  Nicole Richie. |
HOLLYWOOD -- Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton have not only patched up their rocky relationship, but they're also back to doing just what the other one does. This week, Richie followed in Hilton's tire tracks and got herself hauled off to the slammer on suspicion of driving under the influence.
California Highway Patrol officers say they found The Simple Life star stopped in the carpool lane of a Burbank freeway -- headed in the wrong direction -- just before 2 a.m. Monday after several 911 calls from other motorists.
Police say Richie told them she'd been popping Vicodin and smoking pot. She spent the rest of the night in jail before being released on $15,000 bail.
Her buddy Paris was busted back in September for driving erratically in Hollywood at a similar hour. Cops booked her for supposedly just barely setting off the breathalizer with a .08 blood alcohol level.
In the land of celebs, of course, the talk isn't about the alleged infractions -- it's the notoriety factor. Paris, it's widely joked, will likely turn her incident into an advertising campaign for a premium European vodka. With Richie, early talk centres more on the ongoing controversy about her weight problems. The star has responded to claims she suffers from anorexia by saying she's seeking medical treatment to help her put on some pounds. But it doesn't seem to be working: Police reported that her post-arrest weight was a mere 85 pounds.
MOVIE TRIVIA:
This is just the kind of thing that's making Hollywood's unions nuts: James Cameron was among the first directors to replace actors with computer-generated characters (in Titanic) and now word comes that the famed Industrial Light and Magic company created characters for Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. In fact, we hear, Davy Jones and his Flying Dutchman crew -- save for Bootstrap Bill, played by non-computer-generated Bill Nighy -- are nothing but a long (and very expensive) set of zeros and ones.
CASTING NEWS:
Buffy The Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon is working hard to get his new Wonder Woman film off the ground. He's been through just about every casting agency in town looking for his lead -- Julianna Margulies was long thought to be the frontrunner -- and is now rumoured to be looking in Bollywood. Indian actress Priyanka Chopra is being pressed by media in London, where she lives, to talk about the film, but she's being as coy as possible. "Until something happens," she told one reporter, "I don't want to talk about it. I'm not confirming the news or denying it right now." All of which, naturally, is taken by most to mean she's landed the role for the highly anticipated adventure flick -- which is almost guaranteed to make an international star out of its lead.
CELEBRITY REAL ESTATE:
Noah Wyle has taken his ER paycheque and gone country. The actor, who says he'll make guest appearances on the long-running medical drama, has plunked down $2.5 million for Bo Derek's beloved Santa Ynez ranch. Wyle and his wife sold their L.A. area home for nearly $4.5 million with the intent, they say, of moving out of the city. The 5,000-square-foot main house is surrounded by 45 acres of great horse-riding terrain, two guest houses and stables.
