Stunt nose not necessary

New York — Nicole Kidman has been putting her nose through some grueling workouts lately, in her quest to avoid using a stunt schnoz for her role in “Bewitched,” reports the New York Daily News.

She’ll play nose-twitching housewitch Samantha Stephens, the character made famous by the late Elizabeth Montgomery, in the movie version of the classic sitcom.

“I haven’t gotten the nose down yet, but I’m determined that I’ll do my own nose twitching, and they won’t have to use special effects,” said Kidman, who’ll probably costar with Mike Myers as Darren.

‘Bad boy’ graceful under pressure

New York — His dinner companion Rande Gerber turned beet red, but George Clooney played it cool earlier this month at a Manhattan restaurant when a Russian woman reminded him of their brief tryst, reports The New York Post.

Clooney, Gerber and pals were chowing down at the crowded restaurant when the woman approached and announced in a throaty voice, “Remember me, George? We spent four hours together.”

“Sure, baby, sure,” Clooney replied.

“Where was it then?” she quizzed.

“Um, New York,” Clooney replied — to which she shook her head and clucked, “You’re a very bad boy.”

As diners nearby tried not to burst out laughing, Clooney placated the interloper and deflected her attempts to arrange another rendezvous.

Treat grandma with respect

Pomona, Calif. — Rapper and producer Master P was ordered to pay $105,000 in punitive damages to a grandmother whose voice was secretly recorded and used to introduce a cut on artist Magic’s album “Sky’s the Limit.”

Superior Court Judge R. Bruce Minto said Thursday that Geneva Burger, 80, of Pomona should receive the money from Master P, whose real name is Percy Miller, because Burger suffered embarrassment and anxiety when she heard her voice on a “crude gangsta rap CD.”

Burger asked a friend of her grandson during a 1997 phone call, “When people get hooked on pot, can they get sick if they don’t get it?” Burger didn’t know the phone call was taped and distributed.

Comedian’s heart at ground zero

Branson, Mo. — Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff, best known for regaling crowds with his observations of life in the United States, has painted a mural that hangs at ground zero in New York.

It depicts the landscape forever changed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. But the Statue of Liberty stands in the foreground, and the World Trade Center is replaced by a heart-shaped American flag. Below it is the message: “The human spirit is not measured by the size of the act, but by the size of the heart.”

New York was Smirnoff’s first home in 1977 when he arrived in the United States.

“That landscape was very familiar and deeply embedded in my psyche and my soul because it was a very emotional moment of my life when I was there in New York,” he said.