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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Guess you could say Julia is worth a pretty penny


Julia Roberts
 (The Spokesman-Review)
The Spokesman-Review

Julia Roberts is a mommy with big money. The 37-year-old, who recently gave birth to twins, tops The Hollywood Reporter’s annual list of the highest-paid actresses at $20 million per film.

“Charlie’s Angels” star Cameron Diaz, also at $20 million, is ranked second because her face was missing from the big screen this year (though her voice was featured in the animated “Shrek 2”).

Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Drew Barrymore rounded out the top five at $15 million each, followed by Halle Berry ($14 million), Sandra Bullock and Angelina Jolie (both $12 million to $15 million) and Renee Zellweger and Jennifer Lopez ($12 million each).

The Women in Entertainment issue also includes a paycheck tally of “Five Breakout Performers.” Kirsten Dunst is No. 1 at $8 million, followed by Lindsay Lohan ($7.5 million), Jessica Alba ($3 million), Mandy Moore ($3 million) and Sarah Michelle Gellar ($2 million).

They’ll have to make a big postpartum impression

Julia Roberts, by the way, insists she’s planning to become a full-time mom for a while and that she’ll only act if parts are impossible to turn down.

“The script will have to blow me away,” she says. “The babies will be a great factor, like anything that makes your life more interesting and more enjoyable.”

Babs is on the mommy laugh track

Barbra Streisand, who returns to the big screen in the highly anticipated “Meet the Fockers” – the sequel to the 2000 hit “Meet the Parents” – says the film’s star, Ben Stiller, called her personally to ask her to play his mother.

“Ben wanted me to be his mom and called me from London and really asked me to do the movie, and I thought, ‘Why not do something that makes people laugh in kind of depressing times?’ ” she says.

I’m freaking at the world!

Leonardo DiCaprio says he found it easy to relate to Howard Hughes, the reclusive billionaire he plays in the upcoming movie “The Aviator,” because “Titanic” taught him what it feels like to be “estranged from the world.”

“(W)hat fascinated me … is how someone with everything cannot necessarily lose it all, but lose the will and the ability to lead a normal life, which is a very scary concept,” DiCaprio says. “I mean, after ‘Titanic’ I had a couple of years of feeling very estranged from the world. But not nearly to the extent of Mr. Hughes – he locked himself in a hotel room for the last 15 years of his life.”

It’s back to driving, Mr. Freeman

Morgan Freeman, meanwhile, doesn’t know when he’ll be able to pilot a plane again.

The high-flying actor was coming in for a landing at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey when he dropped from 3,000 feet to 2,000 feet without awaiting the necessary permission from the control tower.

“I’m being censured by the FAA, and they’re going to ground me,” he says.

The birthday bunch

Actor Kirk Douglas is 88. Actress Dina Merrill is 79. Actor Dick Van Patten (“Eight Is Enough”) is 76. Actor-writer Buck Henry is 74. Actress Judi Dench is 70. Actor Beau Bridges is 63. Actor Michael Nouri is 59. Actor Michael Dorn (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) is 52. Actor John Malkovich is 51. Singer/game show host Donny Osmond is 47. Actor Joe Lando (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”) is 43. Actress Felicity Huffman is 42. Singer-guitarist Jakob Dylan (The Wallflowers) is 35. Drummer Tre Cool (Green Day) is 32. Rapper Canibus is 30. Actor Jesse Metcalfe (“Desperate Housewives”) is 26.