Phoenix to ‘Walk the Line’ in plastic boots

Plus: NYU loses Mary-Kate, but gains another tween star

20th Century Fox

Joaquin Phoenix is sticking up for the animals, even in his role as Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line."

By Jeannette Walls

msnbc.com

updated 2:52 a.m. ET Oct. 3, 2005

When Joaquin Phoenix walks the line in a Johnny Cash biopic, it will be in plastic cowboy boots.

The moody actor is a staunch animal-rights supporter, and drove the wardrobe folks a little batty by insisting on wearing an entirely “cruelty-free” wardrobe, says a source.

“He refused to wear anything made of leather,” says a source. “So even Johnny Cash’s signature cowboy boots had to be approved by PETA.”

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Student-body soap opera
NYU wins some and loses some.

Mary-Kate Olsen just dropped out of the University in downtown Manhattan, but a source says another hot tweener, “What I Like About You” Amanda Bynes, has applied to go there.

“She wants a college education,” says a source, who adds, “I don’t know how that will affect her acting career, but she definitely wants to do it.”

Notes from all over
Fran Drescher says she’s ready to date men her own age. The star’s older-woman-younger-man sitcom “Living With Fran” was inspired by her own romance with a man sixteen years her junior, but that relationship has ended, and so has Drescher’s infatuation with young hotties. . . . Justin Timberlake is telling people he prefers acting over singing. The boy bander appears in the upcoming flick “Edison.” . . . Cameron Diaz, meanwhile, refused to answer questions about her sweetie Timberlake, even if they’re about acting. At a press junket for “In Her Shoes,” the star was asked if she offered any acting advice to Timberlake. “Do you have to ask?” she grinned. “Really? Do I have to answer that? I don’t.”

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