JULIANNE MOORE was terrified about taking over the role of CLARICE STARLING from JODIE FOSTER - because she was such a hard act to follow. Foster, who picked up an Oscar for her role in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, turned down a reported $20 million (Ł12 million) paycheck to rejoin her co-star ANTHONY HOPKINS for the sequel HANNIBAL. And BOOGIE NIGHTS star Moore, who replaces Foster in the movie, admits it wasn't without some trepidation that she accepted the role. Moore says, "Comparisons are inevitable and of course there were some apprehensions about it because Jodie was really fantastic, she won an Academy Award for it, she's a great actress. "But it's a different movie, so that's the way I have to approach it." (LE/WN/NFA)

MELANIE GRIFFITH is determined to remove the social stigma attached to drug addiction - and to educate the public that addiction is actually a brain disease. The WORKING GIRL actress has just spent a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend at home with husband ANTONIO BANDERAS and their children, enjoying her new de-toxified lifestyle. But, vowing to attend a 12-step drug rehabilitation programme, Griffith has decided it's time the general public realised addiction is not a dirty word. She says, "One of the problems we have faced is that for many years addiction has been viewed as a character flaw, as a weakness, and as a choice by those of us who have become dependent on substances such as alcohol and prescription pain medications. "Years ago depression was viewed as a personal weakness, but then it was discovered that it was a disease in which there are low levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. "Similarly, addiction has been viewed as a personal weakness or character flaw, but research points to abnormalities in another neurotransmitter, dopamine, as one of the major reasons behind the cravings." She's also keen to point out that genetics and family history play a big role in addiction. She continues, "My doctor has explained to me the important role of genetic predisposition to addiction. Many people who become addicted can identify parents or relatives who have had drug problems." (SVD/WNWC/CPT)

Movie hunk DOUGRAY SCOTT will turn down the chance of becoming the next JAMES BOND - because he can't better fellow Scot SEAN CONNERY. The MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II actor is the number one choice to land the prestigious 007 role when PIERCE BROSNAN steps down after his next movie. Scott's agents at EDDIE MICHAEL ASSOCIATES in Los Angeles have been informally approached by UIP - the Bond film makers - about their client taking over as the secret agent for BOND 21. But the star says, "I'm very flattered that people consider me good enough to play James Bond, but I couldn't play that part any better than Sean did. "To be honest I am not convinced I am suave enough for the part, so I doubt I would do it. I wouldn't even play one of the baddies, because I've been there and done that already with Mission Impossible II." But Bond is the last thing on the 35-year-old star's mind. Chatting at the EVENING STANDARD THEATRE AWARDS in London yesterday (27NOV00), Dougray said, "Things are very hectic at the moment. "I am currently in the theatre with RAY WINSTONE in TO THE GREEN FIELDS BEYOND. "Next year I have a film called ENIGMA coming out and I have been cast as a man suffering from leukaemia in the sequel to THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, opposite JOHN MALKOVICH." (NB/WN/NFA)

BOLLYWOOD films may soon be filmed in the Brecon Beacons, at the seaside in Tenby or in the Millennium Stadium. The Film Commissions of North, Mid and South Wales are targeting Bombay - the home of movie-making in India - to advertise the benefits of using Welsh locations in their films. YVONNE CHEAL of the South Wales Film Commission has just spent a week in Bombay meeting producers and directors to find out how techniques differed on the sub-continent. She said, "I was on a fact-finding mission to find out how they shot films and what sort of locations they need. "It is very different there. The system is star-driven, rather than director-driven and shooting can take months or even years." Bollywood films centre around a core of famous actors and actresses, who include AMITABH BACHCHAN - named as the most famous person in the world in a Millennium poll - and AISHWARYA RAI, a former Miss India and Miss World. (PDD/WMA)

Africa saved actress GLENN CLOSE from growing up as a member of a cult.

The FATAL ATTRACTION stars' parents were devotees of conservative salvationist organisation MORAL RE-ARMAMENT when she was a child - but she's grateful her doctor father found his calling while working in The Congo.

Close, who spent time with her parents when she wasn't at boarding schools in Switzerland and Connecticut remembers the change she saw in her parents. She says, "My parents were very idealistic and I think they were susceptible at a certain in their lives to the allure of a group like that. "The appeal, as with any cult, was that, after the war, many young people felt traumatised. Looking back as an adult, I'm so proud of my parents, so in awe of them - they're great humanists, and they broke away.

"The catalyst was going to Africa, where my father saw what he was meant to do, which was to be a doctor and help people. He was the only surgeon in the Congo for four months during the mutiny. He stepped into his destiny there and he told the group to go jump in the lake." (KL/LADN/CPT)

DOWNEY JR shared several hours with a mystery woman prior to his latest arrest for alleged drug possession at the weekend.

Latest reports suggest security at the MERV GRIFFIN RESORT, in Palm Springs, California, where the actor was relaxing, alerted Downey Jr that police were on their way after a tip off by an anonymous caller. The actor was alone when the police arrived but a limousine was waiting to take himself and his lady friend to dinner. Police asked to search the room and discovered a prescription bottle with the label scratched out buried in a tissue box. When asked what the powder in the bottle was, the actor told police, "I think it's speed."

Police also found a WONDER WOMAN outfit and other fancy dress paraphernalia in his suite. The actor, currently a guest star in ALLY McBEAL, later asked police for a cigarette from his jail cell. SGT BRIAN ANDERSON of Palm Springs Police says, "We told him we can't bend the rules just because you're a movie star, but he said, 'I'm just a man with a drugs problem.'" The actor later asked for food and ate two reheated pieces of pizza and drank a can of Coca Cola. (KL/WNV/PDD)

Movie star CUBA GOODING JR's ability to belt out a song saved him from panicking during his two week diving course in Seattle Washington, to prepare for his role as the first black Navy diver, CARL BREASHER, in the upcoming film, MEN OF HONOR.

The JERRY MAGUIRE star was so nervous about what could happen to him if he made the wrong diving move, that he was told to sing a song to relax himself He explains, "They said, `Okay, we're gonna go down to the bottom of the pier,' and I never dived before.

"During the training of all the paperwork and learning about atmospheric pressure and embolisms that can happen if you hold your breath, this fear came over me. I mean everything they said, `If you do this you can die' so going down they said sing a song. And I'm singing my song and as I got closer to the bottom it got more erratic and crazy.

Everybody kind of laughed when I finally got back up to the top and I'm still singin'!" Then the challenge for Gooding, Jr. was to test his patience wearing the heavy metal Mark Five diving gear. He says, "The confinement was a little bit much and it took forty-five minutes to get into the suit and forty five minutes to get out. For the most part it was very restricting and confining. And then when you went underwater in this thing you just knew you weren't going anywhere in a hurry." (RXM/WN/PDD)

CYBIL SHEPHERD was forced to flee her Memphis home on Saturday when a blaze started in the attic.

The actress claims a bedroom fireplace caused the fire, which was quickly brought under control by firefighters. (KL/U/CPT)

A spotless new tail is going to be unleashed. After years of imprisonment, Cruella De Vil finally gets released on good behaviour. In her quest for another extravagant coat, good behaviour soon turns to bad, and she pursues the Dalmations once more...

In a bid to send her teenage son to college, Linda Bronco (Sean Young) and her poor white trash family decide to raise the funds by unconventional means…

Obsessed with their own infatuations, three men embark on a dramatic journey of freedom and moral dilemma…

Unbreakable is a riveting story shared by two men: David Dunne, the sole survivor of a devastating train wreck who finds himself miraculously unharmed, and Elijah Price, a stranger who proposes a bizarre explanation.