People talk 082702

Hall celebrates wedding by acting with new brideNEW YORK -- "Six Feet Under" star Michael C. Hall says he thinks of it as a great wedding present to appear on Broadway with his wife in "Chicago."

"We'd never worked together before, and we've been together for over five years now. It's great," he said in an interview with Newsday. "I think the most striking thing about it is that it feels perfectly natural."

Amy Spanger plays Roxie Hart opposite Hall's Billy. The couple married in May.

The two met at an audition for the first national tour of "Rent." She got the job and he didn't.

"I saw her again here in midtown and struck up a conversation, so this is really where we met, when we were both relatively struggling actors," Hall said.

Lyonne pleads guilty to drunken driving MIAMI -- Actress Natasha Lyonne pleaded guilty Monday to a drunken driving charge from a Miami Beach crash last year.

Under the plea agreement, the 23-year-old "American Pie" co-star will have her driver's license suspended for six months. She also was fined $729, sentenced to six months probation and 50 hours of community service, and her car will be impounded for 10 days.

Lyonne also must take part in a victim-impact panel conducted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Miami Beach Police arrested Lyonne last August after she crashed her rental car while rounding a curve around 2 a.m. She and a passenger, actor Adam Goldberg, weren't injured.

The actress was handcuffed and spent eight hours in the county jail before being released on $2,000 bond.

Lyonne, a Manhattan resident who used to live in Miami, was charged with careless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence.

Who wants to act with Ben and J.Lo?NEW YORK -- Want to be in a movie with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez? Kevin Smith wants to give you a chance.

The writer-director is recruiting extras for his upcoming movie "Jersey Girl" through his View Askew Web site. He held a similar open casting call for some of his previous movies, including "Chasing Amy," "Dogma" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."

"Now, mind you, this isn't for speaking parts; all of those are already taken," the Web site says. "But that doesn't mean you still can't be a part of the Movie Magic (actual Movie Magic not guaranteed) as an Extra!"

Aspiring extras must submit a photo, contact information and statistics (age, gender, height and weight) by Friday.

"Jersey Girl," co-starring Liv Tyler and George Carlin, is scheduled for release next year.

Madonna and husband remake 1974 romanceNEW YORK -- Guy Ritchie and Madonna got the idea to remake the 1974 Italian romance "Swept Away" from the Internet movie they made together last year for BMW.

Ritchie directed his wife in a short in which she plays a petulant rock star who goes on a bumpy ride with a chauffeur played by Clive Owen. "Swept Away" is about a wealthy woman stranded on an island who fights with, then falls for, a communist sailor.

"Madonna saw the original version of 'Swept Away' first, like 20 years ago. And then we made the BMW commercial. Someone saw that and said, 'Oh, this reminds me of "Swept Away."' So one night a friend played it and I wasn't paying much attention," Ritchie told Jane magazine for its October issue. "And then I got hooked the second they got in the dinghy and the engine broke down. I could see what was going to happen.

"By the time the film had finished, I said, 'Someone's got to remake this movie.' I liked the edge of it. The passion," Ritchie said. "And Madonna said, 'Why don't you remake it?' I said, 'Well, why don't you be in it?' She went, 'All right,' and that was that."

Ritchie's version of "Swept Away," co-starring Adriano Giannini, is scheduled to open Oct. 11.

Soul singer tries to reclaim legacy

LOS ANGELES -- Soul singer Solomon Burke says he sees his new album and live shows as a bid to reclaim his legacy.

Burke once was considered one of soul's greatest artists. But he hasn't had a Top 40 hit in nearly four decades, and has had little presence lately as a touring artist.

"I feel like a man who is finally coming out of exile," he told the Los Angeles Times. "Now, they just need to give me all the money."

On Burke's new album, "Don't Give Up on Me," he performs songs written for him or given to him by admirers, including Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison and Tom Waits.

Burke, who was inducted last year into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, said his career has suffered in part because he stood up to people who tried to exploit artists.

He organized singers including Ben E. King into a group called the Soul Clan that recorded together and demanded fair treatment.

"Organizing the artists wasn't something that was popular," he said. "But I didn't think we were being treated right. It's the same thing some recording artists are doing today."

Chicks' new single causes a stir

NEW YORK -- The Dixie Chicks' new single takes some digs at the same radio stations they hope will play it -- but band members say they weren't looking for controversy.

Written by Nashville singer-songwriter Darrell Scott, "Long Time Gone," slams country playlists for ignoring musical legends in favor of songs with no soul.

"They sound tired but they don't sound Haggard," goes one line. "They got money but they don't got Cash."

Fiddle player Martie Maguire says the band wasn't trying to make "a political statement" with "Long Time Gone," or past releases, including their song about a woman who kills her abusive husband.

"We've had a lot of controversy in our career, and it's never been intentional," she told The New York Times. "We didn't release 'Goodbye Earl,' to get back at wife-beaters. We're more lighthearted than that. Everyone has their own opinion about what should be on the radio, and I think there's room for all different people."

-- From wire reports