Who's in

Hudson a busy bee

Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson (pictured) has signed to star in a movie adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's acclaimed 2003 novel The Secret Life of Bees, entertainment industry press reported.

Hudson, who won an Oscar earlier this year for Dreamgirls, will play the friend of the film's central character, a 14-year-old girl who runs away from her abusive father and is taken in by a trio of bee-keeping sisters, Daily Variety reported.

Variety reported that child prodigy Dakota Fanning was in talks with studio Fox Searchlight to play the role of the runaway.

Queen Latifah and British actress Sophie Okonedo, nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 for Hotel Rwanda will play two of the sisters, while singer-actress Alicia Keys was in talks to play the third.

Filming is to begin next month in North Carolina, and will be released next year, Variety reported.

Alba expects wedding

Jessica Alba (pictured) is expecting a baby but don't expect the actress to look like it if she gets married!

Us Weekly reports in its new issue that Alba, 26, and boyfriend Cash Warren, 28, who split July 22 only to reunite in late August, currently don't have plans for a wedding. In fact, a source tells Us, "She doesn't want to be pregnant in a dress!"

But a wedding was on Alba's to-do list just before she broke up with Warren. "She wanted to get married but Cash wasn't ready," says a source.

Nuptials or not, Alba's family is looking forward to her having a baby. "We're all thrilled for them," Alba's brother Josh tells Us.

Holmes' top gun

Katie Holmes (pictured left) says marriage to Tom Cruise hasn't changed her.

"With everything that's happened, I still feel the same," she tells Parade magazine in its December issue. "I'm really happy being a mom, being a wife."

The 29-year-old Dawson's Creek alum has seen her profile rise since Cruise publicly declared his love for her on The Oprah Winfrey Show in May 2005.

Holmes says she understands the curiosity about her life with Cruise, 45, an Oscar nominee for his roles in Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia.

"I appreciate the man that I'm with and my family and my work. I feel very lucky to be able to say that. I mean, what we do in a week is extraordinary," she says.

"I have done things I never thought I would do, like climbing mountains and flying in a P-51 (a World War II fighter)," says Holmes. "That's what is so inspiring about being with him - constant thrills and joy."

Holmes and Cruise were married in November last year, seven months after the birth of their daughter, Suri, who tags along on their travels.

Agencies

(China Daily 12/26/2007 page18)