Preparing for a run at the crown

There are a lot of things Miss Massachusetts 2008 Jacqueline Bruno needs to do in these next few days before getting on plane to Las Vegas, where she'll compete against 50 other women in the Miss USA pageant on April 11. A graduate of Boston University, the 23-year-old Freetown resident worked as an advertising account executive for FM radio station Mix 98.5 and Fun 107 until she won the state crown. Last night, the InterContinental Boston hotel hosted a send-off for Bruno at Sushi-Teq, one of her former accounts. We stole a few moments with her before she heads to Sin City.

So you're all packed and ready to go?
Ahhh, no. Technically, I have all of my clothes picked out, all hanging and draped around the living room. I'm getting ready to ship out my shoes. Then I'll ship out the rest of my clothes. I'll carry the gown on the plane.

As in 'the' gown?
Yes, the gown. There have been so many trips back and forth to the tailor, it's the one piece you really couldn't replicate. I'm trying to eliminate some of the stress of travel. It's two full weeks of public events, rehearsals, the competition. Once you are there, even your time walking to your room is a public appearance, really, so I need to have everything planned out. I couldn't possibly travel with everything I need.

So tell us a bit about that gown.
It's not like walking on the red carpet. Being in a competition is very different. The dress has to be stylish and very fashionable, but not too fashion- forward. It's definitely not going to be a bubble dress - like the kind Gisele [Bundchen] wore on the fashion runway. She was sexy and beautiful, but that won't work in a pageant setting. [The dress] has to show off your body as in how fit you are. It can't just make you look good. There are three key pieces of clothing - the interview suit, the gown, and the swimsuit. And they provide you with the swimsuit. I'll get that on the first day I'm there. That's why I'm in the gym every day.

Will you be able to eat for the next three weeks?
Yes, actually. I eat six small, well-planned, high-protein meals a day. I just finished a turkey wrap before calling you. I always have a Quaker snack bar at the ready for when I need a pick-me-up, and with the stress that could be a lot. I was a model during the heroin-chic days, and I definitely don't fit that mold. I'm 5 feet 10 inches and a size 6. I hope young girls and their moms and even men realize that I'm not waif-thin. That's not what Miss USA's all about. It's sexy, sure. But not too scary thin.

But the Miss USA pageant is more sexy than Miss America - and they have to do a talent competition.
We have talent, but we don't have to showcase it. That seems a little old-fashioned to me. I'm a great writer, and I can twirl fire batons. But there are fire codes, and watching me write would be boring. We talk about ourselves in our interviews.

Oscar winner William Monahan's script for "Body of Lies" has made its way onto the Internet, and it sounds as though the Boston native (above) has written another action-filled, expletive-laden drama that could get Leonardo DiCaprio's and Russell Crowe some Oscar buzz. Not that Ridley Scott's big-screen adaptation of David Ignatius's book wasn't already causing a stir. The pic isn't expected to open until October, but several websites have posted some of DiCaprio and Crowe's gritty dialogue. Writing on Cincity2000.com, Lance Carmichael says the scribe's hand is evident from the first page. "Monahan knows what he does well - ruthless, career-minded men shouting at each other - and he looks for every dramatic excuse he can to show off this talent," Carmichael writes. "There's more testosterone dripping off the pages of a Bill Monahan script than in the collected works of David Mamet and [Neil LaBute] combined."

Red Sox ace Josh Beckett may have looked a bit flabby in photos taken shortly after he arrived for spring training, but Men's Fitness magazine has cast him as a workout expert in its new issue. "What you do during the off-season is, first, build a base," Beckett says in the article, which outlines his full workout. "That takes about three weeks, and then you try and get as strong as you can before you go to spring training. . . . I put in all these hours of work to try and be as successful as possible."

Troy Duffy, writer and director of the 1999 cult classic "The Boondock Saints," says he's finally got a studio to back a sequel. In a video announcement posted online, Duffy says Sony Pictures Studios has given its OK and that filming will begin this summer. (We couldn't find anyone at Sony to say the same thing, however.) Duffy claims to have signed on most of the cast, with the exception of the flick's star, Willem Dafoe. The Boston-set movie, which was partially filmed here, is about fraternal twins who try to rid the city of bad guys while being tracked by the FBI. The film took in less than $35,000 at the box office, but that's not stopping Duffy. All fans want to know is "where's our damn sequel," Duffy says in the video. "It feels good to say that, after all this time, we're finally doing this thing."

Red Sox team captain Jason Varitek and veteran pitcher Tim Wakefield have picked April 20 as the date for their annual comedy benefit and April 28 for their celebrity golf tournament. The charities that receive funds from the events are the Pitching in for Kids Foundation, which assists the families of hospitalized children in New England, the Ron Burton Training Village, and the Red Sox Foundation.

Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.