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

;AP; ANPA ..r.. 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

;AP; ANPA ..r.. 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

;AP; ANPA ..r.. 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