People talk 4/22/03

'Friends' cast designs chairs for charity

NEW YORK -- The characters on NBC's "Friends" love their recliners -- and now, the actors who play them have designed their own chairs for charity.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer created recliners for La-Z-Boy, which will be auctioned off on eBay to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Schwimmer's looks like a beach ball made of multicolored leather. Perry's is covered in blue velvet, with a swivel tray, a cup holder and storage for a remote control.

Cox's recliner, in black leather with bent wood sides, was inspired by the famous Eames lounger. Kudrow's is covered in brown leather and has a cream-colored argyle pattern.

The chairs will be auctioned online from May 12-22. Only one of each chair will be available.

'Chicago' actress now bound for New York

NEW YORK -- Renee Zellweger starred in the musical "Chicago," but lately she's been in a New York state of mind.

The actress, who received an Oscar nomination for playing murderess Roxie Hart in this year's best-picture winner, is moving to the East Coast from her seven-bedroom estate in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles. She'll split her time between an apartment in New York City and a house in the Hamptons.

"Los Angeles has been really, really good to me," Zellweger, a native of Katy, Texas, told InStyle magazine for its May issue. "It's just not necessarily good for me now. More and more, my work has been taking me to Europe and New York, and most of my really dear friends live on the East Coast.

"I want to be in a place that's truly diversified," added the actress, who turns 34 this week.

"I want to go to a literary party. I want to be able to go for a run without having to get in my car."

Hoffman doesn't mind playing smaller roles

NEW YORK -- Dustin Hoffman doesn't mind playing supporting roles in his latest films.

"It's so freeing," Hoffman said. "They don't write leads for a guy 65 years old. Suddenly, you're at the point where you've gone full circle. I'm meeting these younger guys. They're letting me be a part of their great gift."

Hoffman only has two scenes in "Confidence," starring Edward Burns and Rachel Weisz. The movie opens Friday.

He leaves the leads to John Cusack in the upcoming John Grisham thriller "The Runaway Jury," and to Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet in the biographical drama "J.M. Barrie's Neverland."

McCartney urges ban of cluster bombs

LONDON -- Paul McCartney is calling for a ban on cluster bombs because of the harm they cause to civilians.

"It would be great to outlaw these cowardly weapons," the former Beatle told British Broadcasting Corp. radio on Monday.

"What happens after the war finishes is that it's the civilians -- mainly women and children -- who get blown up."

Cluster munitions dropped by U.S. and British aircraft in Iraq contain hundreds of small "bomblets" which sometimes fail to explode until years later. Anti-landmine campaigners -- including McCartney's wife, Heather Mills -- say children are particularly at risk because they can mistake the bomblets for toys.

McCartney's call for the ban came as he and other stars released an album to raise money for Iraqi children affected by the war.

David Bowie, George Michael, Moby and former pop star Cat Stevens were among the other artists performing on the album "Hope," which was released Monday.

Stevens, a convert to Islam who now uses the name Yusuf Islam, recorded his first song in 25 years to help the charity War Child, which helps children in war torn countries. He rerecorded his 1971 hit "Peace Train."

-- From wire reports