Colin Farrell causes furor
with underage love scene

As if Colin Farrell’s love scene with a male actor in "Alexander" didn’t cause him enough grief, now he’s filmed one with an underage girl. But looking to avoid the sort of furor that erupted over Nicole Kidman’s scenes with a young actor in “Birth,”  the filmmakers reportedly have re-shot the scenes, toning them down.

Colin Farrell stars as American colonist John Smith in “The New World,” and 14-year-old Q’Orianka Kilcher plays Pocahontas. The flick is said to be slavish to period detail and the love scene between the two was “in good taste,” according to a defender, but when studio lawyers for the film saw an early cut, according to a report, “they nearly had a heart attack.”

“Farrell was told to get romantic and sensual but knew there was a certain amount of kissing involved,” a source told the British mag The People. “He played the scene brilliantly and he really put Q’Orianka at her ease. But when the lawyers saw the finished product with Colin and Q’Orianka rolling around on the ground kissing they just flipped out.” The lawyers were concerned about child-pornography laws, and a tamer version of the scene was reportedly re-shot.

“This is the first time I’ve heard of this,” a New Line spokesman told The Scoop. “To my knowledge, there is no scene of this nature in the picture.”

The spy who loved Nic

Fred Prouser / Reuters

Someone has been bugging Nicole Kidman. And we don’t mean they’ve been annoying her. The “Birth” star was in the U.S. when a listening device was discovered planted at her mansion in Sydney, Australia.

“We have conclusive evidence that it was planted and this has been captured on video,” Noel McMaster, who heads up Kidman’s personal security team, told Courier Mail of Queensland, Australia. He wouldn’t say whether the snooper was a member of the media, an obsessed fan, or someone Kidman knows personally.

The high-tech eavesdropper was reportedly captured on videotape, and Kidman’s people are working with local authority to nail him.

Kidman’s reps couldn’t be reached for comment.

Notes from all over

Patrick Riviere / Getty Images

Russell Crowe is defending himself against reports that he couldn’t construct a baby carriage from Ikea because “the key thingy was impossible to use.” After the Sydney Daily Telegraph needled Crowe for the comment, the “Gladiator” star e-mailed the paper: “Give me a break. I am an antipodean male who runs 698 head of cattle. I do know the business end of a screwdriver. [The real story] was that one long screw was missing, so I modified the cot with a pocket knife to counter-sink a smaller screw to do the same job.  . . . This has been run through the bull[bleep] machine all over the world. One story had me and 12 mates having to solve the problem.”   . . . Madonna’s hubby Guy Ritchie has become so devoted to the teachings of Kabbalah that he has a rabbi from the Centre attend business meetings with him. . . . Those fun fellas from “Ocean’s Twelve” were real kidders at the Tokyo press conference promoting the film. Asked about his co-stars’ good qualities, Matt Damon quipped, “Brad’s got a really good butt.” Brad Pitt shot back, “And what you notice about Matt when you work with him that he always smells nice.”

Jeannette Walls Delivers the Scoop Mondays through Thursdays on MSNBC.com

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