People: May 22, 2006

Q&A WILLIAM HURT Hurt next appears in the indie film The King, playing a well-to-do Christian minister in Texas whose life takes a sudden turn toward the unholy.

It's safe to say this movie isn't an easy, feel-good experience. I'm more relieved by a film that speaks truth than an entertaining film that lies to me completely. Entertainment used to mean "entertain an idea." Now it means evade your life.

But there's value in going to see a movie that lets you escape. But the problem is that some of those escapes are dangerous and some of those are wonderful. You have to be careful about which Pied Piper you follow.

You're often labeled the "actor's actor." That would be too heavy for me to carry. I'm just trying to put one foot in front of the other here.

Do you want to get behind the camera? I will if they let me. But I want some things. I want more preparation, for instance, for actors. I want the crew to share in the take. But I've proposed that a few times, and they don't want to get that on paper.

Did you ever think about doing anything else? I was looking up epidemiologist the other day. And I thought that might have been a great career. It involves so many different skills, and I love that.

Are you going to narrate another book on tape? I just finished, actually, Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. This particular one didn't go as well as the editor hoped, I'm sure, because I was very phlegmy. I had an allergy for three whole days. So the poor editor is going to have to edit out three or four hours of [throat clearing].

You're the stepgrandson of Henry Luce, the cofounder of this magazine. That's true. In fact, I knew him well. Henry III was my stepfather. My mom [Claire McGill] married Hank when I was 10. It was really a head-whipper. It was very confusing for me to move from 3 1/2 rooms on the border of Spanish Harlem to a 20-room duplex on Madison Avenue.

MR. DAUGHTRY, MEET THE DOOR

Gas prices are high, the Fed raised interest rates again, but what got Americans really outraged last week was the departure of rocker CHRIS DAUGHTRY, 26, from the fifth season of American Idol. Fans were infuriated, threatening to boycott the show and demanding a vote recount. Judges were dumbfounded. And Daughtry was the most shocked of all, saying that his ouster "doesn't make sense logically." Although he didn't make the cut on Idol, Daughtry has already been fielding job offers, including the front-man gig for the band Fuel. Meanwhile, bald guys lost their best hope for a macho sex symbol since Vin Diesel. Has anyone checked the Hair Club for Men's phone records?

HEY, WAIT, ISN'T THAT MY LINE?

If people will watch a dozen shows about cops, they'll watch two about TV writers, right? NBC has picked up Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a drama by AARON SORKIN (of West Wing fame) about backstage goings-on at a late-night sketch-comedy show, and looks likely to pick up Saturday Night Live star TINA FEY'S as-yet-unnamed sitcom about backstage goings-on at a late-night sketch-comedy show. Now all we need is a show about backstage goings-on when two shows about late-night sketch-comedy shows make it on the air.

WHO KNEW? GEEKS ♥ PARIS TOO