Back to school

Actor Hamish Linklater, who costars with Julia Louis-Dreyfus in "The New Adventures of Old Christine," returned to his alma mater this weekend, helping the Commonwealth School celebrate its 50th anniversary at the Cyclorama. (Fellow grads on the guest list included Stefan Forbes, director of the new documentary "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story," former ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith, NPR reporter JJ Sutherland, and MIT's David Altshuler.) Linklater said he has "rosy" memories of high school but also a recurring nightmare about being told he can't graduate. "I'm here to exorcise that dream," he told us. Linklater, whose mom is Shakespeare & Company cofounder and famous vocal coach Kristin Linklater, was raised among trained actors at The Mount, the Lenox spread that was Edith Wharton's before it was Shakespeare & Company's headquarters. "It was incredibly fun," he said. Well, most of the time. "The actors would steal my Big Bird doll and kill it . . . hang it or put it in the oven." Ah, the fun-filled '70s.

Boston to the bayou

No one's happier than Ken Cheeseman that Boston is back in the film business. The actor, who's an artist in residence at Emerson, has had parts in Martin Scorsese's "Ashecliffe" and "The Departed," Ricky Gervais's "This Side of the Truth," and Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River." But his latest gig landed him in Louisiana. Cheeseman is just back from Cajun country, where he worked with Tim Blake Nelson, Ed Norton, Richard Dreyfuss, Keri Russell, and Steve Earle on a comedy called "Leaves of Grass." Written and directed by Nelson, the movie's about a Brown University professor (Norton), whose twin brother grows hydroponic marijuana in their native Oklahoma. When the prof pays a visit to his pothead brother, all hell breaks loose. "It's a really great script," said Cheeseman, who plays Earle's Okie brother. "Steve is such a real guy. You can't help but talk politics with him because that's who he is." Cheeseman, whose wife, Paula Langton, is a theatre prof at BU, said he had a blast but he's happy to be back in Boston. "I'll be teaching and auditioning," he said. "I've really been one of those - knock on wood - lucky actors."

Backing Barack

Matt Damon's doing his bit for Obama. The left-leaning actor was set to appear yesterday and today at several "Early Vote for Change" events in his adopted home state of Florida. (Damon lives in Miami with wife Luciana and daughters Gia, Isabella, and Alexia.) The rallies were intended to encourage residents of the Sunshine State to cast their ballots in advance of the election.

Style, and substance

Fashionistas filled the Hyatt Regency Saturday for a Rock the Runway show hosted by Reggie B. The guest list included designer Samuel Vartan, actress and model Natalie King, "Beauty & the Geek" gal Jennifer Carter, "Real World: San Diego" dude Randy Barry, and Miss Boston 2008 Alida D'Angona. . . . Bruins Marco Sturm, Dennis Wideman, Andrew Ference, and team brass Cam Neely hosted 80 pediatric cancer patients the other night as part of the NHL's Hockey Fights Cancer initiative. Kids from MGH, Children's Hospital, the Jimmy Fund, and the Floating Hospital met and took pictures of their hockey heroes.

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