People: May 15, 2006

FIRST LOOK

NO, THIS IS NOT DANCING WITH THE STARS

SIENNA MILLER wasn't sure whether to be offended when STEVE BUSCEMI asked her to star in Interview. "I play a woman in the public eye who's a s_____ actress," says Miller. "She's had a boob job. She's just this plastic blond." Despite being known principally for her choppy romance with Jude Law, Miller is actually more of an organic-cotton blond, and the film is weighty material. Interview is one of three movies by Dutch director Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by Muslim extremists in 2004, that are being remade in English. Buscemi, who's directing, tried to shoot as Van Gogh did, in just nine days. He also plays a grizzled war reporter who resents having to interview an actress. "They end up having some intimate, father-daughtery, lovery moments," says Miller. Lovery? With Miller? Buscemi must have had to work hard at that.

WHAT I LEARNED AT THE MUSEUM ...

Forget lunch at the Ivy. The best place to spy celebs whiling away the afternoon in Los Angeles this spring has been the "Ashes and Snow" exhibit on the Santa Monica Pier. Teri Hatcher, Daryl Hannah and Sidney Poitier all took in artist Gregory Colbert's sepia-toned photos and videos of humans communing with animals. So did STEVEN SPIELBERG and his wife Kate Capshaw. The director, Colbert says, "grilled me for about a half an hour about how I got certain shots. He told me David Lean would have done this and John Ford would have done that." But when Colbert, who spent 14 years on the project, had no advice except to be really patient, Spielberg was "a little disappointed." Still, it's nice to know that after four Oscars and billions at the box office, the fella likes to bone up on his craft.

BAKE SALES ARE SO OLD SCHOOL

Need a new science lab? Find an A lister to pay for your microscopes. In some private New York City and Los Angeles schools, the celebrity parent, friend or graduate is replacing the cupcake as the ultimate fund-raising weapon

JAMES GANDOLFINI For N.Y.C.'s Village Community School's auction, the benevolent boss gave the shirt he was shot in on The Sopranos.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER N.Y.C.'s City and Country School offered lunch for four with Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell and her TV alter ego.

MARIO BATALI Dinner for 10 cooked by the chef went for $50,000 at an auction benefiting Little Red Schoolhouse in N.Y.C.

JACK BLACK The alum of L.A.'s Crossroads School conducted student musicians at a fund raiser. The class clown is redeemed.

Q&A RICHARD DREYFUSS

In Poseidon, Richard Dreyfuss tries to flee a sinking ship. In real life, he's trying to right America's course. Jaws, Hello Down There, Poseidon--what's it like to be the Laurence Olivier of underwater acting? Oh, not hard. I just hold my breath and think of Shakespeare.

You took a trip on the Queen Mary 2 just before filming. Did you find yourself thinking, What would I do if this ship went down? That's what art has been doing for thousands of years, allowing people to vicariously drown, get eaten. Me? I would probably hold babies in front of me and strangle people and claw their flesh to get out.