Actress Dominique Swain, best known for her role in the remake of the controversial movie Lolita, bared all on a recent visit to Toronto - well, sort of. She unveiled a naked poster of herself as part of the "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaign by the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The deed took place outside the Hudson's Bay Store at Yonge and Bloor.

- Ola Sturik



elma Blair may be short and skinny but when it comes to swearing, the actress has a vocabulary as big as a longshoreman's. In Vancouver to shoot A Guy Thing with Julia Stiles, Jason Lee and James Brolin, Blair had fun proving to cast and crew that she can talk trash with the best of them. Her mouth has made her the butt of jokes on the set, which the actress (Legally Blonde, Cruel Intentions) takes in stride, adding a few more choice expletives for good measure. Her salty speech is light years away from the prim fiancée she plays in Legally Blonde. In A Guy Thing, Blair is engaged to Lee, who cheats on her with a strange woman (Stiles) and tries to cover it up in the week before the wedding. The comedy opens in August.

  Arnold Schwarzenegger and an entourage were in Vancouver recently checking out movie studios and locations for Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines. The sequel to Terminator 2 has been on the shelf but word is the $255 million film - Schwarzenegger's share for playing a cyborg robot is rumored to be $45 million (US) - is a go for next spring. The action star knows Vancouver well. He shot The 6th Day here a couple of years ago and likes hanging out and smoking his favorite Cuban cigars at local emporiums.

Other Hollywood types who like it here are Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. The couple prefer to stay at downtown Vancouver's cozy but chic Wedgewood Hotel when they visit their sons Wyatt and Oliver. Wyatt goes to a local hockey camp and Oliver Hudson appears in a TV series, The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star, lensed in town. Hawn and Russell occupied the much-in-demand fireside table when they dined in the hotel's Bacchus restaurant several nights in a row.

  Minnie Driver claimed the table for her own recently while she took afternoon tea with a friend. Driver, who's in town shooting New Cardiff with actor Colin Firth, sampled stronger beverages later that day at a local watering hole.

  Dreamy looking and nice to boot. That's the consensus of an extra who worked on the set of New Cardiff in Fort Langley, east of Vancouver, without ever seeing Firth until she met him on a downtown street. Her father called a local paper to report that his wife, daughter and grandchild had met Firth (Bridget Jones's Diary) and got his autograph. Later, they were having coffee when the actor wandered in, sat down beside them and engaged them in conversation about babies. He and his wife have a one-year old son, Luca. Before long, the extra was rushing out to buy a disposable camera so that she could have her picture taken with Firth, just to prove that the encounter really happened.

  What does one of the world's sexiest women wear when she wants to get comfy? Well, Pamela Anderson favors Canadian-made hockey socks. She and boyfriend Kid Rock were in Vancouver recently on their way to Ladysmith, Anderson's Vancouver Island home town. She's building a house on land she bought from her grandmother but in the meantime, she and Rock hit Robson Street and came back to the hotel with seven bags brimming over with fancy duds, and yes - hockey socks.

- Valerie Gregory

his year could be another banner season for movie production in Nova Scotia. Word is quickly spreading that at least two major films featuring some of Hollywood's most stellar stars are eyeing the province as possible locations.

  Rumors are running rampant that Nicole Kidman could be heading to the seaside province along with co-star Anthony Hopkins to film The Human Stain. Based on a novel of the same name by Philip Roth, scouts for the project were in Nova Scotia looking at possible locations that would pass as a small New England college town. The word is the scouts were impressed with what they found. Although no definite decision has yet been made, industry watchers are keeping a close eye on this one as production is set to begin in the spring.

  Industry watchers are also keeping tabs on another project slated for production this year. Rumor has it that Richard Gere could be in the province with a project that would represent his directorial debut. Scouts have been to Nova Scotia several times looking for locations to shoot The Baron in the Trees, an 18th century drama about an eccentric man who lives in a tree. Nothing has been confirmed, but the streets are buzzing with anticipation.

- Vernon Oickle