The actress plays a newspaper reporter not — repeat not, director Rod Lurie winks — based on Judith Miller in next week's new thriller, "Nothing But the Truth." Beckinsale and Miller did meet for lunch, though, after which Miller said, "She’s very talented, obviously, in addition to being gorgeous." Anyway, to prepare for the role Beckinsale says she shadowed two reporters for the Los Angeles Times, and in this weekend's New York Times says she "detected uncomfortable similarities between her job and theirs."

"There’s an isolation," she said. "You have to have a bag ready. You have to have understanding friends and family. Trying to get a story on the front page is so similar to getting a movie made."

She's been repeating similar sentiments in the publicity sit-downs for the movie. Noted: there's a 25-year age difference between Miller and Beckinsale.

Also in today's NYT: Tom Cruise is asked by Lynn Hirschberg if he recalls his first trip to Los Angeles. Turns out he does:

I met Sean Penn while we were shooting ‘‘Taps,’’ and afterward he said, ‘‘You have to come to L.A.’’ So I flew out, and Penn picked me up at the airport and drove me around L.A. We went to Nicholson’s house. And Brando’s. And Dustin Hoffman’s. We didn’t go in, but we thought, What do you think those guys are doing right now?’