone spokeswoman Claudia Diromauldo told AP the magazine hadn’t heard from Kilmer. “Our only comment is, Rolling Stone stands by the article,” she said Wednesday.
Experts Says Tiger Had It In for Roy
Animal experts want to make this clear: The tiger who mauled Roy Horn last week during a Siegfried and Roy show meant to kill him. Several animal behaviorists dispute the statement put out by Horn’s partner Siegfried Fischbacher Wednesday that the animal had been trying to help Horn after the illusionist slipped during the performance, Reuters reports. “The cat wasn’t trying to protect him,” Jonathan Kraft, head of the nonprofit group Keepers of the Wild, told Reuters. “That was a typical killing bite.” Louis Dorfman, a Dallas animal behaviorist who works with the International Exotic Feline Sanctuary in Texas, told Reuters, “Stress led to the bite. It was an outlet for his irritation. Roy got lucky.”
Courteney Cox Wants a Baby
Friends star Courteney Cox Arquette has admitted she and husband David Arquette are having trouble getting pregnant, AP reports. The actress told Barbara Walters in an interview for ABC’s 20/20 that she has had “many miscarriages” but they are still trying with in vitro fertilization. Cox and Arquette, who married in 1999, say they’d consider adopting a child, but she added, “I do want his genes, and I would try probably a surrogate before that … but then, absolutely, adoption.” The interview airs tonight at 10 p.m.
Bonham Carter, Burton Have Son
Actress Helena Bonham Carter and director Tim Burton welcomed their first child Saturday, a boy whom they have not yet named, AP reports. The two met on the set of the remake Planet of the Apes and live in adjoining houses in north London. “I don’t know if we’ll marry,” the magazine Radio Times quoted Bonham Carter as saying. “I find it romantic bearing his illegitimate child and living next door.”
Chong Heads to Prison
Actor-comedian Tommy Chong reported to a federal prison near Bakersfield, Calif., Wednesday to serve out a nine-month sentence for conspiring to sell drug paraphernalia over the Internet, AP reports. Chong, 65, was sentenced Sept. 11 and said he got carried away with the fictional persona he portrayed in the Cheech & Chong comedies. His attorneys are seeking an appeal.
TV-Movie Planned for Schwarzenegger’s Gov. Run
It’s not too surprising A&E Network is developing See Arnold Run, a movie about Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s successful gubernatorial bid. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie should be ready in late summer 2004. With no cast set as yet, A&E’s wish list of actors includes Dennis Quaid, Viggo Mortensen, Willem Dafoe and Billy Campbell.
Allen’s Autobiography in the Works
Director Woody Allen has announced he will be writing his autobiography, sparking excitement recently among book publishers at the world’s largest book fair in Frankfurt, Reuters reports. “There is huge interest,” Caroline Michel from HarperCollins’ HarperPress told Reuters. “If he were to write it, we think it would be the autobiography of the decade. It would be huge and funny and beautifully written,” she said. HarperPress is believed to have bid one million dollars for the British and Commonwealth rights. Reuters was unable to confirm reports that Allen was not ready to start writing until the price was right.
Role Call: Thompson Takes On Potter Role, Ferrell Is Bewitched
Emma Thompson has signed on to play a small but pivotal role in the next Harry Potter installment, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Thompson will play Sybill Trelawney, the ethereal and eccentric professor of divination who is renowned at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for her somewhat questionable predictions…In more magical news, Will Ferrell has landed the role of Darrin in the feature film adaptation of the television classic Bewitched. He’ll play the beleaguered mortal husband to the sensible witch Samantha, expected to be played by Nicole Kidman, the trade paper reports.
