Olivia Wilde, looking smoother than butter, is in the new movie “Butter.” She says:
“I play Brooke, a sardonic stripper with a heart of gold. It’s set in Iowa, but we, of course, filmed in Louisiana. Shreveport.
“This outrageous comedy was on my list for years. I was obsessed with it. Willing to fight for the role. But I couldn’t get it going on my own. Then along came Jennifer Garner, who has a production company and — voilà! — it got made.
“In one scene, I arrive at the house of the character played by Ty Burrell to get money he owes me. I’m threatening him at the door. He’s in a rage trying to get me away. His wife’s trying to find out who’s there, and he goes back to this very angry wife, who’s played by Jennifer Garner.
“It’s sort of a political diatribe, picking on the Tea Party a little, but no characters like Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann. It really makes fun of the delicious extremism in our country.
“And then, of course, on top of the whole thing, naturally, there’s a butter contest.”
Yeah, well, naturally. Speaking of all things natural, how does Olivia care for her buttery creamy looks?
“I’m not good in terms of self care or maintenance. I’m a workaholic. And I love fun. I go once in a while to a gym to take care of myself, but only out of guilt and shame.
“And I stare at smart Jennifer, who has three children and shepherded this project, and I’d follow her around in her arms if she’d let me.”
The movie opens Friday. But, then, most every single movie ever made opens Friday. Presumably, Hollywood figures nobody goes to the pictures on a Tuesday.
BO Dietl’s Villanova U freshman son Beau, 18, suffered a broken nose when another man assaulted him in a cab fare dispute . . . Sarge’s Third Avenue deli was shuttered for days for 12 violations by the NYC Dep’t of Health and Mental Hygiene. Pix of Liza, Gandolfini, James Earl Jones, Danny Glover hang on the wall right near the salami.
FROM a politician:
Woman to the man at the bar: “I’ll do it with anybody anytime, anywhere, their place, my place, in the car, front door, back door, on the ground, sitting down, standing up, naked or clothed. Doesn’t matter. I love it.”
Eyes wide, he responds, “No kidding . . . I’m in Congress, too. What state do you represent?”
WHAT do Jerry Seinfeld and Katie Couric have in common? Not counting calories at Goldberg’s Deli in East Hampton . . . Coming Jan. 24 an Internet dating book. Writer Daniel Slater’s been dating Martha Stewart’s niece . . . Awards emcee Jimmy Kimmel: “The Emmys are a bunch used to TV. The Oscars are people who need 40 takes.” Kimmel item No. 2: Kevin Dillon and Kevin Connolly of “Entourage” co-own racing restaurant Siro’s. And there inhaling swordfish and his namesake cocktail? J. Kimmel.
KNOW what Special Agent in Charge of the Dignitary Protection Division of the Secret Service is? Big-time title. Big-time job. Watching over, guarding, caring for all the VIPs and international hotshots that come into New York and clog our traffic. New boss Steven Hughes gets based here right after the election.
IN 1903, the first World Series check for the winning team was $1,182. OK? . . .
Diner reading Schwarzenegger’s book at Flex Mussels eatery: “He makes Trump appear shy and reticent.” . . . William Ivey Long and Tony voter Mark W. Smith sweetened the Theatre Wing gala for the Redgrave family with Burdick chocolates . . . Anna Netrebko’s opening at the Met brought Zac Posen and Elaine Sargent . . . Wall Street Rocks Battle of the Bands — whatever that is — has Round 3 at the Mercury Lounge — whatever that is — Oct. 30, and I know what that is.
WITH the recent trial of the pope’s longtime secretary who purloined His Holiness’ private papers comes now Viking’s “The Vatican Diaries: A Behind the Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities, and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church.”
Author John Thavis, for 25 years Rome’s Catholic News Service chief, calls it “a mysterious institution,” which “is far less monolithic and unified” than appears . . . “Vatican City is where Curia cardinals fight private wars, scandals threaten to undermine papal authority” and “reverence for the past is upended by practical considerations of modern life.”
Into the basilica’s depths, down to the saints’ burial place, he talks of “politicking surrounding the election of a new pope” and of “the ever-growing sexual abuse charges.”
SINCE 2005 Nacho Figueras has been the face of Ralph Lauren’s Black Label line. The remainder of him — back, neck and behind — is now to rep the entire Polo fragrance collection . . . A Renée Zellweger quote: “I’m not as informed as I ought to be. And I’m so highly opinionated that I’ll probably go to jail this year.”. . . Doesn’t come up often in conversation, but anybody know that Babe Ruth once occupied Itzhak Perlman’s apartment?
LAST month’s Jewish High Holy day. Gramercy Park. Reader Dorothy Kopelman, off to synagogue, saw a woman banging on a closed thrift shop door. With her was her dog. She explained: “I keep banging because its owner always gives him treats so this is my way of letting the dog know he’s closed.”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.