JP/24/GUESS

JP/24/GUESS

Mariana Renata picky after 'Janji Joni'

JAKARTA: Soap ad star Mariana Renata, who also starred in Janji
Joni (Joni's promise) has learned to become more selective in
taking roles offered to her.

"I turned some down. I don't think I have enough acting
knowledge. Besides, after reading some of the scripts offered to
me, the roles did not suit me," said Mariana who played Angeliqe
in Janji Joni.

But Mariana, who was born on Dec. 31, will appear in the first
episode of a 14-episode television drama, Dunia Tanpa Koma (A
world without a comma), produced by Sinemart.

"I'm playing the character in this drama as if it were me,"
said the student of Sorbonne University, Paris.

"If a challenging role were offered me, I'd take an acting
class," she quipped.

Mariana will immediately fly to Paris, once the shooting of
the television drama is completed, to finish her fourth year of
studies.

"My parents have given me the freedom to work like this but I
have to finish my studies too," she said. -- JP

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US-People-Shatner
William Shatner examined after back complaint
JP/24/GUESS

Shatner examined after back complaint

LOS ANGELES: Boston Legal star William Shatner was taken to a
hospital from the set of the ABC series after complaining of
lower back pain, a spokeswoman said.

Shatner, 74, had completed filming Tuesday at the Manhattan
Beach studio when the problem occurred, series publicist Stacey
Luchs said.

He was being checked out at a nearby hospital and was expected
to return to work on Wednesday, Luchs said.

The actor, who played Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek
series, received an Emmy Award last month for his portrayal of
attorney Denny Crane on the ABC series.

It was his second Emmy for playing the character, who was
first introduced on ABC's The Practice.

GetAP 1.00 -- OCT 19, 2005 08:50:15

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US-People-Madonna
Madonna lectures students at New York's Hunter College
JP/24/GUESS

Madonna lectures students at New York's Hunter College By DAVID
BAUDER= AP Television Writer=

Madonna appears at NY's Hunter College

NEW YORK: The hulking security guards standing at the side of a
Hunter College lecture hall offered a big hint that the course's
usual professor might be taking the afternoon off.

When the lights came up and Madonna walked in, that confirmed
it. The former Material Girl surprised students at a film course
who had just seen an advance screening of her tour documentary,
I'm Going to Tell You a Secret.

Her appearance was filmed for the mtvU network series Stand
In, where celebrities such as Marilyn Manson, Bill Gates, Shimon
Peres, Melissa Etheridge and Kanye West have appeared as guest
lecturers at colleges.

Many of the students were about the age Madonna was when she
moved from Michigan to New York, determined to make it first as a
dancer, then as a singer.

"I wanted to be different," she said Tuesday. "I wanted to be
somebody."

Asked by a student what drove her to succeed, the 47-year-old
pop star said, "It's one of those things you can't really answer.
You're either hungry and determined to make it, or you're not. I
know a lot of people who, when they got rejected, they accepted
what people said about them. I never did that."

Madonna, who was raised a Roman Catholic, said she was led
toward Jewish mysticism following a spiritual quest that began
when she had children.

"Being a celebrity, you can get very caught up and seduced
into believing and thinking that what you do is the most
important thing in the world and get very attached to material
things," she said. "I'm guilty of that and I'm still guilty of
that, but hopefully I'm becoming less attached."

When she studied Kabbalah, it was the first time she felt
encouraged to ask questions.

"Kabbalah may not be the best thing for everybody," she said.
"It has worked for me."

The wife of British filmmaker Guy Ritchie offered a piece of
personal advice: "The best thing to do is find one person in your
life and try to love them unconditionally. If you've accomplished
that, you've accomplished a lot."

GetAP 1.00 -- OCT 19, 2005 05:51:01

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Britain-Beckhams
David and Victoria Beckham seek libel damages over claims their
JP/24/GUESS

David and Victoria Beckham seek libel damages over claims their
marriage is unhappy[

Beckhams may sue over marriage claims

LONDON: Soccer star David Beckham and his wife, former Spice Girl
Victoria are taking legal action against a newspaper that claimed
their "happy marriage" is a sham.

The pair are seeking libel damages against the News of the
World newspaper over an article which carried the headline: "Posh
and Becks on the Rocks." The case will be heard before a judge
and jury at London's Law Courts in December.

During a pretrial hearing on Monday the couple's lawyer, Hugh
Tomlinson, said the Beckhams would argue that they had been
defamed by the newspaper and there was no truth in the story that
alleged that the pair were maintaining a false image of a happy
marriage to protect their financial interests.

Richard Spearman, for News Group Newspapers -- publishers of
the News of the World, said the article suggested that because
the Beckhams' "substantial fortunes depend upon their public
perception, the claimants have been cynically and hypocritically
trying, for financial reasons, to convince the public that they
continue to enjoy a happy marriage."

Spearman said the defense would argue that that suggestion was
true and would also question the state of the celebrity marriage.
"Is it unhappy, rocked by rows and tensions because of David
Beckham's infidelity or is it happy? We say unhappy," Spearman
said.

Tomlinson, for the Beckhams, said the couple promoted
themselves as a happily married couple because they were.

The trial starts on Dec. 5 and is expected to take two weeks.
It is not the first time that David Beckham, the England and Real
Madrid soccer star whose income is the highest in world soccer,
has pursued libel action against Britain's tabloid media.

In August, Beckham accepted damages from tabloid The People
for an article that falsely accused him of making hate calls to a
former nanny.

GetAP 1.00 -- OCT 18, 2005 18:22:43