1. Aeon Flux star Charlize Theron, for reportedly replacing Angelina Jolie as director Martin Campbell‘s first choice for the role of Bond babe Vespa Lynd in Casino Royale. If selected, the South African beauty would become the second actress to star in a Bond film following an Academy win–Halle Berry appeared in Die Another Day after picking up an Oscar for her role in Monster’s Ball.
2. British rocker Seal, for beating out a list of Hollywood fathers in a special USA Today poll of Hollywood’s most honorable new dads. Seal became a first-time biological father when his wife, model Heidi Klum, gave birth to their son Henry on September 12.
3. Assistants to the stars, for what they do for their celebrity bosses. Pop diva Mariah Carey, who was signing copies of her latest album, The Emancipation of Mimi, at a shop on London’s Oxford Street, stunned fans this week by having an assistant hold a drink with a straw to her mouth whenever she became thirsty.
4. Rapper Kanye West, for taking home the Biggest Quote honor at the VH1 Big in ’05 awards thanks to his “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” comment at the Hurricane Katrina telethon. West also picked up the night’s Biggest Entertainer prize, making him the only double winner of the night.
5. Requiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky, for thinking inside the box. Aronofsky is such a huge fan of hit ABC drama Lost he called the castaway show’s bosses to ask if he could helm an episode–and was thrilled when they agreed. Aronofsky‘s episode will air in May.
6. Ang Lee’s gay-themed cowboy flick Brokeback Mountain, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, for being called “a historic moment in film history” by officials at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
7. The newly svelte director Peter Jackson, for losing a staggering 70 pounds in just 10 months. The King Kong director credits his yogurt and muesli diet for the weight loss.
8. Murder Inc. Records heads Irv Gotti and his brother Christopher Lorenzo, for being sensationally cleared of laundering money for New York City drug dealer Kenneth ‘Supreme’ McGriff. After two days of deliberating at New York City’s District Court in Brooklyn, a federal jury found the rap moguls innocent of charges they used the company to launder up to $1 million for the known narcotics supplier.
9. The original 1923 Hollywood sign, for clout. A producer paid $467,000 for the 82-year-old landmark on auction Web site eBay.
10. Blockbuster Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, for leading the nominations pack with 15 nods at the 2006 Annie Awards. Wallace & Gromit will fight Chicken Little, Howl’s Moving Castle, Corpse Bride and Madagascar for the coveted Best Animated Feature gong at the International Animated Film Society’s ceremony set for February 4.
