‘Posse’ is all about friendship

New York Ashley Judd is just one of the girls sort of.

Judd, who has had tough-girl roles in “Double Jeopardy” and “Kiss the Girls,” said she often talked with her own posse of “girls” about the meaning of friendship.

That’s why, Judd said, she has enjoyed her role as Vivi Walker in “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” a movie adaptation of Rebecca Wells’ novel. Judd plays a supremely flawed character in the movie, but said she was drawn to the book because of its ideas about strong female friendships.

Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn and Maggie Smith also star in “Divine Secrets,” which opens June 7.

Advice for the graduates

Waltham, Mass. Ted Koppel told students at Brandeis University that talking to their elders may help them avoid repeating the mistakes of previous generations.

“It is your turn in the barrel,” Koppel, host of ABC’s “Nightline,” told 815 graduating seniors during the commencement ceremony Sunday.

He said it was their chance “to break new ground, or at the very least, to remedy some of the dreadful mistakes that we committed in our own misbegotten efforts to remake the cesspool we inherited.”

Koppel said society was too obsessed with youth and advised students to learn from older generations.

“You can consult one another and fall into the same traps we did; or you can talk to us,” he said.

Oscar winner’s class act

North Little Rock, Ark. Mary Steenburgen went back to the high school she attended to teach drama workshops in the memory of a student killed in a traffic accident.

In April, the actress taught a pair of acting sessions to high school drama students from across Arkansas in the memory of Thea Leopoulos, who died a year ago.

Steenburgen said that while she couldn’t experience the loss felt by the student’s parents, she offered to help Thea’s parents in any way. Their choice was for her to teach the classes to help drama students decide whether professional acting was the right career choice.

Steenburgen won a best-supporting actress Oscar for 1980’s “Melvin and Howard.”

Maui Film Festival makes his day

Wailea, Hawaii Actor Clint Eastwood will be honored during the Maui Film Festival next month.

The part-time Maui resident will receive the festival’s Silversword Award at a June 14 reception.

The award is being presented to Eastwood “to honor and celebrate his creative contributions to the art and soul of filmmaking,” said festival founder and director Barry Rivers.

The reception will include the showing of clips from Eastwood’s extensive film career, illustrating “his body of work as producer, actor, director and composer,” Rivers said.