Don't blame Dustin Hoffman if he's acting a little funny these days. He's pretty sure he's going through male menopause.
Now that he's a ripe 65 and certain hormones are leveling off a bit, Hoffman tells the Toronto Sun, he no longer feels that he's "chained to a maniac."
"I was talking about testosterone," the veteran actor explains. "I know what it is for men and I know what it has been for me and, unfortunately, from the time of puberty, it so controls you. There is no defense against it."
Don't get him wrong, he says. "It's not just sex." He suspects it has more to do with ambition, power and, yes, a certain "need to prove your manhood, your virility."
But now, he says, he's more interested in flowers and birds than in the birds and bees.
"Whether it's like male menopause or whatever it's called, there is a climate change inside you," he explains. "It has happened to me. It is as if you are being directed by a higher power. Why do I have a need to cook now? Why do I have a need to go outside and really stare at flowers? Why do I have a desire to garden?"
Why indeed?
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The joys of playing doctor
"I've spent now a third of my life on this show, and each year I've found myself moving up the call sheet. Now I'm finding myself at No. 1 -- it's really very exciting."
-- "ER" star Noah Wyle on whether he misses his dear, departed costars George Clooney, Anthony Edwards and Eriq LaSalle, to the Associated Press.
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When wrinkly rockers attack
Keith Richards is apparently still not over that whole Mick Jagger knighthood thing.
"After being abused by Her Majesty's government for so many years ... I found it weird that he'd want to take a badge," Richards gripes in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone. "These are the guys who tried to put us in jail in the Sixties. I thought it would have been the smarter move to say thanks, but no thanks."
And it's not only his fellow Rolling Stoner's ethics and smarts Richards is questioning. He's got a few doubts about Jagger's talent these days as well.
According to Richards, Jagger's solo albums are "wimpy songs, wimpy performances, bad recording."
Way to paint it black, Keith.
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Juicy bits
Justin Timberlake would like us to know his heart's 'N the right place. In the wake of the death of one of his fans, who was killed by a drunken driver as she waited for Timberlake outside a radio station where he was being interviewed, the 'N Sync-er has decided to record a public service announcement condemning drunken driving. I suppose it's the least he can do ...
Meanwhile, Timberlake's band mate Lance Bass is taking his space obsession just one step further. He's agreed to appear in a new musical film called ... "Nose Pickers from Outer Space." Bass will star as a member of an alien race called the Nose Pickers, natch. And no, we really don't want to know what his qualifications are.
Meet the cops: Things are moving along on the movie version of "Starsky and Hutch," which will begin filming in February. Owen Wilson has been cast as Hutch (the blond one) opposite Ben Stiller, who will play Starsky (the dark one). No word yet on who'll play Huggy Bear.
Do you think he saw it coming? "Crossing Over" psychic guy John Edward and his wife have announced the birth of their baby son, Justin Edward, who was born on Wednesday. If they had really wanted to impress us, they would have announced it on Tuesday.
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