People talk 9/17/03

Actress' martial art skills draw attention

NEW YORK -- Lucy Liu practices kali-eskrima-silat, a martial art involving sticks and knives. And while she's shown off her skills in the "Charlie's Angels" movies and "Shanghai Noon," she's never had to use them to defend herself in real life.

"Thank God, no, but it has made me more aggressive," the 5-foot-3-inch actress told Jane magazine for its October issue.

"If somebody is confrontational or rude, it makes me more confident. It's like, 'No, you don't treat somebody that way.' It gives you an inner strength and that's what martial arts should be; it should come from inside."

After seeing Liu in action, Quentin Tarantino wrote a character for her in his upcoming martial-arts film, the two-part "Kill Bill."

"Quentin has an incredible knowledge of cinema," the 34-year-old actress said. "And to have somebody like that come up to you and tell you, 'Hey, I wrote this role for you. What do you think?' It makes you feel like you've done something right."

"Kill Bill Vol. 1," starring Uma Thurman and David Carradine, opens Oct. 10. The second half is scheduled for release in February.

'Survivor' contestants hoping for comeback

NEW YORK -- Being a "Survivor" once doesn't mean a little lobbying is beneath you.

Host Jeff Probst says he's been getting tapes from past contestants on the CBS reality show who hope to compete again. Casting for the alumni edition of "Survivor" is happening soon and the series will air early next year.

Some of the game's indelible personalities may be in for a surprise, Probst said.

"The notion of 'just because you won entitles you to a shot' is, from my point of view, baloney," he said.

Meanwhile, the seventh edition of the show, from Pearl Islands, debuts at 7 p.m. Thursday.

It features the biggest whopper of a lie told by a "Survivor" contestant and a near drowning.

P. Diddy's love of cigars results in legal trouble

MIAMI -- Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' love of cigars has put him in a cloud of legal trouble.

A boutique cigar maker claims a cameraman trespassed at its Miami factory and filmed its "secret process" in June, and the footage wound up in Combs' music video for the movie "Bad Boys II," starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

The lawsuit, which Moore & Bode Cigars filed earlier this month in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, seeks at least $15,000 in damages from the rapper-producer, Bad Boy Entertainment Inc. and the unknown camera operator.